These easy banana pudding jars consist of delicious layers of homemade vanilla bean pudding, nilla wafers, fresh banana slices, and velvety whipped cream! As a no bake dessert served in individual cups, it's the ideal sweet treat to bring to summer cookouts!
These banana pudding jars are the perfect no bake dessert! They're layered with nilla wafers, fresh banana slices, my master pastry cream filling recipe (don't bother with store-bought instant pudding!), and homemade whipped cream. They're creamy, not too sweet, and just so so good! Though they don't last too long in the fridge, the pastry cream can be made well in advance, so all you have to do is make the whipped cream and assemble the day before serving!
For more banana recipes, try Brown Butter Banana Bread, Chocolate Glazed Banana Bread Donuts, and Banana Nutella Cake.
Jump to Recipe
Ingredient Notes
- Egg Yolks: You'll need 4 large egg yolks for this recipe.
- Sugar: Just enough granulated sugar is added to sweeten this pastry cream. You'll also need a tiny bit for the whipped cream.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch helps to thicken the pastry cream to the perfect consistency.
- Milk: I recommend using whole milk for optimum flavor.
- Butter: Use room temperature unsalted butter.
- Vanilla: For best flavor, add a touch of vanilla bean paste. It also adds those beautiful vanilla bean specks! Alternatively, add an equal amount of vanilla extract.
- Heavy Cream: Use cold heavy cream for the homemade whipped cream!
- Nilla Wafers: While you could use any vanilla wafers or shortbread cookies, banana pudding just isn't the same without nilla wafers, in my opinion!
- Banana: You'll need about 2-3 yellow bananas, depending on the size.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this banana pudding recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
STEP 1: Make pastry cream. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together until pale in color. Simmer the milk in a saucepan and slowly pour half into the egg-sugar mixture while whisking. Return the mixture to the saucepan and whisk while heating for another few minutes. Remove from heat, pour through a sieve, and stir in butter and vanilla, then cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
STEP 2: Make whipped cream. Beat the heavy cream with an electric mixer while slowly pouring in the granulated sugar until soft peaks form, and no more! It can be easy to over-whip, so watch carefully.
STEP 3: Finish pudding. Add half of the whipped cream to the cooled pastry cream, and gently fold with a rubber spatula until fully combined. Reserve the other half for topping.
STEP 4: Assemble. In each jar, add layers of pudding mixture, nilla wafers, and fresh banana, then repeat until full. Top each with a generous dollop of the reserved whipped cream, then place in the refrigerator overnight.
Expert Baking Tips
- Chill the assembled jars overnight. To achieve that soft, melt-in-your-mouth wafer texture, be sure to chill the banana pudding overnight.
Recipe FAQs
Pastry cream is surprisingly simple to make. It involves whisking egg yolks with sugar and cornstarch, then tempering the mixture with simmering whole milk. The mixture is then transferred back to the stove and heated until thick, then butter and vanilla are stirred in. It's best to make the pastry cream the day before you need it, so it can chill in the fridge overnight.
Pastry cream is best stored in the fridge up to 5 days. Be sure to press plastic wrap up against the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
You can use any jars you have on hand! Use mini ones for extra small servings, weck or mason jars, or one large baking dish to scoop out servings. For 1-2 servings, I would recommend using 8-16oz jars. I used 14oz glasses, which could easily serve 2 people.
Store left-overs in the fridge for 1-2 days. You can make the pastry cream well in advance before assembling and serving them.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other summer recipes you'll love
If you tried this recipe, I'd love to know how it turned out for you! Leave a star rating & review below and post a picture (or video!) on Instagram and tag me so I can see your bakes! Not ready to make this recipe yet? Click the heart button on the right of your screen to save it for later 🙂
📖 Recipe
Banana Pudding Jars
Equipment
Ingredients
For the pastry cream:
- 227 g (1 cup) whole milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 16 g (2 tablespoon) cornstarch
- 28 g (2 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
For the whipped cream:
- 227 g (1 cup) heavy cream, cold
- 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
For assembly:
- nilla wafers
- 2-3 small bananas
Instructions
For the pastry cream:
- In a small saucepan over low-medium heat, bring the milk to a simmer, or about 190 degrees F.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, and cornstarch until pale in color and the mixture flows off of the whisk.
- Once the milk has reached a simmer, slowly pour half of it into the egg-sugar mixture while simultaneously whisking to temper the eggs. Pour everything back into the saucepan and place over medium heat. Use a rubber spatula to mix constantly as it thickens.
- Once the pastry cream is thick and a few big bubbles come to the surface, continue whisking for one more minute, then remove the pan from heat.
- Immediately pour the pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl to ensure it’s perfectly smooth. Then, add the butter and vanilla, and use an immersion blender (or rubber spatula) to combine.
- Press plastic wrap up against the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming, and place in the fridge to chill for at least one hour or until ready to use.
For the whipped cream:
- Just before you are ready to assemble the jars, make the whipped cream.
- In a medium bowl, beat the heavy cream with an electric mixer while slowly pouring in the granulated sugar.
- Beat until soft peaks form, and no more! It can be easy to over-whip, so watch carefully.
- Add half of the whipped cream to the cooled pastry cream, and gently fold with a rubber spatula until fully combined. Reserve the other half for topping.
For assembly:
- In each jar, add layers of pudding, nilla wafers, and fresh banana, then repeat until full.
- Top each with a generous dollop of the reserved whipped cream, then place in the fridge overnight.
Notes
- Chill the assembled jars overnight. To achieve that soft, melt-in-your-mouth wafer texture, be sure to chill the banana pudding overnight.
Comments
No Comments