Delicious Banana Cream Pie Cookies: Your New Favorite Bite-Sized Dessert
Prepare to fall in love with these Banana Cream Pie Cookies, a delightful reimagining of the classic Banana Cream Pie, transformed into perfect, bite-sized cookie cups! This easy-to-follow recipe brings all your favorite nostalgic flavors together in a fun, portable format that’s perfect for any occasion. Forget the fuss of traditional pie crusts and elaborate preparations; these banana cookie cups offer a simplified yet incredibly satisfying dessert experience that will quickly become a family favorite.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”CeUQnYOn” upload-date=”2016-12-08T16:06:18.000Z” name=”Butter With a Side of Bread – Banana Cream Pie Cookies” description=”All your favorite banana cream pie flavors in cookie form!” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]
If you, like me, appreciate the incredible flavors of a homemade banana cream pie but prefer the convenience and individual portioning of cookies, then these Mini Banana Cream Cookie Pies are precisely what you’ve been searching for. They capture the creamy, sweet essence of a classic pie without any of the stress associated with making a perfect pie crust from scratch. These adorable cookie cups are incredibly easy to make, delivering all the beloved flavors with minimal effort and maximum deliciousness. It’s a definite win-win for dessert lovers!
Why You’ll Adore These Banana Cream Pie Cookie Cups
These banana cream pie cookies aren’t just a dessert; they’re an experience. Here’s why they’re destined to become a regular in your baking rotation:
- Perfect Portions: Each cookie cup is a self-contained serving of pure joy, making them ideal for parties, potlucks, or simply portion control (if you can resist having just one!).
- No-Fuss Baking: Say goodbye to the anxiety of a soggy pie crust or a pie that doesn’t slice perfectly. These cookie cups are incredibly forgiving and come out beautifully every time.
- Irresistible Flavor: The combination of a soft, chewy cookie base with a luscious, creamy banana filling and fresh banana slices is simply divine. It’s a symphony of textures and tastes.
- Kid-Friendly: Both the baking process and the eating experience are fun for kids. They’ll love helping to press the cookie cups and, of course, devouring the finished product!
- Quick Assembly: With store-bought instant pudding and whipped topping, the filling comes together in minutes, significantly cutting down on prep time.
Essential Tools for Crafting Perfect Banana Cream Cookie Cups
While you can certainly make these delicious cookies with basic kitchen tools, a few specific items will streamline the process and help you achieve perfectly uniform and professional-looking results. Investing in these tools will make your baking experience not only faster but also more enjoyable.
First and foremost, you’ll need a mini muffin tin. This is absolutely crucial, as it’s where your delightful cookie cups will take shape. The individual wells ensure each cookie bakes evenly and creates the perfect cavity for your creamy banana filling. A good non-stick mini muffin tin will be your best friend, ensuring easy release of your beautifully formed cookie cups.
The second item that makes a significant difference is a KitchenAid mixer. While a hand mixer can work, a stand mixer like a KitchenAid provides consistent power and frees up your hands, making the creaming of butter and sugar, and the mixing of other ingredients, incredibly efficient. The specialized cookie paddle attachment that comes with most KitchenAid mixers ensures all ingredients are uniformly incorporated, leading to a perfectly textured cookie dough. This consistent mixing is key to a tender, chewy cookie base. If you’re passionate about baking, a KitchenAid mixer is a versatile workhorse worthy of any kitchen’s wish list.
Lastly, a cookie scoop is an absolute game-changer for this recipe. Since you’re baking these cookies in a mini muffin tin, shape isn’t as much of a concern as consistency. A cookie scoop ensures that each dollop of dough is the exact same size, which means every cookie cup will bake evenly and look uniform. This precision is important for professional-looking results and consistent texture throughout the batch. Cookie scoops come in various sizes; for these banana cream pie cookie cups, the middle size (approximately 1.5 tablespoons) is ideal, providing the perfect amount of dough for each muffin cup and making the scooping process super fast and mess-free. Once you start using a cookie scoop, you’ll wonder how you ever baked without one!
