Mmmm! Puddin'!

Blissful Banana Pudding

1/3 C All Purpose Flour

1/2 C Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

3/4 C Sweetened Condensed Milk

1-3/4 C Whole Milk

3 Egg Yolks

8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature OR 8 oz Jif Creamy Peanut Butter

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Tbs Butter

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a sauce pan. Mix the sweetened condensed milk, milk, and egg yolks in a separate bowl. Slowly stir the milk mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming. Once combined, cook over medium heat until very thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter, cream cheese OR peanut butter, and vanilla while pudding is still hot. Stir until cream cheese OR peanut butter and butter are completely combined into pudding. Spoon pudding into a bowl that is too large for the amount of pudding, and cover with plastic wrap. Be sure that plastic wrap is touching the surface of the pudding so that it will not form a skin. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or until completely chilled.

2 C Heavy Cream

1 Tbs Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla until very stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the chilled pudding until combined. This is most easily done with a stiff rubber spatula, adding the whipped cream in 2 parts. Be gentle here - you don't want to deflate the whipped cream anymore than is necessary.

4-6 Bananas, sliced 1/4" thick

2 Boxes Vanilla Wafers

Line the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with a single layer of vanilla wafers. Layer 1/3 of the pudding mixture evenly over the wafers. Add a layer of bananas and a layer of vanilla wafers, then another 1/3 of pudding. Finish with a layer of bananas and a layer of vanilla wafers, then the final 1/3 of pudding. Top with crushed or whole wafers - decorate as desired.

Chill overnight before serving.

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What says "family gathering" with more conviction than a giant dish of banana pudding? I don't know that there's anything that tops it! Here's the story of how this recipe was born.

I managed a restaurant in South Texas that served a menu of grilled sandwiches, comfort food, and house made desserts. They offered a "banana cream pie" as one of the desserts. Now, I have to clarify so you understand why it needed some change. This dessert was a pot pie sized pie crust that was filled with soupy vanilla pudding and sliced bananas, then was topped with whipped cream. I was never a fan of the pie crust because I found it to be too tough, and not remotely as flaky as I expect from a "good" pie crust. The pudding was house made, but the consistency was lacking. The conversation came up about revamping the 5 year old dessert menu, and I was happy to spring into action!

It was clear that we had to have a banana option. Why not banana pudding? It's a staple in the realm of comfort food! So, I started scouring the internet, looking for the best recipes out there. I looked at popular bakery recipes, famous chef's recipes, and so many other recipes that I lost count. I found a few common denominators in what were considered the "best" recipes. Instant vanilla pudding mix was a common thread for sure. I didn't find a single "good" recipe that didn't call for this simple ingredient. Now, I know you've eaten instant vanilla pudding, and I also know that you know exactly what it tastes and looks like. It has a very distinct flavor and a distinct golden yellow color! I really didn't want that tell tale, powdery flavor. Several included heavy whipping cream in the recipe. Some had sweetened condensed milk. There were some that had cream cheese. None fit the bill for what I was looking for! I needed something that would blow every other banana pudding that had ever puddinged out of the water.

So, I put on my thinking cap and dragged out my cookbooks. My Nana (pronounced Nah-nah, btw) made this one chocolate pie that was at every family Christmas that I can ever remember. The recipe can be altered to basically make any cream pie flavor you can dream of. I decided that this would be my base, but I needed it to contain sweetened condensed milk. A little bit of tinkering with ingredients and I had my base. Clearly, it had to have cream cheese, so I added it to the base while it was still hot. Sin. This is what sin tastes like, I'm sure of it! Now, let's not forget the heavy whipping cream! The pudding needed to be lightened up, so real whipped cream clearly fit the bill.

I made a batch and decided that this was the best banana pudding I'd ever eaten. I had other people try it out. The first bite brings a smile, then a little giggle, then a request for more pudding. This was it! I found the holy grail of banana pudding! So why not take it one notch higher? More is more, right? Here's where the peanut butter found its way in! I made another batch and replaced the cream cheese with creamy peanut butter. Holy moly, can I tell you how good it is??? If you are a peanut butter fan, it's through the roof amazing! I'm pretty sure I heard the voice of Elvis from beyond the grave asking for just one bite! (If you're not a huge fan of the PB, stick to the cream cheese version. I assure you, you won't be disappointed!)

This recipe will hold for a solid 5 days in the fridge without getting watery or the bananas getting all icky and brown. It is every bit as good on the fifth day as it is on the first day, so it lends itself to being made well in advance. While this is a little bit more complicated than instant vanilla pudding mix, I can tell you with great certainty that you will not regret putting in the extra effort! This recipe will make you the hit of any gathering. It might also make your grandma mad that your banana pudding is better than hers! Just give her a hug and a spoonful of pudding. She'll be alright!