Reba McEntire’s mother made banana pudding, her dad’s favorite dessert, every Christmas. “These days, my daughter-in-law, Marissa, makes banana pudding for all of us. Hers is every bit as good as Mama’s, and it always takes me back to Christmas on the ranch whenever I have it,” Reba writes in her new book, Not That Fancy.
Marissa Blackstock's Banana Pudding
Author: Taken from Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots by Reba McEntire. Copyright © 2023 by Reba McEntire. Used by permission of Harper Celebrate.
MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS
Ingredients
- ½ (3.4-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding mix
- ½ (3.4-ounce) box instant banana pudding mix
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 (8-ounce) bar cream cheese, softened
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream, very cold
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 (7.25-ounce) bags buttery shortbread cookies or 1 (11-ounce) box vanilla wafer cookies
- 6 large bananas, sliced ¼-inch thick
Instructions
- Place the pudding mixes in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the milk and whisk until smooth and combined. Set the bowl aside and allow the pudding to thicken.
- Place cream cheese in a separate large mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sweetened condensed milk and continue beating until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes more.
- Pour the heavy whipping cream into a third mixing bowl. Beat with the hand mixer on medium-high speed until the cream holds medium peaks, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add roughly ½ of the freshly whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture. Fold gently until mostly combined. Add this mixture to the pudding mixture. Continue folding, using a light hand, until no streaks of cream remain.
- Add the powdered sugar to the remaining freshly whipped cream. Beat on medium speed until the cream holds stiff peaks, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Arrange half the cookies in an even layer on the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Layer half the sliced bananas over the cookies.
- Pour the pudding mixture into the dish and smooth into an even layer. Arrange the remaining cookies on top, followed by the remaining bananas. Top with the sweetened whipped cream.
- Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
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