Homemade Banana Pudding

Old Fashioned Banana Pudding layered with nilla wafers, silky vanilla pudding, sliced bananas and homemade whipped cream. 

My co-worker and I love the show Fixer Upper, and one day we were talking about Joanna’s new cookbook, Magnolia Table. I remember sending my co-worker a video clip I saw online of Jo and Chip on the Today Show promoting her cookbook. The next day my co-worker came into the office with an early wedding gift for me saying “I hope you didn’t buy it already!” I opened the gift, and she had given me the new Magnolia Table cookbook I was lusting over! I was so surprised! It was the perfect wedding gift and such a sweet and thoughtful gesture! I look at it every week and decide what recipe I’m going to make. I really enjoy reading the descriptions Joanna shares about each recipe and why her family loves them. It’s one of my favorite things to look at in the cookbook. This Banana Pudding recipe I made is Chip’s Aunt Opal’s pudding, which Lance and I love! I’ve also made Joanna’s Lemon Pie recipe you can see here. 

Ingredients:

• Instant Vanilla Pudding
• Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Cream Cheese
• Milk
• Sugar
• Bananas
• Nilla Wafers
• Heavy Cream
• Vanilla Extract

How To Make Homemade Banana Pudding:

Start by making the pillowy soft whipped cream by pouring heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract into the bowl of a stand mixture. Beat on high for a couple of minutes, until soft peaks form. I added the whipped cream into a separate bowl, and cleaned out the bowl to the stand mixer. 

Once the bowl is cleaned, I added the cream cheese and mixed until smooth. Then I added in the vanilla pudding, evaporated milk and regular milk and mixed on high for a couple of minutes. After the mixture is well combined, you mix in half of the whipped cream until combined. 

To assemble the dessert I chose to use individual glasses for parfaits, but you can also use a trifle dish. You just want a clear dish so everyone can see all the different layers. Start by adding the nilla wafers to the bottom of the dish, then add the pudding, then another layer of nilla wafers and slices of bananas. Spoon remaining pudding over the bananas, and then I added a few more Nilla Wafers and sliced bananas and finished with a dollop of homemade whipped cream on top.

Yield: 6-8 Servings
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Total Time: 2 Hours and 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

One 8-ounce block cream cheese, softened

One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup whole milk

One 3.4 ounce package instant vanilla pudding

One 11-ounce box vanilla wafers

3 bananas sliced

1 1/2 pints heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Pinch of sea salt

Instructions:

Whipped Cream:

In a bowl of a stand mixture combine heavy cream, sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Beat on high until soft peaks form. Scrape whipped cream into a separate bowl and clean out bowl of the stand mixer.

Pudding:

Once the bowl is cleaned, add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Add the condensed milk, whole milk and vanilla pudding mix. Beat on high for 2 minutes. Add half of the whipped cream mixture until just combined. 

Assemble:

In a trifle dish or individual glasses lay a single layer of nilla wafers on the bottom. Spoon about 1 1/2 inches of the pudding on top, and then add another layer of nilla wafers. Add sliced bananas, and then spread the remaining pudding mixture and top with a few more nilla wafers and banana slices. Spoon the remaining whipped cream on top and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 1 day. 

Recipe Source: Joanna Gaines Cookbook, Magnolia Table