Mini Banana Cream Cutie Pies

You can never have too many frozen bananas.

I can think of endless uses for the extra ones I bought today.  Namely: smoothies and banana bread.

If I could live off smoothies and banana bread I would.

I am starting to become a frozen banana hoarder.  Should I see someone about this??

It's been hot here.  I did NOT want to turn my oven on.  So I threw together all of the ingredients I was craving and this is the result.

A layer of graham cracker crust, followed by dark chocolate, fresh banana slices and then GUESS WHAT: whipped cream on top (duhhh).

Oh-my-NOMS they hit the spot.  And they look cute.

I am soooo diggin the layers lately.  Princess Lay-ah.  HA. I am so funny (.....um NOT...).

The only difficulty I encountered with these little treats is making them hold their shape.  The crust is a bit crumbly and the bananas like to slide off the chocolate...but who cares when the whole thing is going straight in my mouth anyways??

In any case I think it may have been a better idea to add the bananas before the chocolate was set so they wouldn't be so slippery.

I covered my baking tray in saran wrap before filling the cups with the crust, based off a blog I was reading the other day.  I was a bit skeptical at first but it actually worked surprisingly well.

The chocolate layer was inspired by a truffle recipe I tried about a week ago.

I also had a major craving for Retro Banana Cream Pie.  Et voila.

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Mini Banana Cream Pies*

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsps granulated sugar
4 tbsp margarine, melted

2 oz dark chocolate
2 tbsps whipping cream

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp maple syrup

*This recipe only makes about 9 pies, but it should be fairly easy to double...or triple...or quadruple.

Line muffin tray with saran wrap, making sure there is enough excess to push the base down into the cups.

In small bowl combine crumbs, sugar, and margarine.  Press about 1 tbsp of the mixture into each cup of the muffin tray.  Chill for 10-15 minutes in the freezer.

Chop chocolate into very fine pieces.  Pour into small bowl and set aside.

Remove muffin tray from freezer.  Heat 2 tbsps cream on stove until just boiling.  Pour over chocolate and stir until smooth.

Spread chocolate evenly over each base.  Chill in fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Slice banana, set aside.  Whip 1/4 cup cream, adding maple syrup just before the cream is completely whipped.

Remove chocolate base from saran wrap.  Arrange 3-4 banana slices on each pie and top with a spoonful of whipped cream (I used a ziplock bag to pipette the cream for a more aesthetically appealing effect).
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See?  Pretty.

Until next week,

Nicola ♡