Banana Cream Pie

I just recently made this for my dad for Father's Day because banana cream pie has always been one of his favorites. It was delicious and a hit at the Father's Day bbq we had at our house! The crust is definitely the best part...be prepared for the entire pie to be gone once you put it out!


Ingredients
For the yummy crust: 
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
For the pie: 
3/4 cup white sugar (and an addition 1/4 cup for the meringue) 

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten **KEEP THE EGG WHITES, you will need them for the meringue topping!**
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 bananas, sliced
  
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• The first step in creating the pie is making the crust. Position a rack in the middle of an oven and preheat to 350 degrees. To make the crust, in a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the crumbs, sugar, and melted (cooled) butter. Process until the crumbs begin to stick together. Scoop the crumbs into a 9x9 in. pie plate, pressing the crumbs firmly on the bottom and sides of the plate (you will probably have leftover graham cracker crumbs so save them for a mini pie!). Bake the crust for 10 minutes until it sets, then remove it from the oven and let it cool. 

Keep the oven on at 350 degrees, and while the crust cools begin preparing the pie filling:Sift together the sugar, flour and salt and combine in a saucepan. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently with a whisk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from heat.

Then, add a little bit of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolk mixture. Once combined, immediately add this mixture to the rest of the hot mixture and stir in. Place the mixture, in the saucepan, back on the heat and cook for 2 more minutes...stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and add butter and vanilla. Stir with whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the sliced bananas to pudding mixture (setting aside 8-10 slices for garnish at the end) and stir them in gently so as not to crush the bananas. Then, pour the entire mixture into the now cooled pie crust. 

Place the pie in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes until the mixture appears not to be runny. Remove the pie from the oven and as it cools, begin making the meringue topping: 

To make the meringue, place leftover egg whites into a bowl and add 1/4 cup of white sugar. Beat the egg white and sugar mixture with an electric hand mixer on high speed until the mixture becomes stiff and forms peaks (about 3-5 minutes). Once the peaks have formed, gently scoop out the mixture and place on top of pie. Lightly spread the meringue so that it is not flat, but covers the entire top of the pie.

Set the oven to 500 degrees on the *broil* setting and place pie, now with meringue topping, into the oven. DO NOT LEAVE, it only takes a minute before the entire meringue burns so keep a close eye on the pie as it broils and remove promptly as soon as you see the top turn slightly brown. Let the pie cool, add extra sliced bananas on top for garnish, and then cover and chill for 1 hour before serving....trust me, its worth the wait!!

ENJOY!!