I love this banana pudding recipe featuring homemade Nilla wafers, pastry cream (pudding), and perfect whipped cream. It’s a simple, elegant dish that you can serve in a large glass container or in individual jars.
The quintessential southern dessert is found on the back of the box of Nilla wafers. You can certainly use Nilla brand wafers for this banana pudding and there will be no judgment (I do it all the time) and it will taste just like you remember when you ate it as a kid.
OR you can make your own vanilla wafer cookies (recipe link below) and be so glad you did. You can assemble this dessert in one large glass jar or in individual servings. I provide TWO topping options in the recipe, simple whipped cream or a toasted Swiss Meringue, depending on your preference. If you saw the episode of Zoë Bakes when I made this dessert for my young neighbor and didn’t sweeten the whipped cream, she was shocked! 😉 So, I am offering a much sweeter option. I still like the unsweetened whipped cream to balance the sweet of the bananas and pudding. Chocolate shavings and cashews are optional, but dress it up and add some crunch.
More Favorite Banana Recipes
- A classic banana bread, with a few fun variations.
- Few things beat a classic banana cream pie.
- Or choose one of your favorite from my list of 13 banana desserts.
Homemade Nilla Wafers
The homemade versions are super easy and fast to make and they don’t have any of the cardboard box flavor overtones. Wait, did that just come across as judgy? I really do love the Nilla wafer version and it’s pure nostalgia for me. Either way you are going to love this recipe. I was inspired to make it after an old friend from high school (that’s a very old friend) made it for New Year’s Eve and posted pictures on Instagram. I found the Nilla wafer recipe in the BraveTart cookbook by Stella Parks, but you can also find other recipes online.
Video: Banana Pudding
Thank you to those of you who joined me for my YouTube Live: Banana Pudding! Watch the video to see me make this recipe and answer all the questions live.
Video
Ingredients
Pastry Cream
- 2 cups (480ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- Pinch kosher salt
- 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 large egg
- 3 large egg yolks
To Assemble
- 1 1/2 cups (360ml)* heavy whipping cream *reduce the whipping cream to 1 1/4 cup if using Swiss Meringue Topping
- 1 box (11 oz/311g) vanilla wafer cookies such as Nilla Wafers
- 4 large bananas sliced
- chocolate shavings optional
- 1/2 cup toasted nuts (your choice) optional
Swiss Meringue (optional)
- 1 cup egg whites
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Instructions
To Make the Pastry Cream
- In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar, butter, salt, and vanilla bean to a gentle boil. Remove from the heat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Add the egg and yolks to the cornstarch and mix into a smooth paste.
- Slowly, and in small amounts, whisk a little of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture. Pro Tip: This is called tempering the eggs, which you need to do to get them to the same temperature of the hot milk in the pan, so they won’t curdle.
- Once the egg mixture is warm to the touch, pour it back into the pan. Return the custard to medium heat and bring to a boil, whisking continuously. Whisk and cook until smooth and glossy, for 3 minutes. Pro Tip: The pastry cream will thicken almost immediately but it is important to cook out the starch so that it isn’t grainy and so your pastry cream won’t separate.
- Strain the pastry cream into a shallow container and discard the vanilla bean. Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Set the container in an ice bath or in the freezer for 15 minutes (this cools down the eggs quickly) and then refrigerate for up to a few days.
To Assemble the Pudding
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy whipping cream until medium-stiff peaks.
- If you are topping your pudding with the whipped cream, reserve about 1 cup for later. Fold the remaining whipped cream into the pastry cream. Pro Tip: stir the chilled pastry cream so that it is smooth, which makes folding in the whipped cream easier.
- Place a layer of the cookies in the bottom of the serving bowl. Spoon in one-third of the lightened pastry cream over the cookies. Top with half of the banana slices. Add a layer of cookies (be sure they go all the way to the edge so you can see them). Repeat with another one-third of pastry cream, remaining bananas, and another layer of cookies (you may not need to use the whole box).
- Finish with the remaining pastry cream. Cover and refrigerate for about 5 hours to give the cookies time to absorb the pastry cream and soften.
