Southern Banana Pudding (Completely From Scratch)
My Southern banana pudding is made completely from scratch! It has homemade whipped cream, from-scratch vanilla pudding, slices of fresh banana, and sourdough vanilla wafers baked at home. After enjoying lots of banana pudding at our local Tennessee BBQ restaurants, I knew I had to make my own version at home. I hope this becomes your go-to, no-bake banana pudding recipe, like it has for us!
Ingredients
- 1/2 batch of homemade sourdough vanilla wafers (my recipe link is in notes below)
- 2 large bananas (ripe but not mushy)
Vanilla Pudding
- 2 cup whole milk (or any milk of choice but please note variations in consistency can occur)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup pure cane sugar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour (I use unbleached, organic but any works)
- 2 egg yolks
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream (I use organic to stay away from additives but regular works)
- 2 Tbsp pure cane sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- If you haven’t yet, make sourdough vanilla wafers.
Make Vanilla Pudding
- Pour milk into a pot and warm over medium-high heat on the stovetop until tiny bubbles just begin to form around edges of pot (scalding). Do not let it boil or it’ll scorch the milk.
- While milk is warming, place vanilla, cane sugar, sea salt, flour, and egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Whisk together until combined. It will be thick.
- Once milk is warmed, remove from heat and slowly pour a little at a time into egg mixture. Whisk to combine completely each time before adding more milk. We’re tempering the eggs so they don’t scramble. You’ll repeat this until about half of the milk is mixed into the egg mixture.
- Pour egg mixture back into the pot with rest of the milk then place pot back on the stovetop.
- Warm over medium heat, whisking occassionally, until steam comes off the top and pudding is thick, about 5-10 minutes. It should coat the back of a spoon and look thick in the pot.
- Remove from stovetop and let cool slightly on the counter while preparing the other parts of this recipe. It will thicken a little more as it cools.
Assemble Banana Pudding
- While pudding is cooling, whip together heavy whipping cream, cane sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form with an electric mixer, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Slice bananas into thin round slices (about 1/4” thick). Set aside.
- Grab a serving dish of your choice (I use a 7-cup Pyrex storage dish) and add a layer of sourdough vanilla wafers on the bottom. Add a layer of banana slices on top. Then add half of the pudding in a layer over the bananas (it’s okay that it’s still warm).
- Repeat with another layer of wafers, bananas, and the rest of the pudding to create 2 layers of each. Top with all of the homemade whipped cream.
- Optional: Add leftover banana slices and/or vanilla wafers on top of whipped cream. Please note that the bananas on top will turn a little brown after 24 hours.
- Cover, if possible, then refrigerate for at least 4-8 hours before serving so it can cool, setup, and soften the wafer cookies.
- Once chilled, enjoy! It’ll last 2-3 days in the fridge.
Notes
My Sourdough Vanilla Wafer Recipe: https://plumbranchhome.com/sourdough-vanilla-wafers/
You can double this recipe if desired. Please see blog post for storage information and helpful tips.
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A Note From Molly – This recipe was developed and tested by me, NEVER AI (artificial intelligence). My recipes here on Plum Branch Home are created with purpose and cherished in our own home. What you see from Plum Branch Home is real. It’s made for a reason, tested, and loved!
Here at Plum Branch Home we’re serving God by loving our families one simple, wholesome, made from scratch recipe at a time!