The Biggest Flavor Upgrade For Banana Pudding Is Also The Simplest

Banana pudding is one of those sweet Southern desserts that we can't get enough of. It joins the ranks of delicious treats like peach cobbler, chess pie, and hummingbird cake, and is easily recognizable, given its layers of sliced banana, pudding, whipped topping, and vanilla wafer cookies. Perhaps the oddest thing about a classic banana pudding recipe is that it's made with made with vanilla pudding, rather than banana pudding. You would expect that a dessert that puts such extreme focus on one fruit would have made this simple swap a long time ago. But luckily, it's an easy switch you can make in your next banana pudding recipe to upgrade its flavor and fruity qualities.

The one thing to note about using banana pudding in your recipe is that it tends to have a slightly artificial flavor. If you want to tone down this aspect, you can use vanilla pudding with a few drops of banana extract (yes, it's a real thing) instead. This will give you a little more control over that banana essence.

When you're shopping for pudding for your recipe, you'll want to make sure that the box is labeled "instant" rather than "cook and serve." The latter is a little more difficult and time consuming to make, but that's not the only reason why it's not a good fit for this recipe. Granted, cooked pudding tends to have a thicker and creamier composition, but you probably won't notice the slightly granular texture of your instant banana pudding when you mix it in with the rest of your ingredients. Moreover, cook and serve pudding will not set (firm up) properly for this dessert, which will compromise the structural integrity of its layers.

Besides making this swap, you can add more complexity to your banana pudding by switching up some of the other elements. For one, you can make a bananas Foster pudding by flambéing the bananas in a pan so they're a little boozy and slightly caramelized. We'd also recommend adding a bit of cream cheese to your milk and pudding layer so it has a bit more heft to it and a creamier consistency, which will do wonders for the punchy banana-flavored base.