Paula Deen's Banana Pudding Features An Unexpected Cookie

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When you make banana pudding from scratch, some of the select ingredients required to make the dessert are ripe bananas, pudding, whipped cream, and vanilla wafer cookies. The cookies not only offer a contrasting texture to the creamy layers of pudding and whipped cream, but also extra sweetness in each bite. But leave it to celebrity chef and TV host Paula Deen to find a way to switch up the traditional dessert by swapping vanilla wafers with Pepperidge Farm's Chessmen Butter Cookies.

In Deen's Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding Recipe, she uses Chessmen Cookies instead of the vanilla wafers you might be used to. Rather than the vanilla flavor of the wafers, Chessman Cookies lean more toward a buttery shortbread cookie, which offers contrast to the vanilla pudding. The cookies also provide a bigger crunch compared to the wafers, and will withstand the layers of pudding while it sits in the fridge. Additionally, the Chessman Cookies feature some sort of design, so the cookies on the top layer of the pudding will offer an aesthetically pleasing touch. You could even use Chocolate Chessman Cookies if you really want to put a twist on the classic dessert.

Start with our classic banana pudding recipe that uses vanilla wafers by default. Or, if you have a family recipe for the pudding dessert, that might also benefit from this ingredient swap. Depending on how large a batch of banana pudding you need, expect to use the same amount of Chessman Cookies as you would of vanilla wafers.

If you're following Paula Deen's recipe, you'll line the bottom of a baking dish with the Chessman Cookies, spread the pudding evenly, and then add the remaining cookies to the top of the pudding. You could also make layers of cookies and pudding for more crunch in the dessert.

Another hack that Deen uses in her banana pudding recipe is to pair cream cheese and condensed milk with the instant pudding instead of the usual whole milk. Then, there are these other ways to easily upgrade banana pudding. You could even switch up the pudding base to chocolate pudding or another favorite flavor, or flambé the bananas before including them in your chosen recipe.