Homemade Banana Cream Pie

My husband loves banana cream pie. He loves it even more if it is made with a vanilla wafer crust! When we married, it didn't take me long to learn how to make a banana cream pie he loved. It used instant pudding, sliced bananas and whipped cream. It was quick and tasty. This year, I decided to branch out and see about making one from scratch. I had my doubts, but I found this positively reviewed recipe, Granny's Banana Cream Pie on Recipezaar and figured I'd give it a shot. It was...Amazing!!! Granted, the recipe called for constant stirring for 30 minutes over a hot stove....and I chose to make it on one of the hottest days of the year. However, it was worth it. In my opinion it tastes much better than the instant pudding version. I kept the vanilla wafer crust...didn't make sense to change that one!

Granny's Banana Cream Pie

This is pretty easy to make, but I benefited from the following tips:

• With the pie, unless you have a heavy bottomed saucepan, it is necessary to stir constantly. I don't have one. I used a silicon spatula and kept scraping the bottom to keep the milk from sticking.
• Be patient. I let it come to a boil on medium heat. After 20 minutes, I was tempted to turn the heat up! But, by then, it had noticeably thickened, so I had hope. From reading the other reviews, I gathered that if I had let it boil too soon, it wouldn't have thickened enough.
• The recipe calls for laying the sliced banana on the pie crust and then pouring the filling over it. Other reviewers mentioned this didn't mix very well. Instead they mixed the sliced banana into the pudding and then poured it into the crust. I also mixed the banana into the pudding first.
• I don't know if the milk selection makes a difference, but I used whole milk. I was afraid skim milk wouldn't thicken.
• I didn't have whipped topping. It didn't need it, but it would have given it that extra garnish and special touch. Next time, I'll pick some up.
• With the crust, I melted the butter and mixed it with the crumbs. I also saved some whole wafers to line the edges.
  

This post is linked up to Tasty Tuesday. (This is my first time participating!)