Homemade banana pudding is a classic Southern dessert. A rich and creamy banana pudding has layers of creamy custard, ripe bananas, and Nilla wafers and is topped with sweet whipped cream. An easy dessert the whole family will love.
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My family will devour banana recipes like my Cream Cheese Banana Bread, BananaFritters, or my Blueberry Banana Bread. This southern banana pudding is my favorite dessert to bring to a potluck dinner or family gathering, it disappears so quickly.
Why this recipe works
This homemade banana pudding recipe has the most amazing flavor and is always better than instant pudding, like my Homemade Chocolate pudding. This old-fashioned banana pudding recipe has a sweet homemade custard like my Banana Cream Pie.
Ingredients Needed
Ingredient Notes
- Bananas- Dont use overripe bananas, you want them to be ripe but not have too much brown on the peel.
- Cornstarch-Thickens the mixture, although flour can be used it will be much looser after setting up.
- Milk-I prefer to use whole milk but you can use 2% if needed.
- Egg yolks-The yolks give the pudding a rich flavor, you can freeze the egg whites.
- Butter-Use real unsalted butter
- Vanilla-I recommend using pure vanilla but vanilla extract will work in a pinch.
- Nilla wafers- You can also use shortbread cookies or chessman cookies.
How do you make banana pudding made from scratch?
- Step 1-In a medium bowl add the milk and egg yolks and whisk together until you don't see any more yolk.
- Step 2-In a medium saucepan whisk the sugar cornstarch and salt together.
- Step 3-Pour the milk mixture into the dry mixture in the saucepan.
- Step 4-Simmer on medium heat until thickened, and cool.
- In a large bowl add the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla, and using a hand mixer whip on high until stiff peaks form. Layer the easy banana pudding with fresh banana slices, and vanilla wafer cookies.
Recipe Tips
- You can use cool whip if you prefer instead of making homemade whipping cream.
- Whisk continuously over low heat, be patient.
- You can eat it warm or cold but letting it chill for a few hours allows the pudding to soak into the wafers.
- We love adding a layer of vanilla wafers to our pudding. They get soft over time from the pudding, which makes them that much more heavenly! But you could certainly use shortbread cookies or even chocolate wafer cookies.
Recipe Faq's
Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 3 days.
You can, it's actually a great make-ahead dessert. Chilling it in the refrigerator allows the pudding to soften the cookies.
You can layer this for individual servings using single-serving dessert dishes. Or layer it into an 8x8 baking dish or trifle dish.
Homemade vanilla pudding contains dairy products so it should be kept in the refrigerator.
Yes, they will start to brown after a day or so. You want to make sure you get ripe bananas but not overly ripe bananas. You can toss them in a little lemon or lime juice prior to assembly.
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Homemade Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 box Nilla wafers
- 3 ripe bananas
Whipped cream
- 3/4 cup heavy cream very cold
- 3 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- 1. In a medium bowl whisk together milk and egg yolks.
- 2. In a medium saucepan add sugar, cornstarch, and salt and whisk together.
- 3. Heat saucepan on medium-low heat and gradually whisk in egg mixture. Cook on medium-low heat whisking constantly for about 7-8 minutes or until thickened.
- 4. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla until combined. Let cool to room temperature. (You can chill it in the freezer for 20 minutes to speed up the process)
- 5. In small dessert dishes (I used pint-sized mason jars) Add 3-4 Nilla wafers followed by a scoop of pudding followed by 3-4 slices of bananas then repeat. Top off with whipped cream.
- 6. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and store in the refrigerator for 4 hours before serving.
- For the whipped cream
- Use a hand mixer or stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.
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