Old family recipes remind me of the good parts of childhood. The smells are familar and warm, enveloping me in a giant culinary hug. The tastes are like ancestral footprints, distinct to each family, passed down for generations. (They don’t call it comfort food for nothin’!)
My 5 siblings and I have started pulling together Mom’s family recipes, many of which are Southern. She grew up in the South but has lived in the North for almost 41 years. Out of 6 kids, 4 of us lived in the South part of our childhoods, and 2 have only known the Northern climates as home.
After we moved from Georgia, Mom learned to cook favorite Pennsylvania dishes. And we grew up with a distinct blend of Northern and Southern cooking. I think we are all richer for it. My heart will always be rooted in the South, but my feet have been firmly planted in the high North for over 40 years.
I posted Mom’s Soft Dumpling recipe a few days ago. My brother, R3, sent the Banana Pudding recipe to me in an email. There aren’t many gatherings in our family without banana pudding on the table. It’s a family tradition. And, let me tell you, it’s not long before it’s all gobbled up!
Here’s Mom’s Southern Banana Pudding recipe, complete with R3’s commentary. It’s perfect for Turkey Day. It’s perfect anytime!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Southern Banana Pudding (by R3)
Banana pudding has always been a family favorite. I am not sure where it came from but it doesn’t seem like a complete family gathering if we don’t have banana pudding.
The recipe is basically very simple. The ingredients are bananas, cooked vanilla pudding (you need whole milk for this) and vanilla wafers.
I usually make a 9 X 13 inch pan of banana pudding because that seems to be the right amount for our family. I also use Nabisco “Nilla” vanilla wafers because they are the ones Mom always used. I have tried others but the taste of the Nilla wafers reminds me of home.
As for the pudding, instant pudding cannot be substituted for the cooked version. Not only does the instant taste “grainy” but you need the heated pudding to help cook the bananas and to infiltrate the cookies to make them softer. The bananas should have no green on them and be just starting to spot, so they are still firm but at their peak of flavor.
Shopping list:
2 – 3 packages of cooked vanilla pudding (depending on the number of layers and the fact that the portion sizes from packaged foods are getting smaller. No instant pudding! Use the real deal.)
1 – 2 boxes of Nabisco Nilla wafers (I used to be able to use one but the volume of cookies has decreased, and my consumption while I make banana pudding has increased!)
3 – 4 bananas (depending on how big the bananas are and how many layers you make. Bananas should have no green on them and be just starting to spot, so they are still firm but at their peak of flavor.)
Cooking Instructions:
Cook the vanilla pudding per the package instructions (using whole milk for the total experience).
While the pudding is cooking, place a layer of Nilla wafers on the bottom of the pan and top with a layer of cut banana slices (cut into disks). I usually use 1 to 1 1/2 bananas per layer.
When the pudding is cooked, pour about a third of the pudding over the sliced bananas and cookies. Make another layer of cookies and bananas and cover them with more pudding. If you have enough for another layer then do another layer of cookies and bananas ending with a top layer of pudding.
If you want to get fancy you can put cookies around the sides of the dish, pushing them in vertically and another layer on top.
Let cool, then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight (this is an important step because banana pudding is always best if it ages overnight in the refrigerator).
The next day grab a spoon, a cereal bowl and enjoy (cereal bowl is optional).
-posted on red Ravine, Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
[…] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerptSouthern Banana Pudding – A Family Tradition November 21, 2007 by QuoinMonkey Old family recipes remind me of the good parts of childhood. The smells are familar and warm, enveloping me in a giant culinary hug. The tastes are like ancestral footprints, distinct to each family, passed down for generations. (They don’t call it comfort food for nothin’!) My 5 siblings and I have started pulling together Mom’s family recipes, many of which are Southern. She grew up in the South but has lived i […]
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Now you are making me miss my family’s Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. Thank you for the memory of wonderful childhood dinners! I’m thinking I’m going to have to dig up my Bot Boi recipe and try it soon, for now I have an awful craving for it. that and Philly cheese steaks! I love regional foods! I have to come down South someday and try the cuisine there. Sounds yummy!
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QM and R3 — what a treat!!!! Thank you, R3, for the commentary also.
Also, QM, I love the imagery of the term “giant culinary hug.” It’s almost as if you could fall right into that giant pan of banana pudding and be enveloped.
