Best ever banana pudding

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Creamy vanilla pudding is folded together with whipped cream and layered with sliced bananas and vanilla wafer cookies to recreate my favorite banana pudding!

If you've ever had the pleasure of visiting a Magnolia Bakery and trying their banana pudding, you understand why we needed a recipe for home! Magnolia has actually published their recipe too, but because it uses a store-bought pudding mix and can of sweetened condensed milk, it makes a really large quantity that is challenging to scale down. While I absolutely love banana pudding, it only stays fresh for a few days and I felt strongly I could create a recipe that tasted just as delicious (if not even better) that made a slightly more manageable quantity. I am happy to report that my trusty testers who are huge fans of the original absolutely loved this version! And don't worry, it still makes enough servings to share - if you choose!

It all starts with a smooth vanilla pudding. First you'll whisk together your dry ingredients with the egg yolks, vanilla and heavy cream. After that, you'll heat the milk to 145-150 degrees - you can watch for wisps of heat, but to ensure the best end result and to avoid a grainy pudding, a food thermometer will be your friend here. Next you'll whisk half of your heated milk into your egg yolk mixture until smooth and then incorporate the mixture back into the remainder of the heated milk and heat it until thickened. From here you'll stir in your room temperature butter and if you're worried about any lumps, you can run your mixture through a mesh strainer. It's important to do this step first and allow the pudding to fully cool. You can even do this the day before!

After the pudding, the rest of the steps are simple. You'll use a hand or stand mixer to make whipped cream with just a few ingredients, whipping to stiff peaks. This gets folded into your fully cooled pudding and then you'll layer the pudding mixture into a large bowl or container in four portions, with three layers of sliced bananas and vanilla wafers in between - and some extra crumbled cookies on top!

The hardest part is the waiting. You'll need fully cooled pudding, and then once everything is assembled you want to give the bananas time to soak into the pudding and for the cookies to soften too. 4 hours is best and overnight is even better.

Even if you aren't typically a banana flavored dessert fan, I love how vanilla forward this dessert is and the only banana flavor comes from freshly sliced bananas. This is such a fun make ahead dessert for a crowd as it does still make a large number of portions and especially in the summer months it's a perfect no bake option that is served cold right from the fridge.

Ingredients:

Vanilla pudding

• 1/4 cup (32g) cornstarch

• 1 cup (192g) granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt 

• 3 large egg yolks 

• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

• 2 cups whole or 2% milk

• 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, room temperature

Whipped cream

• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream

• 1/3 cup (40g) powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Pinch salt

Toppings

• 4 sliced bananas (410g) about 3 cups

• 48 vanilla wafer cookies (180g)

Prep time: About 45 minutes

Chill time: 8-12 hours

Servings: 8-12 servings (about 8 cups in total)

Equipment:

• Heavy bottom nonstick pan

• Medium and small heatproof bowls

• Spatula and whisk

• Hand or stand mixer (for whipping cream)

• 2-2.5 qt sized container (e.g. a large bowl or tupperware)

• Recommended: mesh strainer, food thermometer

Cooking instructions:

Make your pudding. In a medium, heatproof bowl, whisk together to combine your cornstarch, granulated sugar, salt, egg yolks, vanilla and two tablespoons of heavy cream. Continue to whisk, it will be clumpy at first and then eventually will turn into a wet mixture. Set aside.

In a nonstick heavy bottom pot over low to medium heat, add in your milk. Heat your milk until you see wisps of steam coming off of your milk (if you have a food thermometer, it should be between 145-150 degrees). Pour half of your heated milk slowly over your egg yolk mixture, and whisk it together vigorously until smooth and most or all of your sugar mixture has dissolved.

Pour the mixture back into your heavy bottom pot with the rest of your heated milk and continue to whisk or stir over a low to medium heat. Leave your mixture to heat for about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and keeping a close eye on it, until a few bubbles pop through the surface of your pudding.

Turn your heat down to low and continue to mix for another few minutes until thickened. Be sure to reach down to the bottom and corners of your pot periodically to ensure your entire mixture gets evenly thickened, another 2 minutes or so.

Remove from the heat and stir in your room temperature butter until completely combined. Note: if you notice any lumps, I recommend running your mixture through a mesh strainer while it's still warm. Pour your pudding into a bowl and press plastic wrap onto the top layer of your pudding. Allow it to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes to an hour and then chill in the fridge until cold - at least 3 to 4 hours.

Assemble your banana pudding. Prepare the rest of your pudding components, starting with the whipped cream. Add your heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and pinch of salt to a bowl. Use a hand mixer at a medium to high speed to whip until you reach stiff peaks.

Remove your pudding from the fridge and give it a mix with a spatula to loosen it up. Then, fold your whipped cream into your pudding slowly until the two are completely combined.

Measure out your vanilla wafers and slice your bananas keeping them separate, and grab your large container of choice for assembling your pudding.

For assembly - you'll have four layers of pudding mixture with three layers of cookie and banana slices in between. Add about a fourth of your pudding whipped cream mixture to the bottom of your container (about a cup) and spread evenly. Layer on about 15 vanilla wafer cookies and a third of your banana slices. Repeat this twice more, and then layer on the remainder of your pudding mixture to cover the final layer of cookies and banana slice. Take your final three vanilla wafer cookies, crush them and sprinkle across the top pudding layer.

Cover with plastic wrap or a top to your container if you have it and allow your assembled pudding to chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours before diving in - and enjoy!

This pudding will stay fresh for a few days if stored in an airtight container. It should be served chilled right and enjoyed cold right from the fridge.

Carb and serving info:

Carbs in full recipe: 520

Carbs per serving (1 of 8 portions, about 1 cup): 65

Carbs per serving (1 of 12 portions, about 2/3 cup): 43

Carbs in pudding: 255

Carbs in whipped cream: 48

Carbs in vanilla wafers: 125

Carbs in bananas: 92

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.