Menu Monday: Banana Pudding

If you haven't figured this out about me, I love desserts and I pretty much consider them meals. One of my friends made this amazing banana pudding for me when E was born and I dream about it almost every night. Seriously a couple of months ago, I had to make some because I kept waking up thinking about it (no I'm not pregnant). It's delicious and light and I could eat the entire pan of it.

1 large box of Instant Vanilla Pudding
sour cream
milk (whatever you usually use)
1 small container of cool-whip (regular or low-fat), thawed
vanilla extract
Nilla wafer
3-4 bananas (not green, but not brown yet_

Read the recipe on the box for the pie directions, it uses less milk the the regular pudding directions.  The pudding pie directions call for 2 1/2 cups of milk.  Place approximately 1/2 c. of sour cream into the glass measuring cup and then fill it to the 2 1/2 c. mark with the milk. Whisk the milk and sour cream together until the sour cream is fully incorporated- no lumps. Add a splash of vanilla extract to the milk mixture (like 1/2 to 1 tsp.)  In a large mixing bowl, pour in the milk mixture, then the pudding and stir/whisk/mix for 2-3 minutes.  Place into refrigerator until thickened.  This pudding mixture needs to be super thick because you are going to mix in cool-whip which thins it out a lot.

Once pudding is thickened, fold most or all of the cool-whip into the pudding. Now, it is time the do the layering.  I usually start with cookies on the bottom, followed by pudding, then slices of bananas. . . then repeat. . . then repeat again until you run out of ingredients. Just make sure you have enough pudding remaining to cover the top.  Sprinkle the top with crushed nilla wafers. That's it!

Special thanks to Hilary for this amazing recipe!

Xo,