This recipe for Southern Style Banana Pudding is creamy and rich and made from layers of sliced bananas, vanilla pudding and crisp vanilla wafers.
Banana Pudding is a classic dessert that is always a crowd pleaser. It’s perfect for serving for summertime parties or your favorite holiday meals. Another great think about homemade pudding is that it is a ‘no bake” dessert that can be made in advance and kept chilled. If you like pudding desserts you’ll love my Old Fashioned Chocolate Pie. Rich creamy pudding like chocolate in a crunchy pie crust!
How to make Banana Pudding from scratch:
Ingredients:
- Bananas
- ‘Nilla Wafers
- Vanilla Extract
- Whole Milk
- Egg Yolks
- Granulated Sugar
- Cornstarch
Instructions:
- Whisk together the milk, egg yolks, cornstarch, vanilla, and sugar in a large pot over medium heat. Continue stirring the mixture for about 5 minutes, or until it thickens and starts to simmer.
- Immediately remove the pot from the burner and let the pudding cool down for a few minutes.
- Line the bottom of a rectangular baking dish with half of your Nilla wafers and sliced bananas. Cover them with the pudding and then top with the remaining cookies and bananas.
- Tightly cover your baking dish with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic is pressed down onto the top of the pudding. Chill your pudding in the fridge for 6 hours.
Notes and Tips:
- You want to use the egg yolk for your pudding, not the egg whites. We don’t need the extra liquid from the egg whites for this dish so make sure you separate them as best you can.
- Keep your pudding tightly covered with plastic wrap while it is chilling. This is going to prevent condensation from forming on the plastic wrap and dripping back down onto the pudding.
- Make sure you use bananas that are nice and ripe so you get as much banana flavor as possible.
Why is my pudding lumpy and not smooth?
Be careful not to cook your pudding for too long or at too high of a heat. Both can cause the pudding to curdle and turn clumpy. Keep it cooking at a low heat just until it starts to steam.
Another thing to consider is keep the pudding loosely covered with plastic wrap while it is chilling the fridge. This will prevent condensation from forming on the plastic wrap and dripping back down onto the pudding. The condensation can cause a change of texture.
Variations on the Classic Banana Pudding:
The Way The Cookie Crumbles: Vanilla Wafers, or ‘Nilla Wafers as they are affectionally called, are the prefect cookies for this Southern Banana Pudding recipe. You don’t have to use the cookies whole. You can break them into pieces and mix them in the pudding or crush them over the top to make a tasty top crust.
A Boozy Bourbon Infused Twist: “Bourbon Infused” sounds really fancy and complicated BUT turns out it is really easy to do. To create the this Bourbon Infused Vanilla Pudding simply swap the 1 teaspoon vanilla extract for 1 teaspoon bourbon in the first step and continue the recipe instructions as stated.
Give It the Elvis Treatment: Elvis’ favorite sandwich, Peanut Butter, Banana and Bacon, is well know here in the Memphis area. You can give your homemade banana pudding this fun culinary twist by topping it with crisp bacon crumbles and peanut butter chips.
Side Note; if you visit Memphis you can still order this sandwich from one of Elvis’ favorite restaurants, The Arcade. For a real since of nostalgia you can even ask to shit in his favorite booth!
When do I add the ‘Nilla Wafters to the pudding?
I like mix of both with whole crushed ‘Nilla wafers, Lime the bottom the dish with whole cookies before adding the pudding into the dish. Then garnish the top with a combination of crushed and whole cookies.
I hope you and your family will love this recipe as much as we do! If you do try this recipe please come back and leave a comment letting me know how much you liked it!
Happy Cooking Y’all!
Susanne
Southern Style Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup white granulated sugar
- 3 cups Nilla wafers
- 3 large bananas sliced
Instructions
-
Whisk together the milk, egg yolks, cornstarch, vanilla, and sugar in a large pot over medium heat. Continue stirring the mixture for about 5 minutes, or until it thickens and starts to simmer.
-
Immediately remove the pot from the burner and let the pudding cool down for a few minutes.
-
Line the bottom of a rectangular baking dish with half of your Nilla wafers and sliced bananas. Cover them with the pudding and then top with the remaining cookies and bananas.
-
Tightly cover your baking dish with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic is pressed down onto the top of the pudding. Chill your pudding in the fridge for 6 hours.
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