This creamy no-bake Banana Pudding Icebox Pie is the perfect summer treat. Filled with flavors of the quintessential Southern dessert, banana pudding, this pie will keep you coming back for more!
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What Is An Icebox Pie?
Icebox pie and icebox cake are desserts I remember eating as a young child on a hot summer day. Southerners prefer not to heat up their kitchens a lot during the hot summer months and icebox pie, which is typically a no-bake recipe, is the perfect dessert in this instance.
Icebox pies are a type of chilled dessert that is made in a pie plate. Think of a tangy key lime or lemon pie, or a rich and creamy chocolate pudding pie. You will see icebox pie on many restaurant menus in the South and it's an incredibly tasty dessert that we have grown to adore.
Most icebox pies have a simple press-in cookie crust, but some may have a pastry crust. The filling is usually smooth and creamy, thanks to the addition of whipped cream, condensed milk, or pudding. The prepared filling is poured into the prepared crust, then the pie is chilled in the refrigerator or freezer until it has set.
Why Is It Called an Icebox Pie?
Most Southerners used to refer to a freezer as an "icebox", which is how the pie got its charming name since it's kept in the freezer until ready to serve.
Most icebox pies are topped with lots of sweet whipped cream and are delicious in just about any flavor. For this recipe, I've combined two of my favorite desserts, icebox pie, and banana pudding, to create one irresistible treat!
How To Make This Icebox Pie
Prepare your crust by combining crushed vanilla wafer cookies, butter and salt until all crumbs are moistened and pressing it into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate the crust while you prepare the filling.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. This should take about 2-3 minutes.
Add milk, vanilla extract, and dry banana cream pudding mix to the bowl with the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth, about another 2-3 minutes. Fold in whipped using a rubber spatula. Be patient as the mixture will look like it's not coming together at first, but it will.
Remove crust from the refrigerator and spray the sides of the pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the sides of the pan with parchment paper to keep the filling from sticking from the pan when ready to serve.
Pour filling over the top of the crust and smooth out into an even layer. Place pie in the freezer for 4-5 hours until set.
When ready to serve, remove the outer edge of the springform pan and parchment paper from the pie. Place sliced bananas to the top of the pie, starting with the outer edge, and cover the top of the pie in a single layer of bananas.
Top the banana layer with an even layer of crushed vanilla wafers and pipe whipped around the edge of the pie. Add more sliced bananas in a standing position around the perimeter of the pie, using the whipped cream to secure them. Slice pie with a clean knife, Enjoy!
Important Tips for Making This Pie
- You do need to use a springform pan for this recipe as a regular pie plate is not large enough to hold all of the filling.
- You can use a 10-inch pan if that is what you have on hand, just note that the crust and pie will not be as thick.
- I recommend a stand mixer or electric hand mixer for this recipe. You can mix the homemade whipped cream by hand but it takes forever and is quite the arm workout!
- This pie can be placed in the refrigerator for at least six hours before serving instead of the freezer. However, the filling will be much softer and less sturdy if you do so.
Check Out These Other No-Bake Treats Before You Go!
No-Bake Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake
Vegan Peanut Butter Cheesecake
No-Bake Pineapple Cheesecake Bars
No-Churn Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Icebox Cream
📖 Recipe
Banana Pudding Icebox Pie
Equipment
- 9-inch springform pan
Ingredients
For Crust
- 1 ¾ cups vanilla wafer cookie crumbs about 60 wafers, pulse cookies in a food processor to create crumbs
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- pinch salt
For Filling
- 2 blocks cream cheese softened
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 3.4 oz box instant banana cream pudding mix
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups whipping cream
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
For Toppping
- banana slices about two bananas
- crushed vanilla wafers place cookies in a ziploc bag and roll over them with a rolling pin to coarsely crush
- whipped cream
Instructions
- Prepare your crust by combining vanilla wafer cookie crumbs, butter and salt until all crumbs are moistened and pressing it into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate the crust while you prepare the filling.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. This should take about 2-3 minutes.
- Add milk, vanilla extract, and dry banana cream pudding mix to the bowl with the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth, about another 2-3 minutes. Set aside while you prepare the whipped cream.
- In a medium bowl, beat heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form*. Add powdered sugar to bowl and beat until stiff peaks form**. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture using a rubber spatula. Be patient as the mixture will look like it's not coming together at first, but it will.
- Remove crust from the refrigerator and spray the sides of the pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the sides of the pan with parchment paper to keep the filling from sticking from the pan when ready to serve.
- Pour filling over the top of the crust and smooth out into an even layer. Place pie in the freezer for 4-5 hours until set.
- When ready to serve, remove the outer edge of the springform pan and parchment paper from the pie. Place a layer of sliced bananas on top of the pie, starting with the outer edge and working your way toward the center, covering the top of the pie.
- Top the banana layer with an even layer of crushed vanilla wafers and pipe whipped around the edge of the pie. Add more sliced bananas in a standing position around the perimeter of the pie, using the whipped cream to secure them. Slice pie with a clean knife, Enjoy!
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