Name: Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 480 min
Total time: 525 min
Yield: 1 9x13-Inch Pan
Ingredients: 1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk; 1½ cup ice-cold water; 1 (3.4 ounce) box of instant vanilla pudding mix; 3 cups heavy cream, chilled; 4 cups peeled and sliced bananas—see step 3 before starting; 1 (12-ounce) box of vanilla wafers (I use Nilla® wafer cookies)—reserve about 8–10 wafers for the topping

Sweets

Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers

Author: Mary DiSomma

If you know me, you know that I’m a bit of a vanilla enthusiast! In fact, I love the stuff so much that I even created my very own Cognac Barrel-Aged Pure Vanilla Extract. Fancy, right? It's a labor of love, made with the finest Madagascar vanilla beans (also known as Bourbon Island vanilla beans). It is soooo good. Finding the barrels was an adventure in itself, but that’s a story for another day.

If you’re going to try this recipe, I highly recommend grabbing a bottle of my artisan vanilla—and I’m not just saying that because I made it! Because it’s aged for 30 days in cognac barrels, it has this richness and depth of flavor that most vanilla extracts just don’t have.

Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers

I have a soft spot for the humble banana. My upcoming pie cookbook is chock-full of delightful recipes starring bananas, because we just can’t get enough of them in my house. When we have family and friends over for a visit, this banana pudding recipe with Nilla wafers is a go-to crowd pleaser. It’s easy, it’s delicious, and it serves up to 12 people.

Yield: 1 9x13-Inch Pan
Prep Time: 45 minutes min
Cook Time: 480 minutes min
Total Time: 525 minutes min

Ingredients

1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk
1½ cup ice-cold water
1 (3.4 ounce) box of instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups heavy cream, chilled
4 cups peeled and sliced bananas—see step 3 before starting
1 (12-ounce) box of vanilla wafers (I use Nilla® wafer cookies)—reserve about 8–10 wafers for the topping

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat together the sweetened condensed milk and cold water for 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat for 2 minutes. Keeping the mixture in the same bowl, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. This will set up the pudding and is an important step.
After the pudding is set, whip the cream in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Using a silicone spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture. Make sure there are no streaks of pudding left in the whipped cream.
Prep the bananas—you should have 4 cups of banana slices. The number of bananas required depends on their size. To keep your bananas from turning brown, see my tips in the blog article above.
Using ⅓ of the vanilla wafers, cover the bottom of the pan, overlapping the wafers if necessary. Now, layer ⅓ of the sliced bananas evenly over the wafers, followed by ⅓ of the pudding mixture. Use an offset spatula to even out the pudding mixture. Repeat this layering process two more times for a total of three layers.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours. It’s best to serve the dessert in the 4–6 hour range. After that time, the bananas will begin to brown.

Notes

You need a 9x13” pan for this recipe—you’ll start using it in step 3.

I want to encourage people to feel confident to try new things in the kitchen and to be inspired to share more meals with friends and family.

It’s easy to collect recipes and save them for “some day.” I believe recipes are for making. Let's do it together. Join me in exploring the world through food!