Banana Pudding

Last week I found a list I had written about 6 months ago of “things to post on the blog”.   I realized that I could mark most of them off of my list because I have since blogged about them. I had this moment of panic and thought, 

“Oh no, am I at the end of the road?  Have I posted all of my recipes?  Have I run dry?”

And then I started thinking of all the things I haven’t yet posted.  Banana pudding was the first item I put on the list.

 “I haven’t written about Banana Pudding!?” I thought, “It’s a classic!”

Then within the next few minutes, a list of about 35 recipes followed, not to mention all of the new things I am sure I will come across in the coming months that I will want to blog. 

(This moment reminded me of the commercial for DirecTV where the man reaches the end of the internet…do you remember that?  As if, you can ever reach the end of the internet, or ever reach the end of recipes and stories to write about.)  

So, the journey continues.

This past week, Dave was out of town for 7 days and at about day 4, and this pudding was on my mind.  It had been on my mind, since I had added it to my blog list last week.  I was seeking comfort from the long and hairy days of managing the house of 3 kids and a dog alone, so I made a batch.   Lucy and I had fun making it, and licking the bowls. She then wanted to take some to her teachers at school… which we did.  And they asked me for the recipe when I picked her up from school.  We also gave a container of it to a friend (who then emailed me later that week to ask for the recipe because she had devoured the container we had given her).  This was confirmation that I needed to post about this Banana Pudding.

There are two main camps of Banana Pudding Recipes. Some people prefer the warm, baked, topped with meringue banana pudding.  I call it Granny Banana Pudding.  My friend, Amy, makes the Granny kind.  And she makes a splendid version… that she learned from her Granny, obviously. 

Others people choose the cold, whippy, layered banana pudding. I call this one Fluffy Banana Pudding.  People tend to be opinionated, and often times narrow minded about their banana pudding.  I see the greatness in both types.

I learned Banana pudding making from my mom.  She always made the fluffy kind, though different versions, with an array of ingredients over the years. We’ve had varieties made with sour cream, sometimes with cream cheese, other times with sweetened condensed milk.  You really can’t go wrong with any of these.  

The other night when we were digging into bowls of pudding, Lainey said, “This tastes different than the pudding at the school cafeteria.” To which I replied, “Because it IS different.” She said, “I like this a lot better.” I said, “There is a reason! This recipe has sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, pudding, bananas, vanilla wafers and freshly whipped cream.” 

It is light and fluffy and yet rich and creamy.  It is easy to make and though it doesn’t last long (with bananas as an ingredient), that never seems to be an issue at our house.  It goes fast.

Notice the pudding hanging off of Lucy's chin.  We're classy here at the Hunt house.

Big smiles!

Fluffy Banana Pudding
Serving Size: 16  

An action shot- making the pudding

  
1 can sweetened condensed milk 

  3 cups milk

  2 (6- serving size) instant vanilla pudding and pie filling

  1 cup sour cream (or more)

  4-6 bananas

  1 box vanilla wafers

  16-ounces Cool Whip or fresh whipped cream (sweetened to taste)

whipping the cream

1. In large bowl, combine milk, pudding mix until blended.  Add sweetened condensed milk and sour cream.  If it is still too sweet, add a little more sour cream.  Mix until well blended. Chill 5 minutes.

2. Spoon 1 cup pudding mixture into trifle bowl.

3. Top with one-third each of vanilla wafers, bananas, pudding mixture and whipped cream. Repeat layering twice, ending with pudding mixture.  Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with vanilla wafer crumbs. Chill. Store leftovers, covered in refrigerator.

layering

and layering

crumbled wafers on top because that's what my mom has always done
and it's pretty!

Ready to eat!

 P. S. I wanted to give a warm welcome to any of you that popped over to Cup-A Cup-A via the (in)courage book study! I’m so glad you stopped by.   I hope you will stick around and find some inspiration and recipes! 

P. P. S. If you have no idea what in the world I was talking about in my P.S., I had the honor to help with an online book club of Richard Foster’s great book, Prayer with my friends Angie Smith and Jessica Turner, who lead the Bloom book club through (in)courage. (If you are curious, you can follow this LINK to see it.)