Big Mama's Banana Pudding
This is the banana pudding that has folks fighting over the last spoonful at every family gathering. Creamy vanilla custard, fresh bananas, and vanilla wafers all layered up and topped with fluffy meringue that gets golden brown in the oven. This is the real deal — none of that instant pudding business.
Cooking tutorial
Ingredients
- 1 box (12 oz) vanilla wafer cookies
- 6 to 7 ripe bananas, sliced
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (for pudding)
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 cups whole milk
- 4 large eggs, separated (save whites for meringue)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for meringue)
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Instructions
- 1
Preheat your oven to 350°F. In a medium saucepan, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, flour, and salt until well combined.
- 2
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and 4 egg yolks until smooth. Pour this into your sugar mixture and whisk it all together real good.
- 3
Put the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk, until the mixture thickens up nice and creamy — this takes about 12 to 15 minutes. Don't walk away or it'll scorch on you.
- 4
Once it's thick enough to coat the back of your spoon, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Let it cool for about 5 minutes.
- 5
In a 9x13-inch baking dish (or a big glass trifle bowl if you got one), make your layers: Start with a layer of vanilla wafers on the bottom, then a layer of sliced bananas, then pour about a third of the pudding over top. Repeat these layers two more times, ending with pudding on top.
- 6
Now make your meringue: In a clean, dry bowl, beat those 4 egg whites with the cream of tartar using an electric mixer on medium speed until they get foamy. Gradually add the 1/2 cup sugar while beating, then turn it up to high speed and beat until you get stiff, shiny peaks — about 3 to 4 minutes.
- 7
Spread the meringue over the top of your pudding, making sure to spread it all the way to the edges so it seals. Use the back of your spoon to make pretty little peaks all over.
- 8
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the meringue is golden brown on top. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.
- 9
Let it cool on the counter for about 30 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. It's even better the next day when everything's had time to set up and the wafers get soft.
Pro Tips
- ★Make sure not a speck of egg yolk gets in your whites when you separate them, or your meringue won't whip up right.
- ★Some folks like to add a little lemon juice to their bananas to keep them from turning brown — I just make sure my pudding's warm enough to pour right over them and work quick.
- ★If you're in a real hurry, you can skip the meringue and just top with whipped cream, but the baked meringue is what makes this special.