Fresh Banana Pudding

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Banana pudding is one of those feel-good desserts that puts a smile on everyone’s face. But unlike the Southern version that layers vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, whipped cream, and vanilla wafer cookies, I’ve created a fresh banana pudding. Yes, using real bananas in the pudding (and not just sliced in-between).

Banana pudding in a glass, topped with banana slices, whipped cream and toasted coconut flakes.

Many traditional banana pudding recipes call for vanilla pudding mix, whole milk, bananas, and sweetened condensed milk. I have to admit, I expected that banana pudding actually meantΒ banana pudding,Β not vanilla pudding with sliced bananas.

Trouble is, you can’t cook banana pudding with real bananas because it turns an unappetizing pale gray. To get around this issue without resorting to imitation banana extract, I infused the pudding base with fresh bananas and strained them out before cooking.

Now on to the thickener. Since I don’t typically cook with cornstarch, I opted for arrowroot powder, which is a great alternative. You could also use tapioca powder, but make sure to read my notes below. The addition of egg yolks turns the pudding a soft golden hue which beats gray any day. And once I replaced the dairy with canned coconut milk, I had a sweet treasure that’s dairy-free and simple to make with a little advance planning.

Ingredients You’ll Need

A few pantry staples and nut milks are all you’ll need to put together this creamy and satisfying treat!

  • Bananas: Of course! Pick ones that are bright yellow with few brown spots, which means they’re firm-ripe.
  • Coconut milk:Β Use full-fat canned coconut milk for maximum creaminess.
  • Honey: Replaces the refined sugar in the pudding.
  • Egg yolks: These give richness and structure to the pudding. Save the whites to use in omelets or to make my raspberry souffle.
  • Arrowroot Powder: Used to thicken the pudding as it cools.
  • Vanilla Extract: To get the most rich and potent vanilla flavor in the pudding, reach for pure vanilla extract.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below

Ingredients to make banana pudding on a counter top.

How to Make Banana Pudding

If you have time, start making your banana pudding the day before you want to serve to get the maximum amount of banana flavor. Here’s what to do:

  1. Infuse the coconut milk.Β  Heat the milk to a simmer, then remove from the heat and add sliced bananas. Let sit at least 4 and up to 24 hours.
  2. Cook the pudding. Strain the bananas from the milk, add the remaining ingredients, and cook until pudding starts to thicken. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
  3. Assemble the pudding. These are fun presented as individual servings in small glass cups. For a little added decadence, top with coconut whipped cream, sliced bananas, and toasted coconut flakes. It you want to be really extra, drizzle the pudding with my salted caramel sauce.

Banana pudding in a serving glass with toppings.

A Few Important Tips

There’s definitely nuance when you swap cornstarch with either arrowroot powder or tapioca powder. For either flour, make sure to keep your heat on low when simmering the pudding.

  • If you use arrowroot powder: It doesn’t get quite as thick or hold as firm a shape (it’s more like a thick smoothie).
  • If you use tapioca flour: It will produce a slightly thicker pudding, but you have to be very careful that you don’t boil or overcook it, as it can produce a gummy and stretchy result. As soon as it starts to thicken, remove it from the heat immediately.
  • Storage: You can store this pudding in the fridge for up to 3 days, though it’s best fresh.

Can You Make Banana Pudding Without Eggs?

Absolutely! You have two options:

Skip the Eggs: The pudding color will be more pale and the texture less creamy without the eggs.

Use Chia Seeds: I love using chia seeds to make all kinds of puddings like my chocolate chia pudding. Check out my post on how to make chia seed puddingΒ for some tips.

Taking a spoonful of banana pudding out of the serving glass.

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Make use of fresh, seasonal fruit with these tasty desserts.

Fresh Banana Pudding

5 from 9 votes
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Steeping and chilling time: 6 hours
Total: 6 hours 50 minutes
Servings: 3
Author: Lisa Bryan

Description

A fresh banana pudding that infuses milk with real bananas. Serve it up with a dollop of coconut whipped cream and toasted coconut flakes for a tasty dairy-free and gluten-free recipe!

