Mini Banana Cream Pie Cookie Cups

My family didn't really eat pie growing up, even at Thanksgiving. It just wasn't a dessert any of us liked! Weird, I know. But every once in a while, pie would be served at someone else's house and I'd try some.

I still don't like many flavors of pie, but a well-done banana cream pie is one of my all-time favorite desserts!

One night when I was lying awake at 3am dreaming up different recipes, I thought about how much I loved banana cream pie but I wanted it to be easier to make and a little healthier, too.

My mom had also been begging me to write a recipe for banana cream pie, so after lots of different ideas, I finally came up with today's recipe!

These adorable Mini Banana Cream Pie Cookie Cups are a match made in heaven. Literally.

Instead a pastry crust (not a fan) or a graham cracker crust, the "crust" is actually a cinnamon graham cracker cookie in the shape of a pie crust! It is a million times better than any banana cream pie you've ever had, too.

Then, each cookie crust is filled with instant banana cream pudding and topped with whipped cream, a slice of banana, and extra graham cracker dust. OMG. You need this recipe!

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Ingredients you'll need

• Cookie dough basics: butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, and baking soda. Nothing new here! However, we are using an olive-oil based butter to keep these pudding cups dairy-free and add some heart-healthy fats. We're also using Stevia in place of regular granulated sugar to cut back on some calories and added sugar.
• Graham crackers: superior to vanilla wafers and much better than a boring pastry crust. Turn the graham crackers into flour and you've just created the best cookie dough you've ever tasted!‍
• Cinnamon: infused into the graham cracker cookie dough for the ultimate flavor combo. Just wait until you get a taste of the dough! It's so addicting.‍
• Instant Banana Cream pudding mix: much easier and more cost-effective than trying to make a homemade pie filling. We're using the sugar-free mix to avoid any extra added sugar!‍
• Almond milk: unsweetened vanilla, to be exact. When I learned you could make pudding with non-dairy milk, my life was changed. I'm not dairy-free by any means, but this is how I prefer my pudding now and I promise you'd never taste the difference. Using non-dairy milk keeps these little banana pudding cookie cups lower calorie and allergen-friendly.

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How to make banana pudding cookie cups

What makes these mini banana cream pies so amazing is the cookie crust instead of a traditional pastry crust. It sounds like a lot of extra work (most mini things are ironically) but I promise it's not!

Prepare the cookie dough like you're making chocolate chip cookies - cream the butter and sugars, mix in the egg and vanilla, then incorporate the dry ingredients. Because this dough in particular is so soft, we're going to super chill the dough. Don't worry, it's only while the oven preheats!

Once the dough has chilled in the freezer, all you have to do is use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the dough into each muffin tin. No pressing or shaping required. Just scoop and bake!

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This little hack for homemade cookie cups works because baking soda helps cookies spread, (where baking powder helps cookies rise) and this recipe only uses baking soda.

The balls of cookie dough are almost as wide as the muffin tin, so once they've spread to the width of the muffin tin, the only place they have to bake is up!

Let the baked cookie cups cool for 2 minutes in the pan, then use a flat bottom measuring cup, measuring spoon, or the bottom of any small circular object to press the cookie crust down into the shape of a crust.

I used a small metal condiment cup like this one, but as long as the shape of your "press" is smaller than the diameter of the cookie and flat, you're fine!

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Tips for perfect mini banana cream pies

1. Room temperature ingredients: this includes everything on the list except for the whipped cream. Using the butter, egg, and almond milk at room temperature will ensure smooth mixing, even baking, and the best overall results. I know it seems silly to let the almond milk sit out, but because it's non-dairy, it mixes with the pudding mix a little bit different, and the greater the difference in temperature, the more clumps you'll have in the pudding. Trust me, it happened to me!
2. Don't substitute ingredients: because baking is a science, there's little room for change in this recipe. The only two substitutions I would consider "safe" are using whatever butter you like and using regular granulated sugar in place of the Stevia. I have not tested this recipe with 1-to-1 gluten-free all-purpose flour, so if you try that, please leave a comment below!
3. Turn the graham crackers into flour: when I say flour, I mean flour - like, the smallest possible crumbs you could make before you're left with dust. The goal is that the cookie dough is actually made with graham cracker flour, not just cookie dough with random pieces of graham cracker. I always use a food processor for this, but you can also use a high speed blender or take out your anger on a ziploc bag with a rolling pin ;)‍
4. Hold the toppings: I strongly recommend waiting to top each mini banana cream pie with whipped cream and banana slices until RIGHT BEFORE SERVING. If you want them to stay cute and presentable, you'll wait. This includes if you have leftovers! If you only plan on eating or serving half the batch of banana pudding cookie cups right away, refrigerate the others and top them with the whipped cream and banana slices until the end.‍
5. Eat immediately: these mini banana cream pies are best the day of (heck, even within an hour of baking!) and do not last longer than 48 hours in the fridge, even if they're kept in an air-tight glass tupperware. Unfortunately, this is one of those desserts you shouldn't make in advance of the event.‍
6. Keep refrigerated: the cookie cups get so soft from holding the pudding that the longer they sit at room temperature, the messier they'll be to eat. Keep the banana pudding cookie cups cold until right before serving, then return the leftovers right back to the fridge in an air-tight container.

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Ok if you made it this far and read my whole post, congratulations! I'm so proud. Now go reward yourself with these adorable mini banana cream pies!

Be sure to leave a star rating and review below after you try these banana pudding cookie cups so other readers know how amazing they are! You can also tag me on social media so I can see the look of pure joy on your face haha. Happy baking!