suemunzlinger's Recipe

Banana Pudding from Scratch

Category: Desserts

The key to great banana pudding is ripe bananas. In fact, they should be very ripe. Yellow with little brown specks. Bananas ripen best in the dark, so put them in a paper bag and check on them until they're perfect.


Banana Pudding
1 1/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 T all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups milk (whole or 2%)
1-1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon butter (not margarine)
5 egg yolks (large eggs or better)
box of Vanilla wafers
5-6 ripe bananas

Meringue
4 egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F.

Line the bottom of a 9 x 9 baking dish with a layer of vanilla wafers. This recipe will not use the whole box,

Peel the bananas and slice into 3/8 inch rounds; Cover the banana slices with plastic wrap to keep them from darkening and quickly make your pudding.

Combine the sugar, flour and salt in a bowl, and stir well to mix. Mash out any flour lumps with the back of your spoon. Set aside.

Banana Pudding Baking Tip
The size and shape of the baking dish are important.

If you don't have a 9 x 9
baking dish, you really should. It is a handy size to have. I have made this banana pudding in a round casserole dish, and it just doesn't turn out as well.


In a heavy saucepan, beat the egg yolks well (just use a fork or whisk, but beat them well). Over medium heat, add the flour mixture to the egg yolks, alternately with the milk and vanilla, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil and, when the mixture begins to thicken, add the butter, continuing to stir. Keep boiling and stirring until mixture reaches a nice pudding consistency. [Note If you are working with an electric cooktop, adjust the heat so that it's hot enough to boil, but not so hot that the pudding scorches.] Remove from heat.

Place a layer of banana slices in the baking dish on top of the vanilla wafers. Line those banana slices up edge to edge. Pour, spreading as necessary, half of the pudding over the banana layer. Put down another layer of vanilla wafers, another layer of banana slices, and cover with the remaining pudding.

Beat the egg whites at high speed until they form soft peaks. Add the cream of tartar. At high speed, gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold the vanilla into the meringue, and spread the meringue over the hot pudding, sealing it at the sides of the dish.

Bake in a preheated 375F oven until meringue browns, 12 to 15 minutes, depending upon your oven.



This recipe makes 6 or 8 servings, and you can count on people asking for seconds. Any leftovers should be covered and refrigerated. And, yes, it's hard to cover anything with a meringue top and anyway, banana pudding is not as attractive after it has been refrigerated. But it's still just as delicious.