Easy and healthy mini banoffee pies

I don’t have the words to describe how good today’s recipe is! I just don’t! Do you love banoffee pies? Are you looking for a healthier version? Do you love bananas? Do you want a biscuit tart base? Do you want more caramel? Is there a party coming up and you’re looking for something sweet to make that even the baby can eat? If you replied yes to even one of the questions above, then you must make this! It’s incredibly easy to make, and it’s unique, amazing, dreamy, incredible, tasty, nutritious, astonishing, unbelievable, awesome, fabulous, glorious, wonderful, unreal, extraordinary, astounding, exceptional, fantastic, marvelous… and the list goes on! It’s also vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and with no refined sugar. So, for today, I have the recipe for you, mini banoffee pies with the crunchiest cookie-like base and the unique taste granted only from the white petimezi Cretan Nectar. Are you convinced or not yet?

What we are going to need

For the base

• Oat flakes. I use thin whole-grain oat flakes. Oat flakes are gluten-free, but if you have a serious case of gluten intolerance, choose oat flakes without gluten so that not even traces can be found in them.
• White petimezi Cretan Nectar. The white petimezi from Cretan Nectar contains only natural sugars from white grapes, has no preservatives, no additives, and no dyes. In contrast to the classic petimezi, it’s been processed in lower temperatures without caramelizing, which avoids the characteristic bitter taste of the classic version and can be used in even more sweet preparations. In the final days of the vine harvest, on the sunny mountain slopes of Crete, they gather the mature white grapes of the Cretan Stafida variety and the incredibly aromatic variety Moschato. For a few days, they’ll be sun-dried and then, after they’re pressed, their must will be simmered to create the White Petimezi Cretan Nectar. It’s a natural syrup that’s rich in nutritional elements and can be used as an alternative sweetener that goes beyond being just a sugar substitute, adding taste and aromas with its deliciously velvety texture every time it’s used. You’ll find it in all Chalkiadakis stores and at cretacellar.gr. It is suitable for children six months or older, but just like with all sweeteners, it must be used with measure.
• Coconut oil. I usually use cold-pressed coconut oil, though you can use ghee butter instead, which will also give our banoffee pies an incredible cookie-like base. Coconut oil is weighed when solid and doesn’t need to be melted, since it will be perfectly homogenized in the dough during processing.
• Walnuts. You can use almonds instead if you’d like.
• Cinnamon.

For the caramel

• Medjool dates. You can use normal dates, but there’s nothing like Medjool dates. You’ll just need to soak them in water.
• Almond butter. You can use peanut butter, but I’d suggest following the recipe faithfully, and you’ll find that the result is exactly what the description says: caramel! The last time I made this, I used almond butter with cashew nuts, and the result was even more amazing, so if you happen to have such a nut butter mix, don’t hesitate to use it.
• Tonka beans. I’ve mentioned these seeds in a previous article. You can skip them, but their unique smell will enrich your caramel!

For the assembly

• Bananas. Can you have banoffee without bananas? You can’t! Sliced. You can put more or less than stated, depending on your preference.
• Lemon. Moisten each banana slice with a drop of lemon to avoid browning.
• Coconut cream. Make sure to use canned coconut cream or canned coconut milk, not cream of coconut or regular coconut milk because in this case, you would never have a whipping cream. Also, make sure to chill the can in the fridge from the night before, and use only the solid part. You want the cream to harden and separate from the coconut water.
• White petimezi Cretan Nectar.

Tips

• Make the banoffee pies in small tart forms or in a larger tart dish—though, if you do, make sure to bake for longer.
• Make the recipe double right away.
• The only thing that may take longer in this recipe is washing your food processor to make the caramel after you’ve made the base dough.
• Let the bases cool before filling them.

How the little hands can help

• By putting the ingredients in the food processor.
• By slicing the bananas with a training knife.
• If you want an alternative dough for your banoffee pie, then you can try the equally tasty and cookie-like base of the lemon tart or the carob base.
• They can move the dough to the forms with a spoon and spread it with their little hands. They can do the same for the other layers, too. Just make sure to have more banana slices than you’ll need, because I think you’ll have… collateral damage, haha.

Ingredients for 4 small pies (10 centimeters or about 4 inches in diameter)

For the base

• 160 g oat flakes
• 80 g walnuts
• 60 g coconut oil
• 45 g white petimezi Cretan Nectar
• ½ tsp cinnamon

For the caramel

• 200 g Medjool dates without pit
• 60 g almond butter
• ⅓ Tonka bean, grated

For the assembly

• 2 bananas
• lemon juice drops
• 400 ml canned coconut milk
• 1 ½ tbsp white petimezi Cretan Nectar

For the base

10 mins

TOTAL TIME
25 mins