Banana Cream Pie Cookie Recipe Ingredients
Gathering your ingredients ahead of time is key to a smooth baking process. Here’s a detailed look at what you’ll need for both the delightful cookie cups and the luscious banana cream filling:
For the Chewy Cookie Cups, you will need:
- Sugar: You will need one full cup of granulated sugar. This not only provides the essential sweetness but also contributes significantly to the cookie’s signature tender and chewy texture.
- Butter: Using ½ cup of softened unsalted butter is crucial. The butter adds a rich, decadent flavor and provides the necessary fats to ensure the cookie dough remains moist, resulting in a truly melt-in-your-mouth experience.
- Egg: One large egg acts as the primary binder for the dough, holding all the ingredients together and adding structure, moisture, and richness.
- Vanilla Extract: A single teaspoon of vanilla extract is a powerful flavor enhancer. It harmonizes with the other ingredients, bringing out a deeper, more rounded flavor profile in the cookie base that perfectly complements the banana filling.
- Sour Cream: Include ⅓ cup of sour cream. This secret ingredient is key to boosting the cookies’ moisture content and richness, resulting in an incredibly soft and tender crumb in every bite.
- Salt: Adding in ½ teaspoon of salt is vital. It doesn’t just make the cookies salty; it balances the sweetness and helps to bring out the full depth of flavors in the cookies, making them taste even better.
- Baking Soda: Use ½ teaspoon of baking soda as your leavening agent. This ingredient reacts during baking to help the cookies puff up nicely, creating a light and slightly airy texture ideal for a cookie cup.
- All-Purpose Flour: The base of our cookie dough is 2 cups of all-purpose flour. This provides the essential structure and substance for the cookie cups, ensuring they hold their shape beautifully after baking.
For the Luscious Banana Cream Pie Filling, you will need:
- Instant Banana Cream Pudding Mix: You will need one 3.4-ounce sized box of instant banana cream pudding mix. This is the heart of our filling, providing that iconic banana flavor and creamy texture with incredible ease.
- Milk: You will need ½ cup of cold milk. This liquid is essential to activate the pudding mix, transforming it into a smooth, thick, and perfectly set filling.
- Whipped Topping: Using an 8-ounce tub of thawed whipped topping (like Cool Whip) will give us a wonderfully fluffy and stabilized center for the cookie cups. It lightens the pudding and adds a delightful airy quality.
- Fresh Bananas: You will need 1-2 ripe, but firm, bananas, ideally sliced just before serving for garnishing these exquisite cookies. Fresh bananas are key for an authentic taste and beautiful presentation.
How to Make Delicious Banana Pudding Cookie Cups: Step-by-Step
Follow these detailed instructions to create your irresistible banana cream pie cookie cups. The process is straightforward and yields impressive results!
- Prepare your oven and pan: Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Generously spray a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray, ensuring every cup is well-coated to prevent sticking. Set the prepared pan aside.
- Cream butter and sugar: In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer (stand mixer or hand mixer), cream together the granulated sugar and softened butter until the mixture is light, fluffy, and well combined. This usually takes about 2-3 minutes.
- Add wet ingredients: Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until fully incorporated. Continue mixing until the mixture is smooth and consistent.
- Incorporate remaining wet and dry ingredients (partial): Add the sour cream, salt, and baking soda to the mixture. Mix again on low speed until all these ingredients are just incorporated, being careful not to overmix.
- Add flour: Gradually add the all-purpose flour, mixing on low speed until the dough comes together and is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure everything is evenly mixed.
- Portion the dough: Using a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop (or simply a tablespoon measure), scoop out one level tablespoon of dough and place it into each well of your prepared mini muffin tin. If you have any remaining dough after filling 24 cups, you can bake additional small cookies on a separate baking sheet. These extra cookies can be crumbled later for garnish.
- Bake the cookie cups: Bake in the preheated oven for 17-18 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the centers are set.
