Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding

Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding – this is the ACTUAL banana pudding recipe from their cookbook. This classic dessert has layers of creamy vanilla pudding, bananas, and a layer of vanilla wafers. It’s heaven and one of our favorite desserts.

THE BEST BANANA PUDDING RECIPE

The life of a food blogger is really weird. First of all, we eat like it’s our job. Well, it kind of is.

When we go to a restaurant, ideally we would love to order one of everything but budget consciousness usually limits us to one or two choices.

My husband and I kind of have it down. Whenever we’re traveling and checking out the local eats, I always ask the waiter what they’re known for.

If tons of people continually come back for the same thing, chances are it’s worth it.

Then I usually ask the waiter what their personal favorite is. I’ve waited tables enough to know that some of the secret gems aren’t always popular yet.

So we order whatever they’re known for and then something else we eye on the menu.

The Man Who Ate Everything and I have pretty much morphed into one person in our 15 years of marriage so our tastes are similar.

MAGNOLIA BAKERY

So when we recently went to New York and visited the Magnolia Bakery we had to get what they are known for…their Famous Banana Pudding. I know, it’s known as one of the popular southern desserts but here we are in NYC eating it.

We ordered a couple other treats but hands down the banana pudding was the winner.

We were able to taste this Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding Recipe not once but twice in our stay there. Here’s our picture of us eating it on the streets of New York.

Magnolia Bakery has a big tub of the stuff and kind of slaps it in a cup, lunch lady style, to serve it to you.

You can make this easy recipe in a big container or individual trifles would be really cute! Just remember it’s not a trifle. There’s more pudding mix to Nilla ratio making it a pudding.

I was thrilled to see that Magnolia Bakery actually gives their actual recipe in their Magnolia Bakery’s Cookbook. It really is the best banana pudding with banana flavor.

However, I was a mixture of disappointed/relieved to see what the ingredients are.

Disappointed because I spent so much money buying it in New York and relieved because I can make it at home – no crazy ingredients, for way cheaper.

No homemade pudding making this really easy banana pudding.

Here are the ingredients. No Cool Whip…homemade whipped cream. No cream cheese. No vanilla extract because we have vanilla in the pudding.

WHAT’S IN MAGNOLIA BAKERY BANANA PUDDING?

This recipe has a few simple ingredients: Pudding, vanilla wafers, fresh bananas, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy whipping cream.

• VANILLA PUDDING – Use instant vanilla pudding here not the cook and serve kind. You could also use French vanilla pudding here as well.
• BANANAS – slices of banana throughout give a great flavor.
• SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK – instead of whole milk, we beat the pudding with water and sweetened condensed milk.
• HEAVY CREAM
• NILLA WAFERS – are traditional here but you could use shortbread cookies, butter cookies, or animal crackers as a substitute.

First, I used a trifle dish and layered my vanilla wafer cookies,…

…a layer of banana slices,

…then pudding mixture. Repeat that 2 more times.

The recipe says to chill for 4 hours but no longer than 8. That’s because your bananas will start to brown if you let them hang out too long.

See my recipe notes on how to make them turn brown less quickly.

Remember to save some vanilla wafers and bananas for the top the top of the pudding right before serving.

The vanilla wafers layered inside turn soft and almost cake-like.

Believe me. You want to make this. Especially if you love bananas.

HOW TO MAKE MAGNOLIA BAKERY’S BANANA PUDDING:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water until well combined – about 1 minute. Add the instant vanilla pudding mix and beat well – about 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight. It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set. It will be watery if you don’t let it set up long enough.
2. In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream with an electric mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the fresh whipped cream into the pudding mixture until no streaks of pudding remain.
3. Dessert can either be made in individual portions or in a large glass bowl.
4. To assemble dessert, select a large wide glass bowl or trifle bowl with 4-5 quart capacity.
5. Arrange 1/3 of the Nilla wafers covering the bottom, overlapping if necessary. Next, layer 1/3 of the bananas, and 1/3 of the pudding mixture. Repeat twice more, garnishing with additional wafers or wafer crumbs on the top layer. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours – or up to 8 hours, no longer (because bananas will start to brown – see Notes for tips on preventing browning below).

HOW TO KEEP BANANAS FROM BROWNING:

The reason the recipe says to serve within 8 hours is that the bananas will turn brown as they oxidize. There are a couple of things you can do to make not brown as fast:

1) Pick bananas that are barely ripe. If they are slightly green and the stem, those are perfect. These will tend to not brown as fast.
2) Brush them with some lemon juice. Any fruit juice helps (pineapple, apple, orange). This can change the flavor slightly so brushing them is better than soaking them. Even water neutralizes the ph and will slow down the browning if you rinse them in water.
3) Rinse them with club soda. The advantage here is that it won’t affect the taste. Don’t use tonic as it has a bad taste.
4) Try to keep them airtight. The less contact with the air the less they will brown.

OTHER BANANA RECIPES:

• Banana Cream Pie
• The Best Banana Bread
• Banana Split Dessert
• Banana Muffins
• Monkey Squares – Banana Bread Bars
• Banana Bread Cookies
• Banana Split IceBox Cake

Magnolia Bakery's Famous Banana Pudding Recipe

Christy Denney

4.62 from 2219 votes

This Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding Recipe has layers of creamy pudding, bananas, and Nilla wafers. It's heaven and way easier than you think!  This is the ACTUAL banana pudding recipe from their cookbook.

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

chilling: 7 hours hrs

Total Time: 7 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings: 15 servings

Ingredients

  

½1x2x

• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 ½ cups ice cold water
• 1 (3.4 oz) box instant vanilla pudding mix
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 4 cups sliced barely ripe bananas, (see note)
• 1 (12 oz.) box Nilla Wafers

Equipment

Large Glass Bowl

Hand Mixer (for making whipped cream)

Instructions

 

• In a large bowl, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and 1 ½ cups ice cold water until well combined - about 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat well - about 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight. It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set. It will be watery if you don't let it set up long enough.
• In a large bowl, whip the 3 cups heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture until no streaks of pudding remain.
• Dessert can either be made in individual portions or in a large glass bowl with 4-5 quart capacity (a 9x13 baking dish also works).
• To assemble dessert, arrange 1/3 of the Nilla wafers covering the bottom, overlapping if necessary. Next, layer 1/3 of the bananas, and 1/3 of the pudding mixture. Repeat twice more, garnishing with additional wafers or wafer crumbs on the top layer. Cover tightly and allow to chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours - or up to 8 hours, no longer (because bananas will start to brown - see Notes for tips on preventing browning).

Video

Notes

The reason the recipe says to serve within 8 hours is that the bananas will turn brown as they oxidize. There are a couple of things you can do to make not brown as fast. I usually just do #1 and #4. 2 and 3 aren't necessary unless you're trying to make WAY ahead of time.

1) Pick bananas that are barely ripe. If they are slightly green and the stem, those are perfect. These will tend to brown as fast. You just don't want overripe bananas.
2) Brush them with some lemon juice. Any fruit juice helps (pineapple, apple, orange). This can change the flavor slightly so brushing them is better than soaking them. Even water neutralizes the ph and will slow down the browning if you rinse them in water.
3) Rinse them with club soda. The advantage here is that it won't affect the taste. Don't use tonic as it has a bad taste.
4) Try to keep them airtight. The less contact with the air the less they will brown. Make sure the pudding mixture is covering them.

Source: Magnolia's Bakery Cookbook

Serving: 1grams

Cuisine: American

Author: Christy Denney