The Best Banana Pudding

Table of Contents

1. Why I Love This Banana Pudding Recipe
2. Explanation About Banana Pudding
3. Banana Pudding Ingredients
4. How to Make Banana Pudding
5. Tips For Making the Perfect Pudding Recipe
6. Tips for Serving and Storage
7. Possible Variations and Garnishes
8. Frequently Asked Questions
9. You'll Love These Other Dessert Recipes
10. Watch How to Make This Banana Pudding
11. Have I Convinced You to Make This Recipe?
12. The Best Banana Pudding Recipe

Indulge in the creamy goodness of this delicious banana pudding recipe. Perfect for any occasion or just a sweet treat for yourself.

Why I Love This Banana Pudding Recipe

I’ve always been someone who loves to make pudding at home, whether it’s chocolate, vanilla, or even my grandma’s favorite butterscotch. But some find the box of instant pudding mix to be just fine when they think about pudding. Banana pudding is one of those recipes where making pudding at home truly is needed. That’s because banana pudding, at its core, is simply vanilla pudding mixed with whipped cream, sliced bananas, and vanilla wafer cookies. When put together in layers, it creates a beautiful presentation with pretty minimal effort. This is why I always advocate for making the pudding from scratch. Trust me, it has so much better flavor than anything from a box.

Whether you make this recipe for a summer party, a special occasion, or just your weekend dessert, you’ll love that it feeds a crowd and is something everyone will love!

Explanation About Banana Pudding

In this recipe, there are four main components to the pudding:

1. Vanilla pudding
2. Whipped cream
3. Banana slices
4. Vanilla wafers (such as Nilla Wafers)

Like most recipes, there are many variations and personal preferences for each baker. Some banana pudding recipes use a box of instant vanilla pudding mix rather than preparing it from scratch. Others use whipped topping, sweetened condensed milk, or cream cheese rather than whipped cream. But trust me on this: prepare this recipe as written. You’ll love the deliciously creamy results!

Banana Pudding Ingredients

Here are some of the ingredients you will need to make this banana pudding recipe:

• Bananas have a distinctive, mildly sweet flavor that works incredibly well in this pudding recipe. If you’re looking for a banana pudding recipe, I assume you like bananas! With their creamy texture, bananas work perfectly when paired with the wafer cookies and silky smooth vanilla pudding in this recipe.
• Whole milk, with its higher fat content, will add a much fuller, creamier, and overall more satisfying flavor to the pudding than lower-fat kinds of milk. This is what will make the best pudding!
• Heavy cream helps to add a pleasant “mouthfeel” to the pudding while also stabilizing it. Due to its high fat content, heavy cream prevents the pudding from separating or becoming too watery as it sits.
• Granulated sugar is a must when it comes to pudding, just to ensure the necessary sweetness. Sugar helps with the thickening process while adding some depth to the flavor.
• Cornstarch is essential when making homemade pudding. Once activated with heat, the makeup of cornstarch expands, which is what causes a mixture to thicken, creating pudding in this case.
• Egg yolks add a rich, creamy texture to the pudding while also thickening the entire mixture. The yolks’ color reinforces the banana pudding’s beautiful yellowish color.
• Kosher salt enhances flavor, so adding it to a sweet treat like pudding is essential for achieving the perfect flavor.
• Vanilla extract is an easy way to add a bit of additional flavor to the pudding mixture while also working to balance the richness and sweetness of the mixture. If you’ve never made your own at home, make sure to check out how to make homemade vanilla extract.
• Unsalted butter adds three important components to any homemade pudding: 1) a glossy finish, 2) a smooth “mouthfeel,” and 3) additional flavor. All three of these attributes make this homemade pudding even more delicious and beautiful!
• Powdered sugar often contains a small amount of cornstarch, which stabilizes the resulting whipped cream. It also has a finer texture than granulated sugar, which means that it dissolves easily, creating a smooth and creamy whipped cream.
• Greek yogurt thickens the resulting whipped cream while adding just a hint of tangy flavor that balances the sweetness of the overall recipe. Plus, Greek yogurt helps stabilize the whipped cream to keep its texture longer.
• Vanilla wafer cookies are super traditional when it comes to banana pudding. While they start off crisp, as they sit amongst the layers of pudding and whipped cream, they soften, becoming a sweet and creamy bite in each scoop.

