A slight twist on classic banana pudding including plenty of fresh banana slices and nilla wafers, with pudding inside and cool whip on top!
One evening we had a bunch of bananas and weren’t sure what to do with them. Justin said he really wanted some good banana pudding. Well, I had never made it before so I had no idea where to even start, besides bananas and pudding.
So I took to the internet and started looking up recipes. As we usually do, we mixed a few of them together and came up with our own recipe. It’s so tasty and so refreshing. It also is great to bring for a dessert when you need to bring a dish to share somewhere. Or of course, keep it for yourself like we tend to do!
The banana pudding will stay good for a few days in the refrigerator, but after that, the nilla wafers start to get a little soggy. Justin doesn’t mind that, but I have a ‘texture thing’ and can’t eat soggy chips or crackers, yuck!
Edited to add: When your silly child decides he wants a Banana Party for his birthday, this is a great dessert to make as well as a delicious banana cake. This pudding was the first thing gone because everyone was going back for seconds and even thirds!
Step by Step
To get the unique flavor, this pudding recipe uses a large package of instant banana pudding and a small package of instant french vanilla pudding. Or if you can’t find the large package get two of the small ones. By combining the two, you get the banana flavor you are looking for, plus a hint of rich vanilla flavor.
Pour both of the mixes in a large bowl with the required amount of milk, which should be 5 cups total. Use a whisk to combine the milk and pudding, beating until it starts to thicken. While you are preparing the rest of the recipe, it helps to give the pudding a quick stir every so often so it doesn’t get too thick.
Meanwhile, arrange half of the nilla wafers in the bottom and up the sides of the serving bowl. You want to have a good base layer of the cookies. And trust me, get the brand name, they taste so much better! Then top the cookies with a layer of sliced bananas.
Pour half of the pudding on top of the wafers and bananas. Carefully spread it around so it is flat on the top without moving the bottom layers as much as possible.
Repeat the layers of cookies, bananas, and pudding, making sure to save a few bananas and cookies for your topping.
Let the pudding set in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving so the pudding has time to stiffen. Cover the top layer of pudding with whipped topping once cool.
You can leave it just like this, or get fancy by adding some bananas and crushed nilla wafers to the top of the pudding. It depends on if you are going for presentation or just flavor!
Recipe
Originally Published On: January 23, 2016
Last Updated On: December 13, 2019
Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 5 cups milk
- 1 5.1 oz pkg instant banana pudding
- 1 3.4 oz pkg instant french vanilla pudding
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 box nilla wafers
- 3 bananas (sliced)
- 8 oz whipped topping
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Pour milk into large bowl and add dry pudding mixes and vanilla extract
- Beat with whisk 2 minutes or until well blended and begins to thicken
- Meanwhile, arrange half of wafers on bottom and up sides of 2 quart serving bowl
- Top with layer of half of bananas
- Add half of pudding
- Repeat layers of wafers, and bananas
- Add the rest of the pudding
- Refrigerate 3 hours
- Cover with whipped topping and a few crushed nilla wafers for garnish and serve cool
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You had mare at pudding… I love pudding, bananas and Wafers. So guess what I’m making this weekend 😊
They are all so good individually, but mixing them together is amazing!
Oooh, I haven’t had this since I was a child! I really need to make this for my littles and we have plenty of bananas at the moment.
I bet the kids would love it! My boys are crazy about bananas, so they ask for this a lot.
I totally have a texture thing to and would definitely need to eat this before the waffers went soggy. I love banana pudding!
I eat it when it’s fresh and during that first day. My boys don’t care, though, and will eat it for days afterwards!
This looks delicious and so easy to make! I cannot believe how expensive vanilla is getting over the years! is it just me or did everyone else notice?
Yes! I have tried making my own vanilla extract before and it was fun, and delicious. But the vanilla beans are so expensive it isn’t worth it. Although I hate all the small plastic bottles we go through because of that.
I love Nilla Wafers and I’m sure the vanilla takes the banana to the next level. I’ll be making this!
You’ve got to have Nilla Wafers for this. I tried the generic store brand and it just wasn’t the same!
This does look so delicious. It reminds me of desserts I had as a child. But I couldn’t do the pudding in the refrigerator after a few days either. I wouldn’t like the taste because of the texture issues either.
That’s why it’s best to make this the day you plan to eat it. I don’t typically make it for just us, but it’s great when you need dessert for a crowd!
yum yum yum! Vanilla and banana! What a perfect match! This reminds me of your banana cream cheesecake, which we all loved so much!
It is very similar in many ways to the cheesecake! I’m glad you enjoyed that and I hope this one hits the mark for you, too!
Oh my husband LOVES banana pudding. Its one of the only desserts I feel like I make well LOL
I don’t blame him, banana pudding is delicious!
This looks really good! I love banana pudding. When I was a kid, my mom used to make little desserts like this and I always thought the individual portions were really fun.
My boys love the individual portions, too. They feel so special that they get their own bowls!
I love banana pudding! It’s such a refreshing and comforting dessert. Adding the ingredients I need to make this to my grocery list.
I agree, it’s great for the summer especially, when you need something to cool you down. But, my boys love it so we enjoy it any time of the year!
This reminds me of a fancy version of a banana pudding that my uncle used to make for me. I’ll try it this holiday season with the kids.
That’s one thing I like about this, it looks really fancy but in reality, is pretty easy to put together!