This rich and creamy no-bake vanilla cream pie with a buttery cookie crust and an easy vanilla custard takes less than twenty minutes to put together with just a few basic ingredients.
Because you don't need an oven for this vanilla cream pie recipe, it is perfect for hot summer days when you want to make something special but don't want to turn on a hot oven.
I like decorating mine with melted chocolate or fresh fruit like strawberries or blueberries. If you want to take your pies to the next level, add a dollop of chantilly cream on top!
Ingredients
Cookies - I like to use digestives when making a no-bake pie, but you could use any cookie you'd like. For example, you could use graham crackers, Oreos, shortbread, or speculaas.
Butter - I always use unsalted butter in my recipes unless stated otherwise. You could replace the butter with plant-based butter or margarine for a lactose-free pie.
Flour - flour allows the vanilla custard to thicken. You can replace the flour with cornstarch if you want to make this recipe gluten-free.
Eggs - to make the custard, you will need egg yolks but don't throw away the whites!! There are loads of recipes you can make with just egg whites, like meringue or pavlova. You could also freeze the egg whites for later use.
The egg yolks, just like the flour, thicken the cream and give the vanilla cream a nice soft yellow color.
Milk - I like to use whole milk for the creamiest custard, but you can use any milk you like.
How to make this vanilla cream pie
You start by making the custard.
- Put the milk in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Add the eggs, sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla to a heatproof bowl and stir well until there are (almost) no lumps in the mixture. While stirring, slowly pour the milk into the eggs. It is very important that you keep stirring well to prevent the eggs from solidifying!!!
- Pour the egg mixture back into the pan and heat over low heat while stirring until it thickens. When your vanilla custard has the desired thickness, pour it through a sieve into a bowl and leave it covered with cling film to cool slightly.
Next, you make the cookie crust.
- Crumble the cookies in a food processor, put them in a ziplock bag, and crush them with a rolling pin.
- Melt the butter and stir it into the cookie crumbs.
- Press the crumbs well into small pie tins and place them in the refrigerator.
Lastly, you put the vanilla cream pie together and set it in the fridge.
- Remove the pie tins from the refrigerator and put about three tablespoons of the vanilla filling in each tin.
- Smooth the bottom side with the back of a spoon and place the tarts in the refrigerator until completely cooled.
- Decorate with some melted chocolate or some whipped cream.
Variations
Add spices! Try adding some cinnamon or speculaas spices to the crust!
Love chocolate? Stir in some chocolate into the vanilla custard for amazing chocolate cream pies.
Frequently asked questions
There are eggs in the filling, but we cook them for a few minutes until they reach 145 °F or 63 °C, so you don't have to worry about salmonella. You could use pasteurized eggs if you don't feel comfortable using raw eggs.
You can! :-D. You could use a tablespoon of vanilla paste or vanilla extract. I like to use vanilla sugar I made myself with leftover vanilla beans.
Yes, if you want to make one 9-inch or 20-cm pie instead of 4 small ones, you should use double this recipe.
Equipment
- Four small tart pans with a loose bottom.
- A thick-bottomed saucepan to make the vanilla cream.
- A food processor to grind the cookies in. You can also do this in a bag with a rolling pin.
Storage
Vanilla cream pie stays fresh for about two days in the fridge, so they are perfect for making the day before! Unfortunately, they are not suitable for freezing.
More no-bake pie recipes you will LOVE
Vanilla cream pie
Ingredients
For the crust
- 7 cookies graham crackers or digestives
- 3,5 tablespoons butter
For the vanilla cream filling
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 tablespoon flour
- Chocolate for decorating *optional
Instructions
For the vanilla cream filling:
- Whisk your eggs and one egg yolk, salt, vanilla, flour, and sugar together in a heatproof bowl.
- Heat up the milk and slowly pour it into the eggs while whisking.
- Pour the egg mixture into the pan and stir it over low heat until it thickens.
- When your vanilla cream has the right thickness, transfer it to a bowl, let it cool completely, cover it with plastic wrap, and set it in the fridge. Keep in mind that the vanilla cream will thicken when it cools.
For the cookie crust:
- Add the cookies to a food processor and pulse them, or add them to a ziplock bag and hit them with a rolling pin until you end up with cookie crumbles.
- Melt the butter and add this to the cookie crumbles. Mix it well and press the cookie crumble into the pie pans.
Assemble the vanilla cream pies
- Divide the vanilla cream over your pie tins.
- Decorate the pies and let them set in the fridge for at least four hours.
Excellent recipe! I had some shortbread cookies so I made the crust using those. I will make this again maybe with coconut or bananas!
How can this be adapted for one 9" pie? Should the recipe be doubled, or more?