Banana Cream Pie (Healthy-er)

As you can see, this fabulous banana cream pie wasn't sitting around long enough for a big photo-shoot.  It was unbelievably delicious. You might recall my "Woman, make me a pie... right now!" post.  Well, on my birthday, I asked Doug to make me a pie right now (from scratch) and... HE DID!  I printed out a (healthier) recipe I've been wanting to try for a while--absolutely no idea why I would put it off.  I think this was the best darn banana cream pie I've had!  It was great.  I think part of that is because my husband follows instructions very closely and carefully... I on the other hand have probably become a bit cavalier in my baking. :)  And in my picture taking too apparently... but I assure you, not in my eating of pie.  Savored every minute.  It was a happy birthday indeed.

Banana Cream Pie (Ellie Krieger)

Cooking spray

12 graham cracker squares (6 full sheets)

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

3 tablespoons boiling water

1/3 cup, plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups 1 percent lowfat milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups sliced banana (3 medium bananas)

1/4 cup whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Click here to see how she does it.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

(We just skipped this step and used a pre-made crust.) Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. In a food processor, process graham crackers until finely ground. Add butter and 1 tablespoon of water, and process until the crumb clumps together. Press crumb mixture into bottom of pie plate and about 1/2-inch up the sides. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then let cool.

In the meantime, make the filling. Put the gelatin in a small bowl; add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1/3 cup of sugar and the flour. In a medium bowl lightly beat the milk and eggs together. Add the egg and milk mixture to the saucepan and whisk so the flour and sugar dissolve. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes, until mixture comes to a boil and has thickened. Stir in the vanilla extract and gelatin. Set aside to cool slightly.

Arrange the sliced bananas on the graham cracker crust and pour the pudding on top. Place in the refrigerator until the pudding has set, about 3 hours.

Whip the cream with an electric beater. When it is about halfway done, add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, then continue whipping until fully whipped. Put the whipped cream in a plastic bag, concentrating it in 1 corner of the bag. Snip that corner off the bag and squeeze the whipped cream out of the bag in a decorative pattern around the pie.