Easy Banoffee Pie Recipe (Parfait in a Cup!)

Easy Banoffee Pie Parfait Recipe

Today’s recipe is an easy Banoffee Pie Parfait Recipe! Banoffee is just what it sounds like – a combination of banana + toffee filling! This is a British dessert pie that originated in the UK as Banoffee Pie directly from what the story says. Banoffee pie was born in 1968, when a British restaurateur (Nigel Mackenzie) bought a tea room in East Sussex, 1968.

History of Banoffee Pie

In 1971, the restaurant was running great – but they realized there was a shortage of one item on the dessert menu. The head chef back then gave the idea to try an American recipe called Blum’s Coffee Toffee Pie. It’s a bit similar to banana cream pie, but the original recipe for this pie included caramel, homemade whipped cream (using heavy cream) and boiled condensed milk for a toffee-like dulce de leche filling. While experimenting with this, they decided to use fresh bananas (and can’t forget a buttery biscuit base) and named it “Signor Banoffi’s Pie!”

When they started selling this delicious pie, customers loved it. As it gained popularity, it eventually became a permanent dessert item. The company Nestle soon printed the recipe on their cans of sweetened condensed milk, which made the trend catch on even further. To push it even more, the owners of the restaurants ended up publishing a book in 1974, called The Deeper Secrets of the Hungry Monk, which had the original Banoffee pie recipe. This sold over 100,000 copies! The word Banoffee eventually got put into the Oxford English Dictionary in 1997, and everyone had heard about this dessert by now. Click here for references.

Parts of this Recipe

So for today, let’s go through the parts of this part-fait (parfait … see what I did there)? This dessert takes a few minutes to come together (you need some time to slice bananas, crush graham crackers, layer it all … nothing too crazy). HOWEVER, not included in that time is the fact that you do need to cook the caramel.

Coconut milk and coconut sugar are the main ingredients needed in the caramel. I always make a caramel out of these two ingredients whenever I need to use it in a recipe. It’s very sweet and thickens nicely for a silky dulce de leche type filling!

We boil the milk with the sugar, then simmer it on low and let it thicken. As it cools down it thickens some more. We also have to refrigerate it (if you want to eat it cold – I loved the hot caramel in my parfait)! This is why the recipe time says one hour. It only takes a few minutes to layer it all once you have the caramel ready!

Why You’ll Love This Easy Banoffee Pie Recipe in a Cup

Ultra Decadent Layers: This easy dessert is super rich, off with a buttery graham cracker crust that uses melted butter and graham cracker crumbs. Then, a creamy caramel filling made with full-fat coconut milk (for a thicker and richer caramel versus any other plant-based milk). To top it off, sliced bananas, vegan whipped cream (and even chocolate shavings). All the layers just fit together so well, no wonder this is a popular combination!

Homemade Caramel: Making a thick caramel sauce at home is way easier than I thought! We only need two main ingredients for it: coconut milk and coconut sugar (or brown sugar). This is like making your own dulce de leche mixture in ten minutes on the stovetop, without any dairy or melting caramel candy pieces required.

Single Serving Cups: You can put this no bake recipe into single serving cups because it’s served as a parfait, which is a great way to serve it dessert to a crowd! Alternatively, layer it all in one dish (like a tart pan or pie pan) and let everyone take individual servings.

Substitutions

Graham Crackers: For a gluten-free option, choose a gluten-free graham crackers. Some graham crackers are made with honey as well. To keep it vegan, opt for a honey-free graham cracker (or digestive biscuits) by reading the ingredient label.

You could even try a raw vegan crust and replace the graham crackers with almond flour, and 1-2 dates to replace the butter.

Vegan Butter: I use salted Melt vegan butter sticks. Melted, refined coconut oil can be used (the type that doesn’t smell like coconuts), since it’s being used to just hold the graham crackers together. Butter lends its own unique flavor though, especially in a recipe like this, which coconut oil will not have.

Coconut Milk: Use full-fat canned coconut milk, like Thai Kitchen brand. Carton milk is not the same. An alternative, albeit not as creamy, could be thick oat milk (like Silk brand).

Coconut Sugar: Use brown sugar as a substitute.

Vanilla Extract: I use an alcohol-free Madagascar vanilla extract, which is thicker than the diluted brands that contain alcohol in them. The taste is much nicer as well. However, any type of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste can work.

Bananas: Fresh banana slices cannot be omitted! This is an essential part of the banoffee experience.

Whipped Cream: I used a coconut-based vegan whipped cream I found at my local grocery store. The brand I use is Gay Lea. You can make homemade whipped cream with vegan heavy cream or whipping cream until soft peaks form, but I haven’t tried looking up a recipe for that.

Banoffee Pie Parfait Recipe Notes

• Customize this to make it peanut butter, chocolate, coffee, mocha or other versions by drizzling flavors over the caramel.
• For example, melt peanut butter for a peanut butter version and drizzle this over the caramel layer in the parfait.
• Or melt chocolate (or some cocoa powder with sugar) with instant coffee powder for a mocha flavor, or just regular chocolate for a cocoa version, and drizzle this over the caramel.
• Add dark chocolate shavings on top of the pie as the final touch!
• Don’t use overripe bananas that have spots (like the type you would normally use in banana bread). Instead, opt for the just perfectly yellow ones, which make the best sliced bananas. Not too ripe and not too unripe.
• Use a food processor for the crumb crust to get fine crumbs if using full crackers. If you already have fine graham cracker crumbs, then you can skip this step.

More Dessert Recipes You’ll Love

Chocolate Rice Krispies

S’mores Fudge

Banana Tarte Tatin

Peanut Butter Eggs

Lemon Coconut Chia Pudding

Blueberry Pie Parfait

If you make this Banoffee Pie Parfait Recipe, then leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!