Ingredients  

Banana Pudding

Coconut Topping

Instructions 

Infuse the Coconut Milk

  • Pour coconut milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract into a medium saucepan and whisk to combine.
  • Heat the coconut milk over medium heat, whisking often, until it simmers. Take care not to let the milk boil.
  • While the coconut milk is heating, peel and slice 3 bananas into 1/2-inch thick rounds. Set aside.
  • Once the coconut milk is steaming, remove the saucepan from the heat, add the sliced bananas, and stir with a spatula to coat them with the coconut milk.
    Sliced bananas in a pot of hot coconut milk.
  • Cover the saucepan and let it sit at room temperature for 4 hours to infuse the milk with banana flavor.
  • To finish the pudding now, proceed to the next step. For a more intense banana flavor, transfer the banana and milk mixture to a glass bowl or dish, cover, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours

Make the Pudding

  • Remove the banana pieces from the milk using a slotted spoon or skimmer. You will not need the strained banana pieces for the rest of this recipe but you can save them for smoothies or other baking recipes.
  • Pour 1/2 cup of the infused banana milk into a mixing bowl, then add the honey, egg yolks, salt, and arrowroot powder. Whisk together.
    Milk, eggs, honey, and arrowroot flour in a mixing bowl.
  • In a medium saucepan, reheat the remaining milk over medium heat, stirring gently until simmering.
  • Very slowly (just a few tablespoons at a time) drizzle about half of the hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking rapidly to keep the milk from curdling the eggs.
  • Return the saucepan to the stovetop, pour the tempered egg mixture into to saucepan, and warm over low heat, stirring constantly until the pudding mixture simmers and thickens slightly, about 3-4 minutes. Watch carefully to make sure the pudding mixture does not boil or over-thicken.
    Thickened banan pudding on the stove.
  • Remove the hot pudding from the heat, and stir in the remaining one teaspoon of vanilla.
  • Pour the pudding through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, to remove any clumps from the pudding.
  • Cool slightly, then cover by pressing a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding. This is optional, but it helps to prevent a skin from forming on the pudding.
  • Chill the pudding in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours, or until it's firmed up slightly.
  • To serve, top the banana pudding with sliced bananas, coconut whipped cream, and toasted coconut flakes.

Lisa's Tips

  • This recipe makes approximately 2 1/2 cups of banana pudding.
  • If your grocery store is stocked with greenish bananas, pick them up a few days before you want to make the banana pudding. Let them ripen on the counter or place them in a paper bag to speed up the process.
  • Feel free to use your favorite nut milk in place of the coconut milk. But know that it might not be as thick or creamy as using full-fat coconut milk.
  • Use the leftover coconut milk in your favorite smoothie!Β 

Nutrition

Calories: 488kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 195mg | Sodium: 174mg | Potassium: 472mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 282IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 5mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: banana pudding, dairy free banana pudding, fresh banana pudding, gluten-free banana pudding
Did you make this recipe?Mention @downshiftology or tag #downshiftology!

 

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About the author

Lisa Bryan

Lisa is a bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and YouTuber (with over 2.5 million subscribers) living in sunny Southern California. She started Downshiftology in 2014, and is passionate about making healthy food with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients.

5 from 9 votes

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44 Comments

  1. Hi Lisa,
    You mentioned the chia seeds as a possibility to replace the egg yolks. Do you have any advice concerning the amount I could use in this recipe?
    Thank you!

  2. My pudding is in the final stage of cooling and won’t get around to eating it until tomorrow but so far it turned out fantastic! A great way to use up some overripe bananas I was going to throw out. A little time consuming to make but glad I was able to make use of the bananas and just so happened to have the cans of coconut milk on hand. Can’t wait to try it tomorrow! I think I’m going to crush some graham crackers at the bottom of a parfait glass and top with this and some whipped cream!5 stars

  3. When cooking banan pudding, Β I use fresh banans. Β Just layer the banans on your pudding and vanilla wafers. Β To keep the banans from turning dark slice and soak them in sprite for about 5 or 10 minutes. Drain and then layer them with pudding and wafers.

