This banana pudding is seriously good! Our recipe features homemade vanilla pudding, fresh bananas, and vanilla wafers for a classic dessert that’s both nostalgic and delicious!
I’m beyond excited to finally share my favorite homemade banana pudding recipe with you! Richard helped us with this one, and I love how it turned out. It’s creamy, rich, and not too sweet!
It’s made almost entirely from scratch and has the most delicious homemade vanilla pudding I’ve tried. (The secret is the butter at the end!). For another banana dessert, try our banana cream pie!
Key Ingredients
- Bananas: Use ripe, firm bananas for this. Softened or browned bananas are better left for banana bread.
- Vanilla Cookies: I use store-bought Nilla wafers for this recipe. We are working on a homemade vanilla cookie to share but have yet to perfect it!
- Egg Yolks: Four egg yolks are the base of our creamy vanilla pudding.
- Sugar and Cornstarch: I use plain granulated or cane sugar. The cornstarch helps to thicken our pudding.
- Milk: For the best flavor, use whole milk.
- Vanilla: I use vanilla extract, although vanilla bean paste or the newly available ground vanilla would be great.
How to Make Banana Pudding
Homemade banana pudding with real homemade vanilla pudding is easier than you might think. Most of the time will be making the pudding, which is quite simple.
You’ll start by whisking egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and some milk together in a bowl. Then, heat some milk on the stove until it begins to simmer.
Now, while whisking, slowly pour some hot milk into the egg yolk mixture. This is called tempering, which is basically slowly raising the temperature of the eggs so that they do not scramble but stay creamy and smooth.
Continue whisking in the hot milk, and then when the egg mixture is also hot, pour everything back into the saucepan and heat over medium heat. As it heats, whisk the mixture to make sure that it doesn’t stick to the bottom or sides.
After a couple of minutes, it will start to look like a thin pudding. As you whisk, the whisk will leave trails in the pudding behind. Another check is to dip a spoon into it and drag your finger through it. If the trail stays put, you have pudding! When that happens, you’ll whisk in salted butter, which makes the pudding outrageously delicious and creamy.
At this point, you want to pour the pudding (still hot) over layers of bananas and vanilla cookies. Then, shake the pan to get the pudding into all the nooks and crannies. Let this cool to room temperature and then refrigerate (preferably overnight).
When you are ready to serve, enjoy as is, or add some whipped cream to the top and crumble over more cookies. It’s so good!!!
Perfect Banana Pudding
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This banana pudding recipe tastes so incredibly good. It’s almost made entirely from scratch, with the vanilla cookies being the exception. Packaged vanilla pudding is super common for banana pudding, but fresh homemade vanilla pudding tastes SO MUCH better. It’s also relatively easy to make yourself. The final step for this recipe is to let the banana pudding sit overnight in the fridge. If you can’t wait the full 8 hours, wait as long as you can before serving!
You Will Need
5 medium to large bananas
1 (11oz) box vanilla cookies, Nilla Wafers
4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
2 tablespoons (16g) cornstarch
3 cups (709ml) whole milk, divided
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons (56g) salted butter
Fresh whipped cream, optional for serving
Directions
- Make the Vanilla Pudding
1Find a 2-quart dish at least 2 inches deep. This recipe is perfect in an 8×8-inch square dish. Feel free to use another shaped dish, but keep some extra bananas and cookies on hand to fill it up.
2In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar, and 1/2 cup of milk. Don’t worry if the mixture is a bit gritty at this stage.
3Pour the remaining 2 ½ cups of milk into a medium saucepan. Heat it over medium-high heat until it just starts to simmer, then turn off the heat.
4While whisking, pour 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture. Add another 1/2 cup and repeat until the egg mixture is hot (whisking the entire time).
5Pour the warmed egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.
6Add the vanilla. Turn the heat to medium and cook, whisking constantly, until the pudding thickens. This should take 3 to 4 minutes. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking and scorching. To check that the pudding is ready, dip a spoon in it. If it coats the back and a line drawn with your finger stays for a few seconds, it’s thick enough!
7Remove the pot from the heat. Whisk in the butter until it is completely melted and blended into the pudding.
- Assemble the Layers
1In your prepared dish, start layering vanilla wafers and banana slices. Aim for at least 2 layers of each, stopping 1/2 inch from the top for the pudding. To make the layers flat, place the bottom layer of cookies flat side down and the top layer of cookies flat side up.
2Pour the hot pudding over the cookie and banana layers.
3Gently shake and tilt the dish to help the pudding flow down and around all the layers. You’ll see air bubbles coming up – that’s a good sign! Keep shimmying for about 3 minutes to ensure the pudding reaches the bottom.
4Let the pudding cool to room temperature on the counter, then cover and refrigerate until it’s thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.
5Before serving, top your banana pudding with whipped cream, extra banana slices, and crumbled cookies.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Best dish: This recipe is perfect in an 8×8-inch square dish at least 2 inches deep (2-quart dish). Feel free to use another shaped dish, but keep some extra bananas and cookies on hand to fill it up.
- Serving: I love topping this with fresh, homemade whipped cream and crushed vanilla cookies. Old-school recipes add a layer of meringue, which is lovely. You can also serve it straight from the fridge without anything else added (it’s amazing).
- Storing: Refrigerate the banana pudding for up to 3 days.
- Vanilla cookies: You will likely have some cookies left, but you can crush them and scatter them on top when serving. I prefer to have too many than not enough. I use about 20 cookies per layer, my dish fit 3 layers of them.
- Salted butter: If you have unsalted butter, add 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt to the vanilla pudding when whisking in the butter.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
You May Also Like...
This so easy and so yummy! Thank you for the recipe!
This is literally the only recipe I was able to find that made the vanilla pudding instead of buying the box. I can’t wait to try this recipe out!
Making the vanilla pudding is so easy. You are going to love it 🙂
In which step are you supposed to put the vanilla extract in? It’s included in the recipe but does not mention where or when to use it???
We add it after pouring the hot milk mixture back into the saucepan. (step 6)
This banana pudding recipe sounds amazing! I can’t wait to making it. I remember my dad making this when I was a kid. I also remember seeing the bananas turn brown within hours after serving. Is there a way to prevent browning (oxidation)? Thank you! 🙂
Hi Jennifer, if you are worried about the bananas browning we recommend that you don’t put bananas on top. All of the bananas in the pudding shouldn’t brown.
You are correct, they don’t brown in the pudding. Also I add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon plus 1 whole tub of cool whip to my pudding to make it fluffy and flavorful. Crumble cookies on the top make it look amazing.