Craving something sweet
Published 1:30 am Friday, March 27, 2026
Every morning, as soon as I come upstairs from my run, I quickly eat a banana. I read that bananas are excellent post-run snacks for several reasons, but I just crave something sweet after a hard workout, and a banana hits the spot every time. Between my first breakfast every day, my son’s banana pancakes for breakfast several times a week, and my husband’s lunchbox, we go through a lot of bananas, but our home isn’t the only one.
Bananas are the number one most-consumed (sweet) fruit in the world. (Tomatoes are technically fruit, and more of them are consumed every day, but I’m sure you don’t immediately think “tomato” when I say “fruit”.) Bananas are readily available worldwide because they ship and store exceptionally well; they are nutrient-rich, inexpensive, easy to digest, and, if you consider variants like plantains, extremely versatile in the kitchen.
There are up to 1,000 separate varieties of bananas in the world. They come in many different colors, and their flavors range from the extremely sweet Red Dacca bananas with pinkish flesh and red peels to the green-skinned, to starchy-fleshed plantains, and there are even the Blue Java bananas, grown in Hawaii, that are delectably sweet and have a texture said to be like ice cream, and yes, they really are blue. The most commonly found banana in our grocery stores is the Cavendish, which is harvested when hard and green but, as it ripens, turns yellow, then spotted brown.
Cavendish bananas’ nutritional profile changes a little at different stages of ripeness. Greener bananas are higher in fiber and lower in sugar, making them an excellent choice for diabetics. Solid yellow, with no spots, is the most nutritionally balanced; heavily spotted bananas have the highest sugar content and the lowest fiber, making them great for quick energy.
Solid yellow bananas are the perfect ripeness for banana cream pie. You want them to be sweet, but not too soft, and certainly not brown. This delicate, smooth pie is made with a rich custard filling, a buttery crust, and a pile of whipped cream … not recommended as a post-workout refuel.
Ingredients:
For the crust:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold water
For the filling:
4 egg yolks
2 yellow bananas
¼ cup cornstarch
2 cups whole milk
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
Make the pie crust first.
Sift together the flour and salt, then cut the butter in until it’s crumbly.
Drizzle the water over the flour and use your fingertips to mix until a dough begins to form.
Knead just enough to bring the dough together, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Roll the chilled dough out to a circle about ¼ inch thick.
Carefully lay the dough into your pie tin and gently press down into the bottom and against the sides.
Fold the excess dough at the rim and tuck it behind the crust so it is even with the top of the pan.
Pinch and press around the edges to create an artful rim.
Refrigerate for 1 more hour.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Blind bake with pie weights for 15 minutes, remove the weights, then bake for another 15.
Remove and let cool completely before lining the bottom with sliced bananas.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and cornstarch until smooth.
In a large saucepan, combine the milk, cream, sugar, and salt and heat until steaming.
Take a cup of the hot milk and very slowly drizzle it into the yolk mix, whisking continuously, until the entire cup has been incorporated.
Return the mix to the pan and cook until it just begins to boil. It will thicken to a pudding consistency.
Strain through a fine mesh strainer into the mixing bowl, then pour onto the sliced bananas.
Cover with plastic wrap smoothed onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and chill for at least 4 hours.
Top with plenty of whipped cream.
