Banana Pudding
This recipe, almost above all others, is one of those recipes that brings nostalgia to those who grew up in the Southern United States. Just about every church potluck and family reunion or gathering of any sort had a tray or two of this sweet, chilled dessert. Needless to say, Shannon and I’ve made quite a few trays of ‘naner pudding for friends and family and I’m happy to share this recipe with you.
Those of you who have Faith, Family, and the Feast at home, I hope, already know how to make this recipe. If you don’t have the cookbook, the recipe can be printed below, for free. You can grab an autographed copy of Faith, Family, and the Feast right here at our website. Just click the picture of the cookbook.
The Three Parts of ‘Naner Pudding
Banana pudding is made of three parts: banana pudding, whipped cream, and vanilla wafers. You can buy instant banana pudding, but why would you? The end result will be creamier and so thick and tasty if you use real banana.
Whipped Cream
If you’ve used a frozen dairy whip in the past, I’m going to challenge you to do it my way just once. You’ll never go back again. Grab yourself some heavy cream (sometimes they’ll call it whipping cream) and about a half a cup of sugar.
If you have a stand mixer, a hand mixer, or a drill with a whisk attached to it, just whip the cream and sugar until it becomes stiff and looks like whipped cream. Put aside in the ice box while we make the next part.
Tip: Place your bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes before you start whipping the cream – it will set up faster!
Once the whipped cream is set up, place in the ice box until it is time to fix the pudding.
Banana Pudding
If you’re on the pudding aisle at the grocery store looking for a box of ‘naner pudding, just stop. Grab the instant vanilla pudding, instead. Grab a 5 ounce can of sweetened, condensed milk while you are at it. You are almost ready to go!
Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a mixing bowl with the instant vanilla pudding. Add one very ripe banana, mashed well, and mix until smooth. Set in the ice box with the whipped cream for about 20 minutes.
The ‘Naners & ‘Nilla Wafers
While the whipped cream and the pudding set up in the ice box, it’s time to thinly slice about 6 bananas. The bananas should be ripe and soft, but not yet blackened. Save the blackened bananas for some ‘naner bread. Cover the bananas with a towel and get ready to fix the ingredients all together.
For ‘nilla wafers, there is a brand out there called Nilla wafers, and you can use those – but don’t get actual vanilla wafers – those thin bar-cookies with layers of frosting between the thin, papery wafers. By ‘nilla wafer, I mean rounded vanilla soft cookies that almost look like shortbread. There are usually a name brand and a store brand and you can use whatever you prefer – as long as they’re ‘nilla wafers and not wafer bars.
Fix Up the ‘Naner Pudding
Start by laying an even layer of nilla wafers along the bottom of the dish. Take half of your whipped cream and mix it in with the banana pudding, then spread all over the cookies. Top with a layer of bananas, and then spread the other half of the banana pudding over those. Top with the remaining whipped cream, and another layer of cookies. The cookies can be crushed or whole, your choice.
The finished product should be served cold. The perfect bite gives you some cookie, some banana, some pudding, and some whipped cream. It’s a taste that will take you all the way back to childhood, probably whether you ate this as a child or not.
‘Naner Pudding – Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 5 ounce package instant vanilla pudding
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ½ cup sugar
- 6 ripe bananas
- 1 11 ounce box vanilla wafers
Instructions
- In a chilled medium bowl, add the cream and sugar and beat with a mixer until stiff. Cover and set in the ice box.
- In a large bowl beat the milk, pudding mix, and condensed milk until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mash 1 very ripe banana with a fork until smooth. Beat the mashed banana into the pudding mixture. Cover and refrigerate for about 20 minutes or until it reaches a thick pudding consistency. Meanwhile, thinly slice the remaining bananas
- Place half of the vanilla wafers in the bottom of a 9 by 13 baking pan.
- Fold half of the whipped cream into the pudding mixture. Evenly spoon the pudding mixture over the vanilla wafers, then layer the sliced bananas and remaining whipped cream. Crumble the remaining nilla wafers and spread over the top.
- Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes or until you are ready to serve.