Super easy chocolate-banana cream pie in a walnut crust

Visiting my friend Tristan, we made this fantastic pie!

When you live in Alaska and travel down to the Lower 48, you try to cram as much as possible into every trip.  I just attended a conference in Estes Park, Colorado.  Since I was in the neighborhood I decided to take a road trip around the Four Corners region, visiting friends in the area.  

Tristan, one of my best friends from high school, lives in Farmington, NM, and she said that she would bake a pie if I came to visit her.  I would have totally visited her without the promise of a pie, but that made it a totally sweet deal!

Tristan, me, Heidi, and Stacey hanging out at the Village Inn parking lot circa 1993

When I arrived, we discussed what type of pie we should make, and this is what we came up with: a chocolate pudding pie with bananas and whipped cream in a walnut crust.  

Chocolate-banana cream pie in a walnut crust

Crust

1.5 cups walnuts

3 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp butter

Filling

1 package Jell-chocolate pudding

2.5 cups milk

2-3 bananas

1/2 pint whipping cream

2 tbps sugar

Preheat the oven to 325˚.

In a food processor, add the crust ingredients and mix together.  Press into a 9 inch pie plate and bake for 10 minutes.  Let it cool completely.  We stuck the crust in the freeze to help it cool since it was about 95˚ degrees outside.

Add the chocolate Jell-O pudding mix to 2.5 cups of milk and mix with an electric mixer for 3 minutes until the pudding is firm.

Slice the bananas into 1/8th to 1/4 inch slices.

Whip the whipping cream with an electric mixer until you have firm peaks; mix in ~ 2 tbsp of sugar after the whipping cream is able to form firm peaks.

Once you have the crust, banana slice, chocolate pudding, and whipped cream ready to, start assembling the pie.

Begin by placing a layer banana slices over the bottom of the crust.

 

Pour the chocolate pudding over the banana slices; add a second layer of banana slices over the chocolate pudding.

Spread the whipped cream over the banana slices and top with any leftover banana.

 I'm not sure how well or long this cream pie will keep in the refrigerator; it was devoured fairly quickly!