Banana Cream Pie Bars

Name: Banana Cream Pie Bars
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: ½ cup butter ( room temperature); ½ cup brown sugar; 1 egg; 1 tsp vanilla; ½ tsp salt; ½ teaspoon baking soda; 1¾ cups all-purpose flour; 1 (5.1 oz) box instant banana pudding mix; 2½ cups cold milk; 4 oz room temperature cream cheese; ½ teaspoon vanilla; ½ cup powdered sugar; 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream; fresh banana slices; vanilla wafer cookies (graham crackers, chocolate chips, etc. )

These Banana Pudding Bars have a soft sugar cookie crust, a pudding center and a whipped cream cheese topping.

I have a baked banana cream pie that I love to make for holidays and pi day, but banana cream bars are a little quicker to make and have a nice crust that's more like a cookie than a pie. It's pretty similar to the crust for my Easy Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars and gets softer when made ahead, which is so yummy!

Spatula holding slice of banana cream pie bar above ceramic pan.

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Over the years I've made a sheet pan version, but converted it to this smaller 9x13 cake pan size better because of the thicker banana pudding layers. The texture of the banana cream squares is mostly from the banana pudding middle layer and the fluffy whipped topping, but the soft crust on the bottom is one of my favorite parts.

You could also use an adjusted brown sugar graham cracker crust for a 9x13 inch pan and it's so easy to make!

Jump to:

What To Expect
🛒 Ingredients
✏️ Substitutions & Variations
🧑‍🍳 Instructions
Tip
📌 Top Tips For Success
❓Frequently Asked Questions
🍌 More Easy & Delicious Banana Recipes
📝 Printable Recipe
💬 Comments

What To Expect

Ease: It's pretty simple to make the crust, make the banana pudding dessert layer and whipped topping, and put them together. I'd rate this as a beginner/mid-level baker recipe.
Taste: Banana cream pie in bar form! It's a triple layer banana dessert which means multiple flavors coming from the pudding, cookie like crust, and cream cheese topping.
Time: It takes a little more than an hour, because waiting for the crust to cool down completely will take 30- 40 minutes or so in the fridge or freezer. It is super easy to make the banana pudding bars ahead or the night before.

🛒 Ingredients

Sugar - you'll need brown sugar for the cookie crust and powdered sugar for the whipped cream cheese topping.
Pudding Mix - make sure it's instant banana cream pudding mix.
Cream Cheese - I use full fat or ⅓ fat, but fat free would work as well for a lighter version.
Whipping Cream - used for the whipped topping combined with the cream cheese tastes just like banana cream cheesecake bars.
Vanilla Wafer Cookies - not required but so delicious! I usually place one on each slice of the banana cream dessert.
Bananas - fresh sliced for the tops of each bar. I like to wait until I'm ready to serve them before putting them on.

See the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and quantities.

✏️ Substitutions & Variations

Vanilla wafer cookies - swap out with graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon cookies, ginger snaps, anything you'd like that would complement the banana flavor.
Instead of making a homemade whipped cream topping, some readers choose to use Cool Whip instead.
Banana pudding mix - you can use vanilla pudding, coconut pudding, chocolate pudding, butterscotch, cheesecake pudding, the possibilities are endless!

🧑‍🍳 Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

Butter and brown sugar in a bowl, and egg and vanilla in a metal bowl with creamed butter.

Step 1. (above) In a stand mixer, mix butter and sugar together on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes, until fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

Step 2. (above) Add the egg and vanilla, and mix for another minute, until mixture is fluffy and the egg is completely mixed in.

Flour in metal bowl with creamed sugar and egg and ceramic pan with measuring cup.

Step 3. (above) Add in the salt, baking powder, and flour. Mix into the we ingredients until combined and there are no flour pockets left.

Step 4.(above) Pat into the prepared baking sheet evenly. Bake at 375℉ for 10 minutes. It will be super soft and look underbaked like a cookie. This is what we want! Let it cool completely before spreading the filling onto it.

Tip

To speed up the cooling, fan it or let it cool for a few minutes at room temp (so it doesn't melt anything) and then refrigerate or freeze the crust for 20-30 minutes.

During this time it's a good opportunity to wash the mixing bowl and begin making the cream cheese filling and pudding.

Banana pudding mix and milk in glass mixing bowl, and wire whisk inside glass mixing bowl with banana pudding.

Step 5.(above) Mix together instant pudding mix and cold milk. This recipe uses less milk than the box calls for, so be careful to read the recipe carefully!

Step 6.(above) Mix the pudding mix and milk for 2 minutes until it's extra thick. Let it rest briefly while the base cools and make the whipped cream cheese topping.

Cream cheese with whisk in metal mixing bowl with whipping cream.

Step 7.(above) In a clean mixing bowl, use the whisk attachment to cream together the room temperature cream cheese, vanilla and the powdered sugar for 3 minutes, until smooth and fluffy. Add about ½ cup of heavy cream and mix until it's fully incorporated.

Step 8.(above) Add in the heavy cream ½ cup at a time, mixing well in between each addition. When the last of the cream is added, turn the mixing speed to high to whip for 1-2 minutes until it's nice and fluffy.

Spatula spreading banana pudding mix into ceramic pan and spatula spreading whipped cream into pan.

Step 9.(above) Spread the pudding mix onto the cooled crust before the pudding completely sets up in the bowl. If it's firm you can whisk it a little to loosen it up and smooth it out before spreading it over the crust.

Step 10.(above) Carefully spread the whipped cream topping evenly over the banana pudding layer, gently to prevent the layers mixing together.

Step 11. (above) Top with vanilla wafer cookies, freshly sliced bananas, or gram cracker crumbs.

Step 12.(above) Refrigerate until ready to slice and serve.

📌 Top Tips For Success

Don't over-bake the crust! It will look like a soft underbaked cookie when it's done. THIS IS FINE. If anything we want it to be a little underbaked rather than overbaked and dry.
DO NOT substitute soy, almond, or cashew milk for the cows' milk. Any other kind of milk inhibits the set-up of the pudding and makes the bars runny.
I like to slice bananas for the top, but only right before I serve the bars, so they don't turn brown.

❓Frequently Asked Questions

How many servings does this make?

You can slice the banana bars into either 12, 16, or 20 slices.

How far in advance can this be made?

You can make these 1-2 days in advance and refrigerate, beyond that the crust can begin to get soggy.

How do you store banana pudding bars?

You can cover and refrigerate them for up to 3 days, including if you make them ahead.

Do you have to use whipping cream or can you use cool whip?

You can use cool whip in place of the homemade whipped cream cheese topping.

🍌 More Easy & Delicious Banana Recipes

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