A vegan, guilt-free and gluten-free version of the delicious pie originally made with dulce-de-leche, bananas and whipping cream. This recipe offers you fiber, plus antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. And only one tablespoon of added sugar from maple syrup. I know this is a cliché but “healthy never tasted so good”!
I was first introduced to the Banoffee pie by my niece Eliza, who shared a delicious picture on the family chat. I just thought to myself what a scrumptious combination of flavors.
The dessert was created by the English chef Ian Dowding in 1971, he was trying to recreate the American recipe of Blum’s Coffee Toffee Pie, which is made with chocolate, coffee and toffee, but was having a hard time obtaining the right toffee consistency. Therefore he replaced the toffee by dulce-de-leche, added sliced bananas, whipping cream and history was created. It is said that Banoffee pie was Margareth Thatcher’s favorite dessert.
The original recipe has coffee in it, but as Ian Dowding says in his website “recipes evolve”, several different versions of the pie don’t have coffee and I wouldn’t add it because personally I just don’t like coffee. But feel free to add some soluble coffee to the dates and coconut milk “dulce-de-leche”.
I recommend two other recipes sweetened with dates if you haven’t tried it yet: Butternut Squash & Coconut Pie and Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter & Date Frosting.
Prep: 25 mins | Cook: 30 mins | Total: 55 mins
Ingredients
1 Oat & Chia Pie Crust – add ¼ tsp of ground cinnamon to the dough for extra flavor
2 cups of dates
2 cups of coconut milk
½ tbsp of vanilla
⅛ tsp of salt
1 can of coconut cream refrigerated overnight
3 bananas
1 tbsp of maple syrup
Shaved chocolate for decorating
Prep
While you are preparing the crust, soak the dates in warm water (about 15 minutes). The pie crust should be baked for 25 to 30 minutes.
To prepare the vegan dulce-de–leche, add the dates and the 2 cups of coconut milk to a pot and bring to a boil. Always stirring, cook the dates for 10 minutes or until they start to dissolve and the coconut milk thickens. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla (and soluble coffee if using) and cream it in the food processor, immersion blender or blender, scraping the sides, until a smooth consistency is obtained.
Once the “dulce-de-leche” has cooled, fill the baked pie shell with it.
Scoop the thick layer of cream from the refrigerated coconut cream leaving the watery liquid below. Add to a medium bowl together with the maple syrup. Using a mixer, beat on high speed until the cream thickens and soft peaks form. Don’t over mix your cream, if the cream gets warm it will lose consistency.
Cut the bananas in ¼ inch (0.5 cm) slices and arrange on the top of the “dulce-de-leche”. Cover it with the whipped coconut cream and decorate with the shaved chocolate. Enjoy!
The pie will stay fresh for 4 days covered in the fridge.