How to Make Banana Pudding

There are three simple steps to preparing this banana pudding recipe:

1. Make the pudding
2. Make the whipped cream
3. Assemble the dish

Step 1: Make the pudding. In a medium saucepan, add the whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, cornstarch, and kosher salt. Crack the eggs and separate the egg whites, adding only the yolks to the pan. Place over medium heat and continually whisk while cooking. Cook until the cornstarch has fully been activated and the pudding holds together. Add in the butter and vanilla extract and whisk until combined. Pass the pudding through a sieve into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and press to the top of the pudding. Place in the refrigerator to chill.

Step 2: Make the whipped cream. Add the heavy whipping cream to a large bowl. Add in the Greek yogurt, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Using a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the ingredients together until they reach stiff peaks. Fold in half the whipped cream to the chilled pudding, reserving the rest. 

Step 3: Assemble the dish. In a trifle bowl or 9×13 pan, place an even layer of wafer cookies at the bottom. Place sliced bananas over the top. Layer ⅓ of the pudding on top. Repeat layers of cookies, bananas, and pudding until all the pudding has been used. For the final layer, add the remaining whipped cream reserved from earlier. If desired, crush additional wafer cookies and sprinkle over the top. Let chill in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours before serving. 

Tips For Making the Perfect Pudding Recipe

• Once large bubbles form in the center and the pudding holds firm, it is fully cooked. This is the cornstarch activating, becoming the ingredient to hold everything together.
• Passing the pudding through a sieve removes the chalazae that might be in the pudding. Chalazae are the white stringy bits from the egg yolks. They don’t break down well in the pudding, so it’s good to remove them.
• Covering the pudding with plastic wrap while it sits prevents air from circulating over the top. This circulation hardens the top layer, forming a skin. A skin on top is fine, but it’s easier to add the whipped cream later if one has not formed.
• To achieve the proper consistency of the whipped cream, check for stiff peaks. This means the whipped cream stands up and holds its shape when the whisks are removed and turned towards the ceiling.
• The pudding is best after sitting for a while. This allows the cookies to absorb some of the flavor and moisture of the pudding, softening them. However, it’s important to balance that with the sliced bananas, as they can turn brown. Make sure they are fully encased by the pudding to prevent air circulation, or simply eat the pudding before they can turn brown. This works best if set in the fridge for at least 2 to 3 hours.

Possible Variations and Garnishes

The possibilities for variations and garnishes truly are endless and can be adjusted for your own personal preference. Here are just a few ways that I can envision adjusting this banana pudding for a slightly different look and feel:

• Use a different fruit. The possibilities for which fruit to substitute for bananas are endless. Swap in raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or peaches, or add a combination of everything. While bananas do have a distinct flavor, you could easily add additional fruit to the bananas, such as strawberries, for unique combinations.
• Add jam between the layers. Before arranging the vanilla wafers and bananas, add a few dollops of your favorite jam and spread them to a thin layer. This will add just a bit of extra flavor and can be totally customized.
• Add other cookies. Vanilla wafer cookies are not the only cooking that can be used in this recipe. If you love bananas and chocolate, use a chocolate wafer cookie instead. Or crumble up pieces of your favorite chocolate chip cookie. The vanilla wafers do tend to soften as the mixture sits, which is part of the point of banana pudding, so just know that a substitute cookie may not break down as easily, resulting in a different overall texture. You could also use Chessmen Butter Cookies (made by Pepperidge Farm), which are a shortbread cookie known for their buttery flavor. Some people love this as an apt substitute for vanilla wafers.
• Use banana-flavored pudding. This recipe uses vanilla pudding and pairs it with the bananas to impart the banana flavor. If you really love the flavor of banana, try purchasing a box of powdered banana pudding and use that instead of the vanilla pudding in this recipe. It won’t quite have the traditional banana pudding flavor that everyone’s accustomed to, but could be an interesting dessert!

Frequently Asked Questions

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Watch How to Make This Banana Pudding