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maralorelei, I’m intrigued by Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. You’ve made me curious as to what it entails. I worked with a guy who did most of his cooking in Dutch ovens. He even made pies in Dutch ovens, often buried out in the coals. Is that anything similar?
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maralorelei, I had the same question. It’s ironic because I grew up only minutes away from Pennsylvania Dutch country. And I’m sure Mom cooked some of the dishes after we moved. But I mostly remember the Southern dishes. I wasn’t much into cooking, so I didn’t pay attention. What are some of the Pennsylvania Dutch dishes? (I bet my family knows, too. I’ll have to ask them.)
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ybonesy, I’m going to be falling into some banana pudding tomorrow. Liz bought all the makings for banana pudding and is planning on making it for dessert. I’m looking foward to that giant culinary hug!
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You know what else I wanted to mention in this post, but forgot? How someone can take a recipe and add the exact same ingredients, and follow the instructions to a T, but it will not taste the same as it did growing up. That’s why I always ask Mom to cook for me when I go home. I can dulicate but never exactly replicate. I wonder why that is.
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QM, I think Amelia adds the secret ingredient-love! Thanks to R3 for this recipe. I had been waiting for this post.D
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QM,
Love that stuff! I grew up with it having Southern parents (Cajun dad and Arkansas mom). I made some for my wife once. She’s Venezuelan and thought it was awful! She did like plain Nilla wafers though. They turned out one of the few items on the American super market shelves she liked.
I am going home for Christmas for the first time in a long time. I’ll have to make some. Thanks! (BTW flying into ABQ ybonesy).
I need to add, it doesn’t get much better than Nilla wafers and a glass of cold milk. When I had my old Jeep, I once was driving across southern Idaho. I had bought a quart of milk and a box of Nilla wafers at a mom and pop in some podunk town. I ate the whole box and drank the milk by the time I got to the next town some 40 miles down the road.
MM
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Oh, I guess my comment should really go to R3. Thanks R3 for the reminder.
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mimbresman, it’s all in the family! So either way. I love Nilla wafers. I could eat them by the box, too, along with Ritz crackers. They make a whole wheat Ritz now that I love. Milk and Nilla’s though…can’t beat it.
So your wife isn’t big on American food, eh? It does make you wonder if everything is an acquired taste.
Have a good time at home for Christmas. I’m glad you get to fly home. I know you get homesick sometimes. Hope you get to connect with ybonesy at ABQ. Safe travels.
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Maralorelei , Bot Boi is a good Pa. Dutch receipe. Grits Pa. makes her “dumplings” like that because her family likes the noodle texture.
My MOther’s Dad came from Pa. Dutch country and we have some of those delicious recipes in our heritage also. Some good cooking !
FYI, My Aunt made banana pudding from scratch and used the extra egg whites to put meringue on top. Homemade pudding uses more egg yolks than the whites.
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Mom, I forgot about the meringue on top of the banana pudding. Didn’t you used to make it like that too sometimes? Ummm. That would really make it look more elegant. I remember there even used to sometimes be a picture of banana pudding topped with meringue on the Nilla wafers box.
alittlediddy, yes, it’s got to be that extra love. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! I’m looking forward to the morning parade on TV.
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BTW, Mom, I always thought it was amazing that your Grandfather on your mother’s side was from Pennsylvania and then we all ended back up there, too. I didn’t know that until you started working on the family tree. We truly are a mix of North and South from way back. And so, the mix of cooking styles, too. Small world.
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MM, I’m surprised your wife didn’t like the banana pudding. Seems like it might have reminded her of heavy cream-based desserts or desserts with eggs. Maybe you should try again using R3’s recipe ; – ).
Also, we didn’t know you’re coming to NM for Christmas. You don’t do that every year, do you? Jim wants to know if Tania’s coming. He’s rooting for her coming this round. Zip me an email with the dates and all.
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ybonesy,
This will be the first trip at Christmas I’ve done since being down here. It was semi-planned, then not, now on again without Tania. I am working on her immigrant visa and need to get some documents.
Also, this will be my grandmother’s 100th Christmas so I want to be there. Hopefully I’ll have Tania’s visa by January/February, then we’ll be free to come and go.
Since I waited till the last minute, prices were sky high! Anywhere from $1800 to $4000. I couldn’t even find a cheap flight to Miami. I tried El Paso, Tucson, Houston, Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Dallas, Phoenix, LAX. I finally entered Caracas to Albuquerque and up came a fair of $960. That’s an okay price and I jumped on it.
