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Easy Banana Cream Pie Eclairs with Chocolate Ganache

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3.9 from 61 reviews

These Banana Cream Pie Eclairs combine light, golden choux pastry shells filled with a creamy homemade vanilla pudding, fresh banana slices, and topped with a smooth chocolate ganache for a delightful dessert treat.

Ingredients

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Pastry Shells

  • 1/2 cup 115gr unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup 125gr all-purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs (at room temperature)

Vanilla Pudding Filling

  • 2 cups 480ml whole milk (2% will work too)
  • 1/3 cup 65gr sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Assembly

  • 2 bananas
  • 1/2 cup 120ml heavy whipping cream

Chocolate Ganache

  • 1 cup 175gr semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (softened, optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat Oven: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
  2. Make Pastry Shells: In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of water, butter, sugar and salt and bring it to a boil over high heat. When butter is melted and the mixture is boiling, add flour all at once, reduce the heat to medium and continuously stir until the dough will start to form into a ball. Keep mixing for another 3-4 minutes until light crust forms on the bottom of the pan.
  3. Cool Dough: Transfer the dough into a mixing bowl with paddle attachment and mix it for a few minutes on low speed until the mixture is cooled to room temperature.
  4. Add Eggs: Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. This will help to get egg absorbed into the dough quicker. Don’t add more than 2 eggs at a time. This is important, as you might not need to add all the eggs. The dough should be smooth and thin enough to fall into a ribbon, but too runny.
  5. Pipe Batter: Transfer the batter into a pastry bag and pipe into 4-inch strips 3 inches apart. Level peaked tops with wet fingertip, if needed.
  6. Bake Pastry: Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the shells are puffed up and golden brown, rotating the sheets top to bottom and back to front once after first 20 minutes. When you take the éclairs out, it should stay puffed. If it falls flat, put it back in the oven, bake for additional 3-5 minutes, turn the oven off and let it cool in the warm oven.
  7. Cool and Cut: Once cooled, cut the eclairs in half horizontally.
  8. Scald Milk: To make the pudding, in a heavy bottomed saucepan, place milk and slowly bring it to a simmer over medium heat. This’s called scalding the milk. Once you see small bubbles appearing on the surface, remove it from heat. Be careful not to boil it though, or it’ll scramble the eggs in step 3.
  9. Mix Egg Mixture: In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste and salt. Whisk the mixture until creamy and doubled in size.
  10. Temper Eggs: To temper the egg mixture, slowly add 1 cup of scalded milk into the egg yolk mixture, while constantly whisking the mixture.
  11. Cook Custard: Transfer the tempered egg mixture into the remaining scalded milk. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture is nice and thick.
  12. Strain Custard: Run the custard through a sieve for extra smooth texture.
  13. Chill Custard: Cover it with a plastic wrap so that it touches the surface of the pudding. This’ll prevent a layer of film from forming on top. Chill the pudding completely.
  14. Whip Cream and Fold: Whip heavy cream until hard peaks form. And gently fold into the chilled vanilla pudding until smooth.
  15. Fill Pastry Bag: Transfer the filling into a pastry bag with star tip (I used Wilton 1M).
  16. Slice Bananas: Cut bananas into thin slices.
  17. Layer Bananas: Layer banana slices on the bottom half of the éclair shells.
  18. Pipe Filling: Pipe the filling and replace the top of the shells.
  19. Make Ganache: To make the chocolate ganache, in a small saucepan, bring heavy cream to a simmer. Do not boil.
  20. Combine Ganache Ingredients: Pour hot cream over chocolate chips, and let it sit for good 2 minutes. Then mix well until smooth for couple minutes.
  21. Add Butter: Stir in butter to add some shine.
  22. Finish Eclairs: Pour chocolate ganache over the eclairs and serve.
  23. Store: Store the assembled eclairs in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Notes

  • Don’t add more than 2 eggs at a time when mixing dough to ensure proper absorption and consistency.
  • Cover the pudding with plastic wrap touching its surface to prevent film formation.
  • If éclairs fall flat after baking, put them back in the warm oven for 3-5 minutes and then let cool in the oven.
  • Store assembled éclairs in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Find it online: https://yumfoodusa.com/easy-banana-cream-pie-eclairs-with-chocolate-ganache/