Paleo Banoffee Pie (dairy-, gluten-, refined sugar-free)

Banoffee pie is an English pie made with bananas, toffee (condensed milk heated in the can for hours) and whipped cream. This recipe takes all the baddies out of the equation: gluten, dairy, refined sugar, and replaces it with nutritious ingredients: almonds, coconut oil, dates, honey, cashew butter and coconut cream.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this recipe and not shared it with you. I was trying to perfect the pastry (crust).

The filling has always been delicious – rich, banana-ry and toffee-ish, with the light coconut cream, complementing the cloyingly sweet banoffee. The pastry (crust) on the other hand has always been off. It didn’t matter which gluten-free recipe I used, it was always off. They varied from hard cardboard to just plain strange tasting… I went back to the drawing board so many times.

The pastry (crust) that I did like was one of the original paleo pastry (crust) recipes I’d seen some time ago. I refrained from making this because it consisted primarily of almond flour. Why the reservation? Organic and gluten-free almond flour is pretty expensive, and eating too many nuts isn’t good on our gastrointestinal tract. Putting these two issues aside, the resulting pie was pretty spectacular!

PALEO BANOFFEE PIE (dairy-, gluten-, refined sugar-free)

pastry (crust) adapted from elana’s pantry: paleo pie crust

filling adapted from sift, stir and savor: banoffee pie

makes one 23 cm (9 inch) pie

Ingredients

for the pastry (crust):

• 200 g (2 cups) almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 1 large egg

for the filling

• 3 ripe, medium sized bananas
• 75 g (1/2 cup) pitted medjool dates
• 125 g (1/3 cup honey and 1/2 tablespoon) raw honey, softened
• 75 g (1/4 cup) cashew butter, or other nut butter
• 1 pinch vanilla powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch

for the topping

• 1 – 525 ml (18.5 fl oz) can coconut cream, chilled for 24+ hours
• 1 tablespoon softened honey, or to taste
• 100 % dark chocolate, for grating, or unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting (optional)

Methods

1. Preheat oven to 220 C (425 F*).

2. To make the pie crust: pulse all of the pastry (crust) ingredients together in a food processor until a dough forms. Transfer dough into a 23 cm (9 inch) coconut oil greased glass pie dish. Press the dough to line the dish, flute edges, if desired. Prick the base with a fork. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until light brown. Set aside to cool.

3. To make the filling: place dates into a 240 ml (1 cup) measuring cup, and fill with hot water. Soak for 10 minutes, then process the dates and water together in a food processor until smooth.

4. Place 2 bananas (about 225 g , 7.8 oz), pureed dates, honey, cashew butter, vanilla, salt and arrowroot in a pan, and bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce to a simmer, stirring continuously, until the mixture is really thick, about 5-6 minutes.

5. Slice the remaining banana and arrange in a single layer on the bottom of the pastry case (pie crust). Pour the heated banoffee on top and even out with the back of a spoon. Chill for 30 minutes to set.

6. For the topping: turn the coconut cream can upside down, and open. Pour off and save any liquid, then transfer the thick cream to a bowl. Whisk the cream with honey together until light and fluffy. If the mixture is too stiff, add a little bit of the saved liquid to loosen it up.

7. Spoon the whipped cream over the banoffee pie, and grate chocolate/sprinkle cocoa powder over the top, if using. Chill before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

* original recipe calls for a baking temperature of 180 C (350 F) for 8-12 minutes.