Homemade Banana Pudding
Homemade Banana Pudding is a creamy, dreamy, Banana Pudding. Made the old fashioned way with scratch made custard and meringue!
Old Fashioned Banana Pudding
Yes! No jello, no shortcuts! If you want real, creamy, fantastic Banana Pudding. THIS is the way to do it!
I’m not even gonna lie. I DO NOT make this. Nor do I make scratch made Red Velvet Cake. Why? Because Big D does it better. He has the patience and the sheer fortitude to make both of these things to perfection. So, there is no need for me to make them, right? For an easy and fun spin on this traditional banana pudding, check out this recipe from my friend Kathleen for WALKING BANANA PUDDING, what fun!
So, I got him to make some Banana Pudding, give me his recipe AND his blessing to share it. I can’t make any promises for the Red Velvet Cake y’all. Need a real southern classic recipe? This is the ONE! Like our TOMATO PIE recipe, it just doesn’t get any more Southern!
~ Custard Ingredients ~
- 4 tablespoons plain flour
- 1.5 cups sugar
- pinch of salt
- 3 large egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
- 3 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 box Vanilla Wafers ( Big D says Name brand ONLY!)
- 4-5 Ripe Bananas
~ Meringue Ingredients ~
- 3 egg whites
- 1/3 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
~ Custard Method ~
- Line a 9 x 13 pan with vanilla wafers and fill with sliced, ripe bananas.
- Prepare double boiler with water in lower pan over low to medium heat. Combine, Milk, egg yolks and vanilla in top double boiler pan and lightly beat. Heat to warm and add flour, sugar and salt. Heat from low to medium heat (not boiling) and whisk until it reaches your desired thickness.
* Note – You will see in our pictures we tried a method of heating the custard on a flat top to simulate the double boil process. This took forever but is doable if you don’t have a proper double boiler. You can always use a glass mixing bowl sitting just inside the water pan, just make sure it sits loose enough so there can be a slight vent so the glass pan won’t crack. You can also just do it as is on the stove in the boiler, taking care NOT TO LEAVE IT. Stay with it and stir the whole time!
**Also, the custard can be made in a regular boiler pan if time is of the essence. Simply add all custard ingredients to a heavy boiler pan and heat on low to medium heat. Whisk or stir constantly to keep it from burning. Once custard is desired thickness, remove promptly from heat.
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Pour custard over banana and wafers. Allow to cool at room temperature.
~ Meringue Method ~
- Beat egg whites in a bowl with a hand mixer until bubbly. Add sugar in slowly while beating. Once all sugar is in, add vanilla and cream of tartar. Beat mixture until stiff peaks form.
- Spoon meringue over custard and place under broiler rack in oven. Broil, watching carefully, until lightly browned.
- Can be eaten right away (it is sooo good warm!) Or stored in refrigerator to cool and eaten later. Enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
Yes! Making any kind of custard from scratch will always, always be better than using store bought. Not only can you control what goes into it but there is a distinct difference in the taste. Always go for homemade. If time is an issue, just wait until you have the time to do it properly
Stay with it, whisking the whole time. I know this seems hard to do but it is so worth it. You can do my wooden spoon trick like I use making gravy. Get a little on the back of the spoon, run your finger down the middle and make sure to turn the spoon to make sure custard does not run. Perfect test every time. You can also test your temperature to make sure it is somewhere between 175 and 180 degrees internal temp to be sure.
Yes! There really is nothing better than warm Banana Pudding but if you have some leftover, you will need to store in the refrigerator. This will not only keep the bananas from browning too much but will keep your custard firm.
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Homemade Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons plain flour
- 1.5 cups sugar
- pinch salt
- 3 egg yolks large, reserve whites for meringue
- 3 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 vanilla wafers 1 box, Big D says Name brand ONLY!
- 4-5 Ripe Bananas
- 3 egg whites
- 1/3 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Want to save this recipe?
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Instructions
- Line a 9 x 13 pan with vanilla wafers and fill with sliced, ripe bananas. Prepare double boiler with water in lower pan over low to medium heat. Combine, Milk, egg yolks and vanilla in top double boiler pan and lightly beat. Heat to warm and add flour, sugar and salt. Heat from low to medium heat (not boiling) and whisk until it reaches your desired thickness.4 tablespoons plain flour, 1.5 cups sugar, 3 egg yolks, 3 cups milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 vanilla wafers, 4-5 Ripe Bananas, pinch salt
- Pour custard over banana and wafers. Allow to cool at room temperature. Beat egg whites in a bowl with a hand mixer until bubbly. Add sugar in slowly while beating. Once all sugar is in, add vanilla and cream of tartar. Beat mixture until stiff peaks form.3 egg whites, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/3 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Spoon meringue over custard and place under broiler rack in oven. Broil, watching carefully, until lightly browned. Can be eaten right away or stored in refrigerator to cool and eaten later.
Where are all the previous comments? It would have been really helpful to read them. I made this and found I wanted more of the pudding, so I’d 1.5 or double the custard myself. Otherwise a solid banana pudding.
Thank you, all of our recipes are so easy to double. Our mission here is and always will be to get you started and make these recipes your own. This is an older recipe that is like so many others on the web so it just doesn’t have many comments, but I sure appreciate yours!
I always use the microwave to make the pudding. Faster and you don’t have to stand at the stove forever. Just a hint!
Thanks! Big D may have a different opinion but I am willing to give it a try.
I had never made pudding in a double boiler, I had always tempered my eggs for pudding so I was interested to see how the recipe turned out. I stood for an hour stirring and it never thickened. So I thought maybe if I tried the microwave, still no. Then I thought it might thickened after “setting”. Still no. What did I do wrong? I did use gluten free flour but have used it as a thickener in the past with success. Was that it? Can I save this custard? What can I do to fix it?
I will sure help you troubleshoot. Sending you an email!
I don’t know why it says that you don’t need your water in your double boiler to be kind of rolling boil, because you absolutely do, and that may be why yours did not thicken
I don’t see where it says that. We show in the pics that we tried doing it on an electric skillet. We also talk about doing it directly on the stove. These tips are for people who don’t have a proper double boiler setup but the recipe talks in depth on what to look for. Nowhere does it say to use a double boiler without water… And for the record ours did thicken. I don’t see where you saw that either. One of the tips gives advice on what to do if its too thin. Maybe you should go back and take another look…
Unfortunately, this ratio of flour:sugar:milk does not form a pudding. [I know, because I spent 50 minutes on the ‘until it reaches your desired consistency’ step before pulling several other recipes to troubleshoot].
This version uses 150% of the milk, 200% of the sugar, and 75% of the flour compared to other recipes. I was able to salvage mine, but it required nearly triple the flour. It is unusable as written. Needing at least 2x the specified flour every single time is a ratio error, not “troubleshooting”.
Thanks for your honest review. I sure hate it didn’t turn out as expected. I emailed you to maybe help troubleshoot some issues that could have caused this. If you don’t see an email from me, check your spam folder.
I live by this recipe! I do mine the stove top way and it turns out absolutely wonderful!! I read a few reviews that said that it didn’t turn into a pudding consistency; sift your flour in, turn your heat up from low to medium but continue to stir. You will literally feel it thicken as it heats. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Thank you!!! Yes, patience is definitely needed but you are right by your description of “feel”! Thank you for your sweet review and we love that you love the recipe!