Homemade Banana Pudding In A Jar

Banana pudding is a popular Southern specialty and I can see why. Making it from scratch is an accomplishment that I’m happy I did. Bananas are roasted to bring out the flavor and it does the job perfectly. I served this dessert in jars, for a dinner party but you can opt to make the entire dessert in a trifle dish.

 

We were invited for dinner with dear friends, at their home. I offered to bring dessert, which was graciously accepted.  I refer to Mr. “D” as our “Southern Gentleman Friend”, since he’s from Atlanta, Georgia.

Whenever I think of him, I think of Southern recipes. No, I wasn’t born in the South. I did, however, spend a few days in Atlanta and Savannah a lifetime ago. To this day, I remember how delicious the food was.  I’ve never had Banana Pudding (except for that boxed stuff), and I thought this would be a dessert he’d like.  I searched around for recipes and I knew I wanted to make the pudding, from scratch.

Once again, I found the recipe I wanted on Cook’s Illustrated’s sister website, “Cook’s Country” (I subscribe to them). I liked the idea of roasting the bananas, to intensify their flavor.  So, I got to work that morning.

The first thing I decided was to “halve” the recipe, since it was only the four of us.  I thought it was a brilliant idea to make these in my beloved Ball Canning jars.   I figured they’d transport easily, and would make a perfect serving size. NOTE TO SELF: I’m not the only person who had this idea… a google search came up with oodles of pudding in a jar…but many, with that fake cream stuff and boxed pudding.

While the bananas were roasting, I made the pudding. Four egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch are whisked together.

On the stove, I heated half and half and salt until simmering– then whisked in a half-cup to the eggs, to temper them.  Once I incorporated the egg mixture, the pudding thickened up super fast.

Off heat, I added pure vanilla and unsalted butter to the pudding.  The roasted bananas had cooled enough to peel.

In a food processor, I added the pudding, peeled and roasted banana and some lemon juice and pureed it until smooth.  I took a taste, and was very happy with the flavor of the pudding. It had just the right balance of “real” banana.  To avoid “pudding skin” I covered the pudding with plastic wrap and let it chill until slightly cooled– about 45 minutes.

The final step was to slice fresh bananas and gently coat it with more lemon juice.  Ambitious that I can be, I had wanted to make homemade vanilla wafers.  But, time was running out.  I used boxed vanilla wafers, instead.  I layered a few wafers on the bottom of each jar, then pudding…

…then banana slices and in between additional layers, I added some crushed vanilla wafers, for texture. I ended up with six wide mouth jars of banana pudding, which went into the fridge to chill for a couple of hours. In the meantime, I pondered if I should make meringue or use whipped cream.  Since I was going to transport the dessert, I nixed the idea of meringue. Next time, for sure!

Oh. I had a little bit more pudding left, so I filled a 16 ounce jar with pudding, and plenty of wafers..and, whipped cream.  This would become the “extra” left in our own fridge.

Before packing up the desserts, in a cooler, I wanted to photograph one of the dessert jars– and to taste it!

Print Recipe

3 from 1 vote

Banana Pudding in a Jar

Servings: 6

Calories: 562kcal

Author: Debby – www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Ingredients

• 4 large bananas slightly under ripe*
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 12 oz. vanilla wafers 1 box

WHIPPED TOPPING:

• 1 cup heavy cream chilled
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Roast bananas:

• Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325°Place 2 unpeeled bananas on baking sheet and bake until skins are completely black, about 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.

Pudding:

• Meanwhile, whisk 1⁄4 cup sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch in medium bowl until smooth. Bring half-and-half, remaining sugar, and salt to simmer over medium heat in large saucepan. Whisk 1⁄4 cup simmering half- and-half mixture into egg yolk mixture. Slowly whisk tempered yolk mixture into saucepan. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick and large bubbles appear at surface, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

Process pudding:

• Transfer pudding to food processor. Add warm peeled roasted bananas and 1 tablespoons lemon juice and process until smooth. Scrape into large bowl and place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding. Refrigerate until slightly cool, about 45 minutes.

Assemble and chill:

• Cut remaining bananas into 1⁄4-inch slices and toss in bowl with remaining lemon juice. Spoon one-quarter of pudding into 3-quart trifle dish and top with layer of cookies, layer of sliced bananas, and another layer of cookies. Repeat twice, ending with pudding. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding and refrigerate until wafers have softened, at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.
• Note: I assembled the pudding in 8 ounce canning jars, finishing the top layer with crushed wafers.

Top and serve:

• With electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. (Whipped cream can be refrigerated for 4 hours.) Top banana pudding with whipped cream. Serve.

Notes

Recipe source: Cooks Country

Nutrition

Calories: 562kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 230mg | Sodium: 170mg | Potassium: 524mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 1320IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 172mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @afeastfortheeyes or tag #afeastfortheeyesblog!

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