Description
A simple and delicious banana pudding recipe that captures the essence of home cooking with layers of creamy pudding, fresh bananas, and crunchy vanilla wafers.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cold milk (whole, oat, or almond)
- 2 (3.4-ounce) boxes Instant pudding mix (Vanilla or French Vanilla)
- 14 ounces sweet condensed milk
- 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces Cool Whip
- 2 (11-ounce) boxes vanilla wafers (half left whole, half crushed)
- 4 ripe bananas (sliced)
- 1 (8-ounce) box chessman cookies (optional)
- Caramel sauce (optional, for serving)
Instructions
- Whisk together the cold milk and pudding mix in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.
- Beat the sweet condensed milk, cream cheese, and vanilla extract in another bowl using a hand mixer on medium speed until well combined.
- Fold in the Cool Whip gently until fully incorporated.
- Spread one-third of the whole vanilla wafers in the bottom of a 9 × 13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the crushed cookies. Evenly spread one-third of the pudding mixture over the cookies.
- Layer half of the banana slices over the pudding mixture, then half of the remaining whole vanilla wafers. Repeat with half of the remaining pudding, then the remaining bananas, and the remaining crushed cookies.
- Finish with the remaining pudding on the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to let the flavors set.
- Decorate your banana pudding with whole wafers or Chessman cookies and/or caramel sauce, as desired before serving.
Notes
Use ripe bananas for the best flavor and consider using lemon juice to prevent browning. Experiment with different cookie types for added flavor.