Super easy & yummy Banana Cream Pie with Fool Proof Pie Crust

·       1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell

·       1 cup milk

·       1 (3-ounce) package banana instant pudding mix

·       1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened

·       2 bananas, sliced

·       1 1/2 cups whipped topping

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

1.     Bake the pie shell until golden, about 8 to 10 minutes.

2.     Combine milk and pudding mix in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer set at medium speed until blended. Beat in ice cream.

3.     Arrange bananas in bottom of piecrust. Pour pudding mixture over bananas.

4.     Chill until set, about 2 hours. Top each serving with a dollop of whipped topping. Garnish with additional banana slices and mint sprigs, if desired.

 

 

Grandma's Secret Trick

Grandma's secret for this rich but easy pie was ice cream, which took the place of a complicated custard. You can also get good results by whipping 1 cup of whipping cream with 1/4 cup of sugar and using that in place of the ice cream.

This is my best piecrust recipe if you want to make your crust from scratch.  If you have never made piecrust here is a great video to help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZTu_dI__gU4

America Test Kitchen’s Foolproof Pie Dough

2-1/2 cups (12-1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, divided into 1.5 and 1 cup
1 teaspoon table salt + a pinch (for me)
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup cold vodka
1/4 cup cold water

Process 1-1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.