See you in a few weeks!
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See you soon, MM. And we’ll see you on the blog until then. Happy T-Day. BTW, it’s just another day in Venezuela, eh?
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mm, it’s going to be your grandmother’s 100th Christmas? Wow, she’s seen a lot of change over her life. How cool that you are going home to be with her. A $4000 max plane ticket? What a deal at $960. Glad you get to see ybonesy and Jim when you move through ABQ. Happy Holidays!
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[…] English and Spanish, was the recipe for the Original Nilla Banana Pudding with meringue topping, the one that Amelia talked about in her comment on Southern Banana […]
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Post Script (for all you banana pudding lovers) – Liz made a shortened version of banana pudding for late lunch this afternoon. She filled a Nilla wafer crust (you can buy them pre-packaged like graham cracker crusts) with one sliced banana and a box of homemade, hot vanilla pudding. We just ate a bowl/slice while it was still warm. Yummmm. While you don’t get the full flavor of all the Nilla Wafers in the real version of banana pudding, it’s still a great treat when you’re on the run!
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[…] -related to post, Southern Banana Pudding – A Family Tradition […]
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i gotta tell you that this works for fast food but yo mamma never used packaged pudding…she made a real boiled custard…do a search for it and you will have the authentic southern version
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henry, yes, we were discussing this in the comments (see my mama’s Comment 12!). And my mama made it both ways — the way her Aunt used to make it (from scratch) and with the recipe above (which is not instant pudding, but the box pudding that you have to stir over the stove a long time). It’s true, it’s not the custard pudding from scratch. But as time grew more short for women in the home, they started adapting to the faster recipes. With 6 kids and work outside the home, too, it was a matter of survival!
If you go to my post, Memories, Writing, & Family Recipes (LINK), you’ll see a link to the original recipe for banana pudding made from scratch, the Meringue-Topped Southern Banana Pudding on the NabiscoWorld site. My Aunt made it that way, and Mom sometimes, too.
But when I posted that piece, we made it with the recipe above and it was delicious. Maybe it’s just a matter of how much time you have and how much you want your banana pudding. I happen to like it any way it comes! Thanks for your comment!
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I would imagine the homemade pudding (or custard) approach is less banana-y, yes? I mean, the instant banana pudding has banana flavor, as I recall.
I’m with you, QM. Any banana pudding, any time — I’m ready. In fact, that sounds so good and refreshing right now!
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[…] You can also freeze Whoopie Pies and eat them later. That’s good to know for one and two person households! Liz and I made way too much banana pudding over Thanksgiving! […]
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Hmmmm. Meant to put a note to R3 that I made banana pudding last week with stir-over-the-stove vanilla box pudding mentioned in the post. I went into that Zen trance when I stirred the pudding. Surprised Liz after work. It was a good way to get rid of overripe bananas.
Liz took the leftovers to work the next day. Was a big hit! I’d still like to take the time to make it the old fashioned way again some day with custard from scratch and topped with Meringue but haven’t done it yet. I wonder how long it would take me to make everything completely from scratch? Perhaps I’ll find out someday.
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[…] been gone a week. My sister made sliced pork with peach glaze, mashed potatoes, green beans, and Southern banana pudding. My mother made chili, grits, and took me shopping for Fall outfits. My brother and Liz helped me […]
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[…] Scalloped Oysters. ybonesy’s family always makes tamales for Christmas. And my family makes Southern Banana Pudding for almost every family gathering. Old recipes are invaluable to memoir writers. Family […]
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Quoin Monkey, I Was looking around for Banana Pudding. I had just made some & all the boxes of Vanilla Pudding (Cook & Serve Always) & Cookies Nabisco Wafers (Always) never had the recipe my GrandMother taught me. But your’s is Exactly the same , Except my GrandMother used a Very, Very Large Bowl, not a 9 x 13 flat pan. Thank you for putting this on line. It is the Greatest & BEST Pudding Ever ! I just noticed that you wrote this article almost 4 years ago. And it’s still Blessing others. Sincerely, GC91
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GC91, thanks for stopping by! I remember that some do make banana pudding in a deep large bowl. I can picture it. A few weeks ago, Liz and I had a craving for banana pudding so we made a quick shortened version of it. I ate a big bowl of it warm and loved it. The only problem was that the bananas we used were green. I don’t recommend that! Much better if they are ripe or overripe than green!
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