- When ready to serve, top with the reserved whipped cream, more bananas, chocolate shavings and lightly toasted nuts or make Swiss Meringue below.
To Make the Swiss Meringue Topping (Optional)
- Bring about an inch of water in a saucepan to a simmer.
- Combine the egg whites, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl over the simmering water and stir the egg mixture with a rubber spatula until it is hot and all of the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and place the bowl onto the stand mixer, fit with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until very think, glossy and stiff peaks when you lift the beater, about 5 to 8 minutes.
- When ready to serve, top with Swiss Meringue instead of whipped cream. Toast with a torch and serve.
Hi! I am using this recipe to make banana pudding for my cousin’s baby shower this weekend. My trifle bowl is much bigger than the one in the video. How much pastry cream does the recipe yield?
Hi Amy, how exciting! The pastry cream should make a little less than 3 cups. Enjoy!
I used mini Nilla wafer in individual cups. Bravetart arrived too late to make homemade. I made a half batch of pastry cream using 1 egg and 1 yolk. Got distracted and the milk reached more than a gentle boil. It tasted good, but was a little loose. Made another half batch using 2 egg yolks and paid attention to only reach a gentle boil. 🙂 For whateve rreason, this batch was perfect! Excellent recipe!
I made this in individual cups and it was delicious!! I shared them with neighbors and they all loved it. One said I should call it a trifle rather than a pudding though because of the layers and I tend to agree. Regardless of what to call it, this is a perfect dessert for a brunch or a dessert station for guests to help themselves to one. Thank you!!
I was so excited to make this from scratch and it was so easy! It came together beautifully and was delicious!
Even though I had vanilla icebox cake with Nilla wafers once or twice as a kid, I’d never tried them in banana pudding before now. (I’d always had banana pudding in pie instead, even though my grandfather was Southern.) I decided to try the Bravetart wafer recipe instead of store-bought wafers because of sensitivities to artificial flavoring, and it is indeed excellent! I used parfait glasses and the whipped cream topping, and opted for dark chocolate shavings on top but no nuts. The pudding texture was lush and ethereal at the same time, with just the right amount of sweetness. My mom proclaimed it “perfect!” The banana pudding recipe will come in handy for many occasions–it’s a keeper!
Hi Zoe!
I am excited to make this banana pudding. Since my kids are grown and I have an empty nest, I have been satisfying my baking obsession by baking for the residents that live in my condo building. They are very happy to oblige, although my husband sometimes gets put off because nothing is left for him. Anyway, I want to make the banana pudding for them and was wondering the how many servings I would get from this recipe if I used 5oz individual containers. Any insight would be great!!
In reading through your cookies book on page 200 there is a photo of a recipe that I don’t see in your book – looks like something I want to bake. What is it and what is the recipe? Please!
Hello! The bars pictured on page 200 are the passion fruit variation of lemon bars on page 222. If you make them, please check out the errata page to see a discrepancy about the crust: https://zoebakescom.bigscoots-staging.com/zoe-bakes-cookies-errata/
Happy baking!
I wondered if they were a variation – thanks for that! And has there ever been a cookbook published without some sort of error? I think not! Now that we can contact the author it makes it so much easier to check things out. Enjoy your recipes and books!
This custard recipe was ! The vanilla bean custard alone is to die for. And the finished banana pudd was a huge hit. Will make custard again & again. Zoe breaks down the steps in a super simple way. Easy to learn alongside her during this episode!
This banana pudding was super easy to make and delicious. Definitely adding this one to my recipe book. My boys loved it!!!
My mother was a great Southern cook. So most of my childhood comfort foods are Southern delicacies. Nothing ranks higher than Mom’s banana pudding! Recently I grabbed a couple boxes of Nilla vanilla wafers and planned to make banana pudding. The cookies were disgusting. I don’t know what happened but I couldn’t stand the taste. So I am forever grateful for your alternative to the Nilla wafers. Next weekend will be banana pudding with the new BraveTart recipe. Thanks Zoe!
This banana pudding looks so good! YUM!