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nilla waffers with pudding
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Banana Pudding Recipe

This banana pudding recipe is perfect for any easy dessert, potluck dish, or even a school lunch. It's creamy and sweet with a hint of vanilla.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword banana, NILLA, pudding, vanilla
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chill 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

Pudding

  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 2 large egg yolks save the whites for the meringue below
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Meringue

  • 2 large egg whites
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Assemble

  • 2 cups Nilla Wafers
  • 3 ripe bananas sliced

Instructions

Vanilla Pudding

  • Add the milk, heavy cream, egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch to a large saucepan set over medium-high heat.
  • Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon-- about 5-7 minutes.
  • Stir in the vanilla extract and cover the pudding with plastic wrap. Transfer it to the fridge until chilled-- about 1 hour. (Make sure the plastic wrap is laying directly on the pudding - touching it. This helps prevent a skin from forming on the top of the pudding as it chills.)

Meringue

  • Place a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. (or you can use a double-boiler)
  • Place the egg whites and granulated sugar in the bowl and whisk constantly until all of the sugar has dissolved-- about 2 minutes.
  • Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a hand or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and mix on high speed until stiff peaks form-- about 8 minutes.
  • Add the vanilla extract and mix just until combined. Set aside until ready to use.

Assemble

  • Cover the bottom of your serving dish with Nilla Wafers (you can either do one big serving dish or individual cups-- up to you).
  • Cover with a layer of pudding followed by a layer of sliced bananas. Repeat until all components are completely used, making sure the last layer is pudding.
  • Spread or pipe the meringue evenly over the custard layer. Toast the top of the meringue with a kitchen torch until golden brown-- about 10 seconds. (torching is optional)
  • Serve immediately or store the pudding in the fridge until ready to enjoy-- up to four hours in advance.
  • You can assemble the pudding up to 24 hours in advance-- assemble through step 2 and then make and toast the meringue right before you plan to serve it! The meringue tends to become runny when stored in the fridge overnight so it’s best to make it right before you serve it.