A quick vegan version of a traditional British banoffee pie, which is a caramel and banana no-bake dessert made as individual tarts.

Quick & Easy Vegan Banoffee Pies - Dairy-Free Dessert

Name: Quick & Easy Vegan Banoffee Pies - Dairy-Free Dessert
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Cuisine: British , vegan
Ingredients: 6 mini shortcrust pie bases (see notes); 6 tablespoons vegan salted caramel (or plain caramel); 2 bananas, sliced; 125 ml (½ cup) vegan double cream (before whisking); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (vanilla paste or vanilla seeds scrapped from 1 vanilla pod); 2 tablespoons icing sugar; 1 square chocolate, peeled or grated (for decoration)

This is a bit of a cheat's version of a classic banoffee pie. A no bake recipe.

Little individual banoffee tarts made without dairy, but with lots of flavour.

These are quick to make and very luxurious.

Perfect for afternoon tea or an easy dessert after Sunday dinner or for a special occasion like Christmas or Easter.

I hope you try this delicious dessert.

What is banoffee pie?

Banoffee pie is a traditional British dessert that was created by the owner and chef of the Hungry Monk Restaurant, way back in 1971.

It is a layered dessert that starts with a biscuit base, topped with a toffee or caramel sauce and a layer of whipped cream and sliced bananas.

The name banoffee is the combination of the words banana and toffee.

Often it will be finished with some grated chocolate.

It's utterly divine!

small banoffee pies in shortcrust pastry cases.

Biscuit or shortcrust pastry pie base

The original base in one of these dessert pies is the same as the base we use for no-bake cheesecakes here in the UK.

It's a mixture of crushed digestive biscuits (Graham crackers) whizzed or bashed into fine crumbs mixed with melted butter and pressed firmly into the bottom of a cake tin and chilled.

A lovely buttery biscuit base.

It doesn't need to be baked at all.

You can see the biscuit base I'm talking about in this vegan Oreo and caramel cheesecake or this vegan banoffee pie cheesecake.

For these quick pastry cases, I used shop-bought sweet shortcrust pastry cases I spotted in M&S.

They are great for a quick dessert.

Make a homemade pastry case

Of course, you can make your own pastry crust (pie crust).

Either use the crushed digestive biscuit, mixed with melted vegan butter to make a base, as described above or you can make a batch of shortcrust pastry and use that.

If you're making your own biscuit base, look out for digestive biscuits that are suitable for vegans. Mollys Digestives (from Tesco)are accidentally vegan and sometimes supermarket own brands are.

For homemade shortcrust pastry, try this vegan shortcrust recipe from my friend Kate over at The Veg Space.

Want to make the quick version?

Pop into your local M&S store and pick up a packet of the Plant Kitchen Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Cases or look for an alternative online.

Caramel layer

For the caramel sauce, I used this vegan salted caramel icing from M&S.

It has the right consistency and a wonderful caramel flavour.

In the past, I have used Hey Boo Caramel sauce, which is a coconut-based sauce and a wonderfully gooey caramel.

It could also be called a vegan dulce de leche.

There are other vegan toffee and caramel sauces available, that would also work well.

I haven't tried the whole boiling a can of condensed milk for hours method with vegan condensed milk but let me know if you have.

Fresh cream layer

The vegan cream layer of these sweet vegan pies can be made a couple of ways.

Vegan double cream - whipped until thick with some sweetener and vanilla
Whipped coconut cream (coconut whip) - pop a tin of coconut milk (full fat is best) in the fridge overnight. Drain the milk (keep it to add to smoothies), then whip the solids with sugar and vanilla extract until thick.

I used Elmlea plant cream, which gives you a soft thick whip.

I've heard Oatly double cream whips up to a stiffer texture, but I haven't tried it yet.

Can I use squirty cream?

Hmmmm, I would say no.

Squirty cream is rather insubstantial as it just melts away on the tongue and you want the cream layer to be wonderfully rich and luscious.

Vegan squirty cream is extra melty, so not ideal for this dessert.

Save it for adding a squirt to your chocolate cake or an ice cream sundae.

Ripe bananas

Give those green bananas a miss for this quick cheats dessert recipe.

You are better off using ripe bananas, as you want the banana slices to be fairly soft.

Green bananas can be like bricks to eat, not great in a dessert.

Chocolate shavings

I always think banoffee pie needs a little shaved chocolate, just to finish it off.

You could use chocolate sprinkles (chocolate strands) or better quality use chocolate vermicelli, which is made with real chocolate.

Chocolate sprinkles tend to be either coloured sugar or chocolate flavoured sugar.

For the best chocolate topping, either finely or medium grate a good quality dark chocolate or make shavings using a vegetable peeler.

Add them to the top of the pie before serving.

I hope you try this classic British dessert. It really does make the perfect dessert.

Can you make a healthier banoffee pie?

Banoffee pies are supposed to be a treat and these little individual banana tarts do help with portion control.

However, you could make a nut-based crust.

And you could make a healthier homemade caramel layer by whizzing medjool dates with a little peanut butter (or almond butter) in a food processor or blender into a paste (date caramel).

Medjool dates have that caramel-like flavour.

You could also make a cashew-based cream instead of using shop-bought vegan cream.

Check out this recipe for Heavy Cream Substitute from Clean, Green, Simple.

How long will dairy free banoffee pies keep?

There's no need to make these pies ahead, as they only take a few minutes to make.

However, you could make them earlier in the day and pop them in the fridge until you want to serve them.

Any leftover banoffee pies (is that really a thing?) can be kept in the fridge, in an airtight container until the next day.

I wouldn't keep them in the fridge too long as the longer they sit the softer the pastry base will become.

Quick vegan cheat recipes - custard pie, iced buns, lemonade scones & lemonade cake.

More quick and easy vegan cheat recipes

Here are a few more of my favourite cheat recipes for you to try next.

Banana and Custard Tart - easily made with shop-bought ingredients
Iced Buns - cream cakes made with vegan brioche buns
Lemonade Scones - a quick mix made with lemonade instead of butter
Lemonade Cake - a soft and fluffy cake made with shop bought boxed cake mix made with lemonade instead of milk and eggs

I hope you try a few of these.

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How to make vegan banoffee pies

A step-by-step photo guide followed by a full printable recipe.

Step 1

Lay out your pastry cases (homemade or shop-bought).
Fill them generously with caramel or toffee sauce.

Step 2

Pour your vegan double cream (or coconut milk solids - see notes above) to a large mixing bowl.
Add icing sugar to sweeten it and vanilla extract, vanilla paste or vanilla seeds scraped from a vanilla pod if you are feeling flush.
Whisk with a hand whisk or electric mixer into stiff peaks, well as thick as the cream will whisk up.

Step 3

Add a layer of sliced banana to the top of the caramel in the pies.
Top with a generous dollop of the cream.
Now add a few slices of banana for decoration.
Finish off the pies with chocolate shavings.
Enjoy!

dessert, banoffee pie, vegan banoffee pie, vegan banana pie, vegan banana tarts, banana tartes, banana pie

dessert

British , vegan

Yield: 6

Author: Jacqueline Meldrum