Banoffee Pie Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy. Hello friends, Julia from Vikalinka is here once again. And this time I decided to tempt your with a scrumptious dessert from the land I now call home aka England. Banoffee pie, although not as known outside of the British Isles, is an absolutely rock star back home. I admit I never heard of it myself until I, a Canadian expat, moved to England nearly 8 years ago. Upon arrival, however, I started noticing this luscious creamy pie in every cafe, restaurant and patisserie in London.

What is Banoffee Pie?

Let’s start with the name itself. The word ‘Banoffee’ is a combination of two words actually. Banana and Toffee, which will reveal what is on the inside. A crushed cookie crust, then layers of toffee or caramel, sliced bananas, a cloud of whipped cream and chocolate curls make this stunning dessert. Banoffee Pie was invented in East Sussex, England in the early 70s, and although this creation is 100% English, many Brits think it’s American because of the luxuriously indulgent nature of this dessert, which is not too English.

How do I make Banoffee Pie?

Despite its divine taste, Banoffee Pie is very easy to make. I mean it won’t take you longer than 30 minutes to throw it together. Intrigued? Due to its insane popularity, this dessert exists in many reincarnations, so you can imagine hundreds of recipes populate the internet and cookbooks. What I am sharing today is an easy Banoffee pie. A pie that requires no baking or cooking. That is right, this recipe is mostly assembling.

Arguably there are several ways to make a Banofee Pie and I am showing you mine, which happens to be the simplest one.

For this recipe I’ve used crushed chocolate covered digestive cookies mixed with melted butter to create the crust. However, I realize that tracking down this British staple might be difficult in the US, so I have a fair substitute: You can use chocolate wafers, by which I mean “plain chocolate cookies” instead of digestives without compromising on the taste. Allow your crushed cookie base to set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours to become solid and crunchy. The toffee filling is something that can also be easily purchased. I usually buy canned Caramel (Dulce De Leche) filling by Carnation or make my own by cooking sweetened condensed milk. If you feel like making your own, these recipes for Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Dulce de Leche will show you how. If you make your own toffee, you will be able to control the consistency of the filling. My family prefers the less solid center of the Banoffee pie to the firm one, so the already prepared filling suits us just right. Finally, I love to decorate my Banoffee Pie with chocolate curls. They add so much drama to any dessert and making them is so easy. Simply melt the chocolate in a double boiler, then spread it thinly on a clean cookie sheet, let it set in the fridge. Then drag your knife across the chocolate surface to create curls. Alternatively, you can simply grate chocolate for the topping.