- Create wells in cookies: Once out of the oven, allow the cookies to rest in the muffin pan for 1-2 minutes. While they are still warm and pliable, lightly spray the bottom of a teaspoon measuring spoon with non-stick spray. Gently press the back of the spoon into the center of each cookie to create a perfect well or indentation. This hollow will hold your delicious banana cream filling.
- Cool completely: Let the cookies cool completely in the muffin tin. For a quicker process, you can place the entire muffin pan in the freezer for about 20 minutes to speed up cooling.
- Prepare the filling: While the cookie cups are cooling, begin preparing your banana cream filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry instant banana cream pudding mix and the cold milk until smooth and slightly thickened.
- Fold in whipped topping: Gently fold in the thawed whipped topping until the mixture is fully combined and boasts a light, airy texture. Avoid overmixing to maintain the fluffiness.
- Chill the filling: Transfer the banana cream mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a round tip (or simply a large Ziploc bag with a corner snipped off). Store it in the refrigerator until the cookie cups are completely cool and ready for filling.
- Assemble the cookies: Carefully remove the cooled cookies from the muffin tin. You can often slide a knife tip down one side to help them pop out easily. Pipe or spoon a generous amount of the chilled banana cream filling into the center well of each cookie cup.
- Garnish and serve: Immediately garnish each filled cookie cup with a fresh slice of banana. If you baked extra cookie dough, crumble one of the plain cookies and sprinkle the cookie crumbles over the top for added texture and visual appeal.
- Storage: Keep these delightful treats stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve. For best results and to prevent the cookies from becoming soggy, it’s recommended to assemble them no more than 12 hours in advance.
- Enjoy! Serve chilled and savor every bite of these amazing banana cream pie cookies!
Banana Cream Pie Cookie Recipe
Print
Pin
Rate
Ingredients
Cookie cups:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups flour
Banana Cream Pie filling:
- 1 3.4 oz box Banana Cream Instant pudding
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 8- oz tub whipped topping
- 1-2 bananas sliced
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160°C). Liberally spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray, ensuring all wells are coated.
-
Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together the granulated sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract, mixing until fully combined. Then, add the sour cream, salt, and baking soda, mixing until just incorporated. Finally, gradually add the flour and beat until the dough is smooth.
-
Scoop out 1 tablespoon of dough into each muffin cup. Using a cookie scoop helps ensure uniform cookies and speeds up the process significantly.
-
If you have extra dough, bake a few additional plain cookies on a baking sheet to crumble for topping later.
-
Bake for 17-18 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.
-
Let cookies stand in the pan for 1-2 minutes after taking them out of the oven. Lightly spray the round side of a 1 teaspoon measuring spoon with non-stick spray, then gently press it into the center of each warm cookie to create a well for the filling.
-
Let the cookie cups cool completely. To expedite this process, you can place the muffin pan in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
-
While the cookies are cooling, prepare the banana cream pie filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the box of dry instant pudding mix and the cold milk until smooth and slightly thickened. Gently fold in the thawed whipped topping until well combined and fluffy. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag (or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped) and store in the fridge until the cookie cups are fully cooled.
-
Once cookies are cool, remove them from the muffin tin (a knife tip along the side can help them pop out). Pipe the chilled banana cream filling into the center of each cookie cup and immediately top with a fresh slice of banana.
-
Crumble one of the plain baked cookies (if you made extra) or an un-filled cookie cup and sprinkle a small amount of cookie crumbles over the tops for garnish. Store the assembled cookies in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
How Far in Advance Can I Make Banana Cream Pie Cookies?
Timing is key for these delicate delights! I highly recommend not assembling the banana cream pie cookies more than 8-12 hours in advance of serving. The fresh banana slices and the moisture from the creamy filling can start to soften the cookie cups over time, potentially leading to a less desirable texture. If you’re planning to make them for a gathering the following day, your best bet is to prepare the cookie cups and the banana cream filling separately. Store the cooled cookie cups in an airtight container at room temperature and keep the filling in a pastry bag or airtight container in the refrigerator. Then, simply assemble them closer to your serving time. This ensures that your cookie cups remain delightfully crisp and the filling stays fresh and firm, offering the best possible taste and texture experience.
