Magnolia Bakery’s Famous Banana Pudding Recipe
Magnolia Bakery’s Famous Banana Pudding is a luscious dessert layering creamy vanilla pudding, fresh sliced bananas, and crunchy Nilla wafers. This classic southern treat combines a simple homemade pudding base with whipped cream for a light texture and is chilled for several hours to meld the flavors perfectly. Easy to prepare and crowd-pleasing, this recipe is the exact one from Magnolia Bakery’s cookbook and guarantees a delightful, nostalgic dessert.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 7 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 15 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No-Cook
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Pudding
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 ½ cups ice cold water
- 1 (3.4 oz) box instant vanilla pudding mix
For the Whipped Cream
- 3 cups heavy cream
For Assembling
- 4 cups sliced barely ripe bananas (about 4-5 medium bananas)
- 1 (12 oz) box Nilla Wafers
Instructions
- Prepare the Pudding Base: In a large bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk and 1 ½ cups of ice cold water. Beat together using a hand mixer for about 1 minute until fully combined. Add the instant vanilla pudding mix and continue beating for approximately 2 minutes until smooth. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours, or ideally overnight, to allow the pudding to fully set and thicken. This step is crucial to prevent a watery texture.
- Whip the Cream: In a separate large bowl, whip the 3 cups of heavy cream with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. This gives the pudding a light and airy texture.
- Combine Whipped Cream and Pudding: Gently fold the whipped cream into the chilled pudding mixture until no streaks remain. Take care to fold gently to preserve the fluffy texture.
- Assemble the Banana Pudding: Using either individual serving dishes or a large 4-5 quart glass bowl (a 9×13 inch baking dish can also be used), start by arranging one-third of the Nilla wafers along the bottom, overlapping as needed. Add one-third of the sliced bananas in an even layer over the wafers. Spread one-third of the pudding mixture over the bananas. Repeat the layering process two more times, finishing with a top layer of wafers or crushed wafer crumbs as garnish.
- Chill the Dessert: Cover the assembled banana pudding tightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, up to 8 hours. This chilling step allows the flavors to meld and the wafers to soften slightly, creating the iconic creamy and crunchy texture.
Notes
- Serve the banana pudding within 8 hours to prevent the bananas from browning due to oxidation.
- Choose bananas that are barely ripe or slightly green at the stem to slow down browning.
- To minimize browning, you can lightly brush banana slices with lemon juice or other fruit juices like pineapple or apple; this can slightly alter the flavor.
- Rinsing banana slices with club soda can also slow browning without affecting taste; avoid tonic water as it adds an unpleasant flavor.
- Keep the pudding airtight and ensure bananas are covered by the pudding mixture to limit air exposure and slow browning.
