That ain’t my grandmother’s banana pudding — BUT it is!
These cute little jelly jars make the perfect containers for this rich banana pudding.
My grandmother always made the best homemade banana pudding and she still could if she wanted to. She just turned 97 in May and is still occasionally cooking up things in her kitchen. Her banana pudding was always from scratch. She would get out all her ingredients, slice her bananas and make a rich, sweet, homemade custard to layer between the bananas and vanilla wafers and then top it with a fluffy meringue and brown it just the right amount in the oven. We could hardly wait for it to be chilled so we could dig into a big bowl of the pudding.
I love bananas in anything. A few years ago we had dinner at the CIA institute in Napa and they served Molten Cake with Bananas Foster on the Side. I would have never thought to put the two together but it was wonderful. If you haven’t tried my Coconut Banana Puffs, please do. They are delicious. There’s also a recipe my sister gave me for Bananas Foster Chimichangas that I will be making this summer. Browned and served with ice cream, another must do for a summer party.
Some people like whipped cream on top of their banana pudding, but to me banana pudding has to have a meringue on top to bring back memories of my grandmother’s banana pudding. Over the years my grandmother has clipped and tried (I’m sure) thousands of recipes. Many years ago she tried this version of banana pudding which is so easy and rich you won’t believe it isn’t homemade. This recipe is made with sweetened condensed milk and instant pudding. I have decided to make these in the individual jelly jars that I picked up last summer. I had this desert in mind when I bought them.
I used mini vanilla wafers since these jars were so small.
Add sliced bananas and do another layer of wafers, bananas, pudding.
Pudding all the way to the top and then top with whipped meringue.
The meringue gets baked in oven for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
Quick and Easy Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 - 3 oz. pkg. instant French Vanilla Pudding
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk Eagle Brand milk
- 4 c. milk
- 8 oz. Cool Whip*
- 4-6 bananas sliced
- 1 pkg. vanilla wafers
Instructions
- Mix the vanilla pudding with milk and mix per packager directions. Stir in the Eagle Brand milk and fold in the cool whip. In you dish, jars, or whatever you decide to serve it in, layer wafers, bananas, pudding mixture until you reach the top of your container. Top with meringue and brown in oven for about 5-6 minutes. Let come to room temperature and then refrigerate until serving time.
- Meringue:
- 3 egg whites
- 5 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- In a bowl beat the 3 egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar until stiff peaks have formed. Spread this on top of the banana pudding and brown in a 425° oven for about 8-10 minutes.
7 Comments
Ali
June 19, 2010 at 5:51 amWhoa. These are little cups filled with creamy, banana-y nostalgia. My mom and my sister will go crazy over when I make them.
Thanks for sharing. Grandmas always have the best dessert recipes.
Sherry
June 19, 2010 at 7:15 amHope you will try these. I’m dreaming up my next use for these little jelly jars. Maybe a berry cobbler with crust draped over jar.
veggie wedgie
June 19, 2010 at 11:50 amThese look extremely cute! The jam jars add a beautiful touch!
Laura Flowers
June 19, 2010 at 12:41 pmHow neat! I love your jar idea too. This is such a cool recipe.
Laura
delicieux
June 20, 2010 at 11:17 pmThese look sinfully delicious. Yummy!!!
Julie
June 26, 2010 at 11:07 amSherry,
Nice meeting you today at RitzU. I made it a point to visit your site right away, so I wouldn’t forget. Had to snag that banana pudding meringue recipe…looks super easy and very tasty!
Julie 🙂
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November 16, 2014 at 5:02 am[…] FROM THE PAST: This Quick and Easy Banana Pudding is a recipe my grandmother use to do. It was one of the first ones I had posted to Foodgawker.com […]