How Long Are Banana Cream Pie Cookie Cups Good For?
Once assembled, these delicious banana cream pie cookie cups are best enjoyed within 1-2 days if stored properly in an airtight container in the refrigerator. While they can last for up to 3 days, their peak freshness and texture are within the first couple of days. The high moisture content in the banana cream filling will naturally start to soften the cookie base over time. For the most satisfying results – crisp cookie and firm, creamy filling – try to consume them promptly. Always ensure they are kept chilled to maintain food safety and optimal taste.
Looking for More Cookie Cup Inspiration? Try These Amazing Cookie Cup Recipes!
If you’ve fallen in love with the convenience and deliciousness of these Banana Cream Pie Cookie Cups, you’re in luck! The world of cookie cups is vast and full of delightful possibilities. Here are some other fantastic cookie cup recipes that are sure to become new favorites, offering a variety of flavors and themes for every palate and occasion:
- Cherry Pie Cookie Cups: A sweet and tangy burst of cherry pie in a cookie form.
- Raspberry Cheesecake Cookie Cups: Indulge in creamy cheesecake with a vibrant raspberry swirl, all nestled in a cookie.
- Snickerdoodle Apple Pie Cookie Cups: The comforting flavors of apple pie baked into a spiced snickerdoodle cookie cup.
- Reese’s Chocolate Cookie Cups: A dream come true for peanut butter and chocolate lovers, in a bite-sized treat.
- Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups: Perfect for chilly days, these mimic your favorite warm beverage in dessert form.
- Banana Split Cookie Cups: All the fun and flavor of a banana split, made into an adorable cookie cup.
- Fudge Peanut Butter Cookie Cups: A rich and decadent combination of fudge and peanut butter, irresistible!
- Strawberry Buttercream Frosted Cookie Cups: A fresh, fruity cookie cup topped with sweet strawberry buttercream.
More Delicious Banana Recipes to Explore
If you’re a fan of bananas like we are, you’ll love exploring these other amazing recipes that feature this versatile and naturally sweet fruit. From classic pies to innovative cheesecakes, there’s a banana-infused delight for every craving:
- Butter Pecan Banana Cream Pie: A delightful twist on the classic, featuring crunchy pecans.
- Banana Cream Cheesecakes: Individual cheesecakes bursting with banana flavor.
- Banana Cream Cookies: Another cookie interpretation of the beloved banana cream profile.
- Banana Cream Fluff Salad: A light and airy dessert salad, perfect for any potluck.
- Classic Banana Cream Pie: For those who still love the traditional full-sized pie, this is a timeless recipe.
There’s nothing quite like the simple joys of childhood, is there? I often catch my youngest, my “baby” as I still call him, lost in his own imaginative world. Despite having four older siblings, he’s perfectly content entertaining himself, creating adventures with whatever he finds around the house. Just the other day, I saw him decked out in his sister’s jacket tied around his waist, his dad’s oversized boots, and his brother’s play helmet, ready for whatever quest his imagination conjured up. It’s moments like these that remind me to cherish the simple, everyday magic. It’s a good thing I save paper grocery bags – you never know when you’ll need them for a new invention or costume! Sharing simple, delicious treats, like these easy banana cookie cups, often adds to those cherished family memories.
You’re truly going to adore these easy banana cookie cups. They are meticulously crafted to deliver the authentic, comforting taste of a real banana cream pie, but with the added joy of a perfectly baked, chewy cookie base. Every single bite is a sweet, tender treat that’s incredibly hard to resist. Whether you’re making them for a special gathering, a family dessert, or just a delightful personal indulgence, these banana cream pie cookies are guaranteed to impress and satisfy. Get ready for a dessert experience that truly captures the best of both worlds!
