Banana Split Pie

Louanne, from Louanne's Kitchen, recently posted this recipe for her Save Room for Dessert series at Our Krazy Kitchen. Still with me??

I believe I responded with something along the lines of "OMG, I need a piece of this." Well, as it turns out, a piece of this has Not Yet shown up at my house. I mean, it's been Three Whole Days. How long is a girl supposed to wait?? I was forced to take matters into my own hands.

The only thing I did differently was to leave out the powdered sugar from the whipped cream. Oh yeah, and I only used 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, it's all I had! I just didn't think it was necessary to add more sugar to a pie this sweet. Plus, we like our whipped cream plain, with a little vanilla (or sometimes a splash of rum). I sprinkled the pie with a good 1/2 ounce of grated semi-sweet chocolate too, right on top!

I don't even care that most likely I will end up eating the majority of this pie all by myself. Sometimes these things happen. And I have a feeling it will be fantastic with a cup of coffee. Yes, in the morning. Of course, for breakfast. Why all the questions? Sheesh.


Delicious. I just ate two pieces...I'm going to go do some yoga now.


BANANA SPLIT PIE
Recipe adapted from Pecans from Soup to Nuts by Keith Courrege and Marcelle Bienvenu by Louanne

3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter, melted
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
16 ounces sour cream
3 bananas, sliced
20 ounce can crushed pineapple
Maraschino cherries, with or without stems
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped, for garnish
Whipped cream or cool whip
Grated chocolate, optional

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a 13x9 baking dish, melt butter in microwave, then add graham cracker crumbs and mix well, pressing the mixture onto the bottom; set aside.

Combine the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in another mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until completely blended.
Spread this mixture evenly over the graham cracker crust and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, spread the sour cream over the cream cheese mixture, and bake for 15 minutes longer. *(for me, there was no "spreading." The cream cheese was super soft, and spreading was out of the question. I dolloped sour cream over the hot cream cheese. I had no choice.)

Remove from the oven and cool completely.

While base is cooling, drain crushed pineapple and slice bananas into 1/4" slices; gently toss pineapple and bananas together.

When cool, layer the pineapple and banana mixture over the sour cream and then spread the whipped cream evenly over the top.

Dust with grated chocolate, if desired, then sprinkle with the chopped pecans and the cherries. (I put my grated chocolate on last)

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.


WHIPPED CREAM
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

• Beat whipping cream and vanilla until soft peaks form - texture should be billowy.
• Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.
• Use immediately.