best banana pudding

best banana pudding

If you want to serve a crowd-pleasing dessert, then you HAVE to make this banana pudding. It’s simple, it’s delicious, and it uses a combination of homemade components with some purchased from the store. I’d venture to say that it’s the perfect summertime dessert!

INGREDIENTS

For the vanilla pudding:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the whipped cream:

• 3 cups heavy cream
• 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

To assemble:

• 4 cups sliced ripe bananas
• 1 11-oz box vanilla wafer cookies

INSTRUCTIONS

• Make the vanilla pudding. In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the heavy cream, milk, egg yolks, sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Whisk until it is smooth and set over medium-low heat. Continue whisking until the mixture starts to thicken, 6-8 minutes. Continue to whisk until the pudding is bubbling and thick, 2-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract. Stir until it is smooth. Pass the pudding through a sieve. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill for hours.

• Prepare the whipped cream. In a bowl, combine the heavy cream, Greek yogurt, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Whip the cream until it is at stiff peaks, 4-6 minutes. Add half of the whipped cream to the chilled pudding and fold it together.

• Assemble the pudding. Place a single layer of wafer cookies in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish, about 1/3 of the cookies. Follow with a layer of sliced bananas and 1/3 of the pudding. Repeat the layers two more times, ending with the remaining pudding. Top with the remaining whipped cream and place in the refrigerator until it is well chilled, 2-3 hours.