  4. I sometimes wonder if Lisa dabbles in witchcraft because how? Just how? She did it. She made coconut milk not taste like coconut. I feel that’s a rarity and deserves a round of applause. This is so incredibly good and I have made it many times. It is always a hit and it completely satisfies the banana pudding craving without any sort of compromise. It’s not a healthier imitation lacking in flavor, this is banana pudding as far as I’m concerned. Job well done!5 stars

    1. Hahah, you’re so funny Kyle! But, I always try to make recipes (especially desserts) tastes just as good as the real thing πŸ˜‰

  5. Could I leave the banana slices in and give it a quick blend instead of removing them? Thank you in advance for your advice

  6. good afternoon,

    do you know if this recipe would work with monk fruit sweetener instead of honey? or maple syrup instead of honey?
    thank you, Kristi

  7. Take that back it did not come out to thick it was smooth and creamy and perfect. Awesome recipe! This is a keeper πŸ˜πŸ˜€πŸ˜‹πŸ˜‹.5 stars

  8. This taste awesome so good just like banana pudding but I hope I didn’t make my to thick. I did ingredients exact. What to do if you think you did it too thick? It’s so good I was licking the pot lol. πŸ˜‹πŸ˜‹5 stars

  9. My pudding didn’t firm up in the fridge. Would there be any problems with heating it up again to get it to thicken more on the stove? (I may have not let it get thick enough when I was heating it because I was worried about letting it thicken too much in that stage). It tastes delicious though! Soupy right now, but delicious.

    1. Hi Sarah – that’s a good question, I haven’t tried re-heating it again. Depending on which flour/starch you used it may not thicken up again and you may have to add more. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!

  10. OK now I have to go buy some bananas. Hey, it’s almost Halloween which means my sweet tooth is wakening up in any case. Perfect timing. I’m really, really tempted (which means I’m going to do it) to replace step 7 by adding the sliced bananas back in and giving the whole thing a quick whirl in the Vitamix before I pour it into ramekins.
    Also, I have a piece of completely unsolicited advice for those who can’t do coconut cream which is to buy a bag of cacao butter discs and add one along with their non dairy milk of choice. They’ll add a slight white chocolate flavor in this recipe but that actually sounds pretty good to me! I keep a bag handy especially for times when coconut doesn’t like me or when I want to add a more complex flavor to something really coconutty. :-)5 stars

  11. This looks delicious and I have been on the search for dairy free puddings. Unfortunately I also have trouble tolerating coconut milk. Could I substitute with oat milk?

    1. Hi Jacque – I haven’t tried this with oat milk yet, but that should work just fine. It might be a smidge less creamy though.

  12. Hi, I can’t wait to try this banana pudding. Is there something I can replace the coconut milk with? I have developed a food sensitivity to coconut products. They make me physically ill, so I steer clear of coconut products. Thanks

  13. Got a bunch of bananas on the counter just ripening. Β I absolutely loved my mom’s banana pudding growing up. I’ll definitely be making banana pudding this weekend. Thank you Lisa!

  14. I am SO excited to make this ASAP! Could you recommend an alternate sweetener to honey? Or maybe it’s good without sweetener?Β 

    1. I made this delicious recipe. I have been β€œno sugar added” for several months and I found the slightly less than 1/3 cup honey I used to be far more sweetness than we needed. I will try cutting back by at least half next time – and there will be definitely a next time!

  15. Oh, this was so good! and I love how there was so much banana flavor in the pudding! great idea! I couldn’t wait until mine cooled, so I had it warm. Great for cold nights.5 stars

  16. Bananas are not listed in ingredient list, but I did see in instructions that you will need 3 bananas. Gonna try this pudding soon!