Banana Pudding

All of the delicious cakes and puddings my mom and nana made when I was a kid were things I realized were deeply Southern and passed down to us during The Great Migration. Banana pudding was one such dish, and it’s filled with nostalgia. This version is inspired by the one my nana and mom taught me to make.

“Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana” ―

Anonymous

Why You’ll Love This Banana Pudding Recipe

• Includes homemade custard
• All natural and wholesome ingredients
• Fresh bananas
• Buttery vanilla flavor

Inspiration for Banana Pudding Recipe

One food I distinctly grew up eating was banana pudding. When I was really young, we made it as often as chocolate pudding and chocolate chip cookies. It consisted of a rich custard studded with lots of fresh bananas and Nabisco Nilla Wafers.

At one of my old jobs, we sold banana pudding on a display in massive 1000 calorie jars. I’m a glutton for curiosity as well as punishment, so I snagged a jar from work despite my inner self screaming NO. This was THE pudding, after all, as said by tons of our customers. But one small spoonful and the miserable flavor of fake banana seeped into my mouth.

Some people love it; I’m not a fan. But, I was disappointed that there wasn’t a single banana listed in the ingredients. When I still worked at that market, I remember accidentally leaving the container in my lunchbox overnight, and the pudding (although not smelling good) still looked the same in the morning….🙃

I recreated the real deal at home, no boxed pudding, no banana flavor; just real intense vanilla pudding with freshly cut bananas and homemade vanilla wafers.

You can place the pudding in little cups, or in an entire pie dish. I like to top mine with cookie crumbs.

I used homemade vanilla wafers and whipped cream

I used the Vanilla Wafer recipe by Allie {Baking A Moment} instead of the Nabisco brand (Nothing wrong with good ol’ Nabisco Nilla Wafers), but feel free to use whatever wafers that tickle your fancy. These in particular were super easy to make and utterly delicious. The more homemade a dessert is, the better it tastes, and the less havoc gets wreaked on our stomachs.

The whipped cream is light and luxurious. It adds a touch of fluffiness to the pudding and crunchy wafer crumbs. It is made simply with heavy cream or double cream and a little powdered sugar.

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Special Tools and Equipment

• Sauce pan
• Mixing bowls
• Rubber or wooden spatula

Print

Southern Banana Pudding

Course Dessert

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Chill Time 2 hours

Servings 8 people

Author Christie C.

Ingredients

• 3 ½ cups (800ml) whole milk
• 1 cups (200ml) heavy cream
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 cup (200g) cane sugar
• 2 tbsp (30g) all-purpose flour (sifted), or cornstarch
• ¼ cup (60g) unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp (30g) vanilla extract
• 30 to 40 vanilla wafers I made mine from scratch using the recipe by Allie from Baking A Moment
• 3 bananas peeled and sliced into ½ inch slices.
• Optional: ground cinnamon and nutmeg for topping

For the Whipped Topping

• 2 cups (400ml) heavy cream
• 2 tbsp (30g) powdered sugar (Optional)

Instructions

Make the Pudding

1. In a large sauce pan, mix the milk and heavy cream and bring to a boil, letting it bubble for at least 30 seconds before taking the cream off the heat. Set it aside to cool for 1 minute.

2. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk or beat together the egg yolks and sugar until a pale yellow egg mixture forms and the sugar is mostly dissolved.

3. Temper the egg mixture by pouring a fourth of the hot milk into the eggs in a slow and steady stream, whisking vigorously as you go until you have a milky yellow liquid.

4. Pour another fourth of the liquid into the egg mixture and whisk vigorously, until well combined. Pour the liquid back into the sauce pan with the remaining cream and place the pan back onto medium-low heat. Stir in the sifted flour or cornstarch.

5. With a rubber or wooden spatula, continuously stir the pudding for 15 to 20 minutes or until a thick liquid forms. It should be slightly thicker than pancake consistency. Take the pot off of the heat.
6. Stir butter and vanilla extract into the pudding until fully incorporated. Place the pudding into a large clean mixing bowl and let it chill in a freezer for 2 hours or in the refrigerator for 6 hours.

Make the Whipped Cream

1. In a large, clean mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to top the pudding.

Finish the Pudding

1. In a large glass bowl, dish, or eight 8oz cups, layer the pudding in this order: a third of the whipped cream, a third of the wafers, half of the pudding, and half of the bananas. Repeat layers once more and top the pudding with vanilla wafers along the edge of the bowl, whipped cream in the middle, and vanilla wafer crumbs or cookies on top.

2. If desired, top with ground cinnamon and/or grated nutmeg.

Recipe Notes

• The pudding tastes better after chilling overnight. All of the cream and cookies marinade, taking on each others’ flavors.
• Flour and cornstarch are both thickeners in this recipe. If using cornstarch, mix it with a tbsp of water before adding it to the pudding. Cornstarch thickens faster and is gluten-free while flour gives the pudding a thicker consistency without being pure starch.

Did you give this Banana Pudding recipe a try? If so, please rate it and tell us how it went in the comments below!