Eagle Brand milk Banana Pudding recipe

I LOVE and adore banana pudding, real banana pudding. By real I mean the kind where you make the pudding from scratch and pour it warm over a bowl of yummy Nilla wafers and fresh cut bananas. That stuff with boxed pudding mix cannot even come close to how this tastes. If you think you’ve had banana pudding before and it involved a boxed pudding mix…THAT was not banana pudding! THIS is Banana Pudding!

The complete recipe is listed at the bottom of this page. I always insist on Nilla brand wafers. I am not a big brand person (alright, I do have a thing about White Lily flour), but if you’re going to make banana pudding, might as well do it right. For my Banana pudding, we won’t be doing a meringue. I like meringue but know far too many people who don’t. Plus that adds an extra step, which may be a wee bit complicated for someone who has never made it before. If you want to make a meringue and don’t know how, just visit my Lemon Meringue pie tutorial for complete instructions along with pictures!

I just want you to make the pudding, I don’t want you to feel you have to sit through an entire culinary class. That having been said, if you put Cool whip or any type of refrigerated dairy topping on this divine concoction after we are done making it, I will personally hunt you down and haunt you for the rest of your life. ~sweet smile~ We’re going to do this right

Put a layer of Nilla wafers in the bottom of a medium sized mixing bowl. Slice a banana over the top. Repeat these layers until you’ve used up all your Nilla wafers and bananas. It really is important that you put Nilla wafers first, by the way. These are going to soak up all the yummy pudding that settles at the bottom of your bowl.

I use a mixing bowl because that is what my mother always used. She had this Corning green glass mixing bowl, it was enormous. She must have made at least two recipes of banana pudding each time she made it. Seeing that bowl on the counter was always a welcome sight!

Crack your three eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Since we aren’t making a meringue, we won’t be using the whites. You can save them for another use or throw them away (which I did because….I just care about my banana pudding right now.)

Place 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar (or Splenda), and a dash of salt in a saucepan. You can use a double broiler for this and not have to fret over it so much, but I just like living on the edge. Muhahaha! My trick for substituting Splenda for sugar in this is to always use just a wee bit less than the recipe calls for. If it calls for a cup of sugar, I might do a cup minus two tablespoons of Splenda. To me, that keeps it from tasting artificial.

Add milk to saucepan.

Now settle in and BE PATIENT. You need to stir the pot constantly, scraping the bottom so none of it gets a chance to stick and scorch. This will take about fifteen minutes so I usually get something to read while I stand there and stir because I don’t think I’ve ever “just” done one thing for fifteen minutes straight.

Today I read a few articles from the new issue of PopSci. I love that magazine. This one shows you how you can turn your iPod or even iPhone into a projector that will project movies onto your wall up to 5′ x 7′! All you need are a small cosmetic mirror, a cardboard box, some tape, and a lense from an old slide projector. I actually want to do this. Anyone have an old slide projector? ~grins~

Seriously, be patient, keep stirring, don’t turn the heat up past four. This is going to take a long time and do nothing, but then ALL OF A SUDDEN it will be thicker.

Yes, I need to clean my stove. I started to photoshop that out but then decided…..”eh”.

Now, your pudding isn’t going to get super thick, but after about fifteen minutes of stirring, it will suddenly get thicker. The consistency will be about what that boxed pudding is right after you mix it before it sets well. TAKE IT OFF THE EYE! Quick! we don’t want it to scorch or keep getting thicker. Now if you end up with scorched pudding or lumpy pudding, just use it anyway and pay attention to me when I tell you to slow down next time!

Add a teaspoon of vanilla and stir.

Immediately pour over your bananas and wafers.

Let this sit for about five minutes so the pudding has time to soak into the wafers. THIS IS SO GOOD! Eat it warm, then refrigerate leftovers. I prefer to eat the leftovers cold. YUMM!

Ingredients

• ½ Cup Sugar (or splenda)
• ⅓ Cup Flour
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 Cups milk
• 1 box Nilla Wafers
• 5 bananas
• ½ teaspoon Vanilla
• dash salt

Instructions

1. Place a layer of Nilla Wafers in the bottom of a medium sized mixing bowl. Slice a banana over the top. Repeat two more times with another layer of wafers and remaining bananas. In sauce pot (or double boiler) on medium low heat, add all ingredients except for vanilla. Stir well with wire whisk. Allow to cook, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until thickened - about fifteen minutes. Add in vanilla and stir. Immediately pour over wafers and bananas. Let sit for about five minutes or so before serving, to allow wafers time to absorb pudding. Top with meringue, if desired.