Banana Pudding

Banana. Pudding. A southern dessert staple and hands down one of my all-time favorites (rivaling my Grandma's strawberry pie, Mom's german chocolate sheet cake, and Aunt Lorene's lemon bars). I love trying out new ways to make it, but I have to say this version is always the winner for me. The butter cookies (thank you Paula Deen for this idea!) are a yummy alternative to traditional vanilla wafers, and the homemade whip cream blended into the pudding really takes it to the next level. I hope y'all like it as much as we do!

What You Will Need:
1 cup heavy whipping cream*
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 bag Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies
5-6 bananas, sliced thin
1 small box French vanilla instant pudding
2 cups milk
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Directions
Step One
Pour heavy cream into a stand mixer (or you can use a handheld mixer if you prefer). Beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add in powdered sugar + vanilla and continue beating on medium-high speed until until it is the consistency of whip cream (about 2-3 minutes maybe). Pour into a separate bowl so you can reuse the stand mixer for step three.

Step Two
While whip cream is finishing up, line the bottom of a 13 x 9 glass dish with cookies (save some to crumble on top), then layer bananas over the cookies. Set aside.

Step Three
Using the stand mixer (I skip cleaning it since you combine everything in a minute anyway), combine the softened cream cheese + sweetened condensed milk. Mix on medium speed until blended. Fold in whip cream.

Step Four
In a separate mixing bowl, blend milk + pudding mixture with a whisk (or handheld mixer) until it sets, about two minutes. Fold into cream cheese/whip cream mixture until well blended.

Step Five
Pour the pudding over the cookies and bananas. Crumble the remaining cookies on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve -- I suggest letting it set for at least two hours for better consistency.

*This recipe was adapted from Paula Deen -- she used one small container of cool whip instead of homemade whipped cream. If you want to eliminate a step you can use that too, but if you have the time to make it homemade go fot it -- you won't be disappointed!

Enjoy, y'all! xo



Recipe adapted from Paula Deen.