Banana Pudding

Name: Banana Pudding
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 9 servings.
Ingredients: 3/4 cup sugar; 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 3 cups 2% milk; 3 large eggs; 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 8 ounces vanilla wafers (about 60 cookies), divided; 4 large ripe bananas, cut into 1/4-inch slices

I didn’t see my son, Lance Corporal Eric Harris, for more than two years after he enlisted in the Marines after high school. And when I first saw him at the airport last fall, I just grabbed hold of him and busted out crying. Back home, the first thing he ate was two bowls of my easy banana pudding recipe. He’s a true Southern boy! It’s a dessert, but you can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. —Stephanie Harris, Montpelier, Virginia

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups 2% milk
3 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces vanilla wafers (about 60 cookies), divided
4 large ripe bananas, cut into 1/4-inch slices

Directions

In a large saucepan, mix sugar, flour and salt. Whisk in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat.
In a small bowl, whisk eggs. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into eggs; return all to pan, whisking constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Cool 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In an ungreased 8-in. square baking dish, layer 25 vanilla wafers, half of the banana slices and half of the pudding. Repeat layers.
Press plastic wrap onto surface of pudding. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Just before serving, remove wrap; crush remaining wafers and sprinkle over top.

Test Kitchen Tips

Pop unpeeled bananas in the fridge to slow the ripening process. They may look a little funky, but they'll taste great.

Use plastic wrap over the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. The plastic peels off easily after the pudding cools.

Gild that lily! A peanut butter drizzle and chopped salted peanuts take this to another level.

Nutrition Facts

1 serving: 302 calories, 7g fat (2g saturated fat), 80mg cholesterol, 206mg sodium, 55g carbohydrate (37g sugars, 2g fiber), 7g protein.

Originally published as Banana Pudding in Taste of Home June/July 2013

Reviews

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Average Rating:

Ashley

Dec 5, 2018

Gotta ask is the plastic wrap that necessary?? I got the supplies for it yesterday and now I forgot the wrap after I just made it
Brandon J.

Dec 1, 2018

Classic Southern recipe for a much beloved dish that has 1 ingredient missing from most found today.................The LOVE of a lady that takes the time to make the Vanilla Pudding from scratch instead of a box. Your son is a very lucky Devil Dog to have a Mom like you. Thank you from our Veterans and their families to both of you.
Alliea

Dec 1, 2018

Great way to make a quick dessert with or without Bananas. Nice for parfaits too . I like to add 2 teaspoons of butter to the hot pudding when I take it off the heat. A keeper recipe to have on hand.
angela32

Jul 10, 2018

I made this for a church picnic and everyone loved it. I didn't come home with any leftovers. Will make again, so easy and delicious.
Eddie

Jul 3, 2018

I made this for a friends BBQ and people liked it better than the professionally baked banana cake
feellikeawoman

Jun 21, 2018

I made this today and it was amazing! Very easy and simple to make.
Andy

Jun 2, 2018

I'm a fairly new baker and just tried this recipe. I tempered my eggs for the first time and everything came out great. I made a whipped cream topping and added it, came out fantastic. Definitely a keeper! Thanks.
Cottle85

May 20, 2018

Had put off making this for a special occasion; last night I made it for a bridal shower for today; thought it was a little bland. I added an additional teaspoon of vanilla as recommended; I am sure that helped... Very doubtful I will make again...
cindiak

May 2, 2018

We love banana pudding and this recipe is delicious and easy. Since the ingredients are staples in our house, it's easy to whip up a batch when we are craving it.
slocook805

Feb 27, 2018

Delicious. Try swapping out the 2% milk for half and half and stir in a Tb of butter along with the vanilla. I prefer making mine from scratch also, boxed pudding mix is just too lacking in something.....Lindie you asked why your pudding came out runny. When making any pudding always use dairy with as high a fat content as possible whether from scratch or the instant kind. 4% milk has the least amount of fat content that you want to use in a pudding. We're talking dessert and dessert is something special, it's always ok to splurge on dessert. I would bet that this recipe has been revamped since originally published and the milk was changed to 2%.