Okay I am a complete sucker for banana, caramel, and nuts – and this delicious sweet treat has them all. And it tastes so good it could possibly make you pass out from pleasure.
A raw twist on the classic dessert from the Hungry Monk restaurant in the UK (circa 1971) consisting of crumbly biscuit base filled with caramel and topped with cream and bananas. The name comes from combining the main ingredients of banana and toffee.
This no-bake version is big on healthy nuts, and leaves out the sugary condensed milk for the caramel replacing it with dates and coconut milk (so good, you won’t want to make caramel any other way!).
Dates are a great in desserts because their high fibre means they are low GI, while giving you good amounts of iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium and B6. Equally good, the cashews are high in fat (the good kind oleic acid found in olive oil) and high in brain, bone and heart healthy minerals like magnesium, zinc and K12.
There are a few versions of the raw banoffee floating around the internet – this one borrows from the wonderful MerryMaker Sisters for their banana cashew filling and Nadia’s Healthy Kitchen for its nutty, oaty base (with a bit less fat than other versions). If you’d like less nuts, and something closer to the classic version, you can skip the filling and top with the gorgeous coconut cream instead (a perfect substitute for the traditional dairy you can use with any dessert!)
I’ll leave which version you make up to you and how much time you have– both are divine.
Raw banoffee pie
Base
- 1 cup (100g) ground almonds
- 1 cup (125g) oat flour or shredded coconut (blitz in blender to make fine)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) coconut oil
- 1.5 tbsp honey – or maple syrup
Filling
- 2 cups cashews soaked (minum 3 – 4hours)
- 2 bananas
- 1 cup coconut cream
- 1/3 coconut oil
- Vanilla extract
Caramel topping
- 100 g pitted dates (soak in boiling water for 10 mins & drain)
- 1/4 – 1/12 cup coconut milk (canned)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil or butter
- 1 tsp. 100% vanilla extract
- Pinch of sea salt
To decorate
- Fresh banana (I like to use 2 medium)
- Dark chocolate to grate over (optional)
- Handful of pecans or walnuts, toasted to crumble over
- Shredded coconut, toasted, to scatter
Cream (if not using filling)
- Can of coconut cream (refrigerate overnight)
- Vanilla extract, liquid stevia (optional)
How to make
Make the base by mixing together all the dry ingredients in a bowl, stirring in the coconut oil and honey/syrup and then pressing mixture into a springform pie crust lined with baking paper. Chill in freezer while you prepare the rest of the pie.
Prepare the filling by combining all the ingredients in your high power blender and blending until smooth. Make sure you rinse and drain the cashews first. Press mixture into the pie crust and return to the freezer for two hours or until set.
For the caramel place drained dates and all the other ingredients into your blender and whizz till a smooth caramel consistency. Try not to eat it all straight out of the blender!
When ready to serve, remove pie from freezer and release spingform pan gently (you may need to run hot knife around the edge beforehand) Top the pie with sliced banaas and drizzle with the caramel. Sprinkle with the toasted pecan or walnuts and shavings of dark chocolate.
Option 2:
If you’re short of time, or would like a version that’s closer to the original, you can leave out the banana cashew filling and simply top the pie crust with caramel, bananas and coconut cream.
To make the coconut cream remove can from fridge and scoop out solid coconut cream layer from the top. Whip by hand or in a blender till fluffy (you can add a touch of sweetener if you like – I add a few drops of vanilla and liquid stevia)
Simply fill the base with the caramel and top with sliced bananas and whipped coconut cream and the toasted nuts and shredded coconut.
Notes
To make the oat flour for the base, simply pulverise some rolled oats in your high speed blender. You can substitute oat flour entirely with shredded coconut (also blitzed in blender till fine grain) or do a mix of half and half.
For option two you make like to increase number of sliced bananas to top the pie. And also the quantity of caramel. I do one and a half times the mixture.
Unlike regular baking you can’t go wrong with this raw dessert, so play around with quantities and presentation that suits you.
If you have any left over (very unlikely!) freeze ready sliced for later indulgence. 🙂