Magnolia Bakery’s Banana Pudding

Recipe from Magnolia Bakery

Adapted by Priya Krishna

Updated Jan. 4, 2024

Magnolia Bakery’s Banana Pudding
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Total Time
30 minutes, plus at least 5 hours’ chilling
Rating
4(4,731)
Comments
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To many, the banana pudding at the famed New York shop Magnolia Bakery is even more iconic than the store’s beloved cupcakes. Airy, creamy and delightfully reminiscent of childhood packaged snacks (thanks to instant vanilla pudding mix), this dessert is both a crowd pleaser and easy to assemble. If you’re making 12 individual servings rather than one large one, you’ll have enough cookies to use two per layer. If you prefer more coverage, make only two layers and use three cookies per layer. —Priya Krishna

Featured in: The Power of Instant Pudding Mix

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Ingredients

Yield:12 to 16 servings
  • 1(14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1½cups ice-cold water
  • 1(3.4-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 3cups cold heavy cream
  • 1(11-ounce) box vanilla wafer cookies (such as Nilla)
  • 4 to 5ripe bananas, sliced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (14 servings)

425 calories; 25 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 48 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 36 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 220 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the condensed milk and water on low speed until blended, then increase the speed to medium and whisk until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the instant pudding mix and beat until there are no lumps and the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.

  2. Step 2

    Using the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream on medium speed for about 1 minute, until the cream starts to thicken, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to overwhip.

  3. Step 3

    With the mixer running on low speed, add the pudding mixture a spoonful at a time. Mix until well blended and no streaks of pudding remain.

  4. Step 4

    To assemble, set aside 4 to 5 cookies, whole or crumbled, for garnish. In a 4- to 5-quart trifle bowl or a wide glass bowl (or in 12 8-ounce bowls or ramekins), spread one-quarter of the pudding over the bottom and layer with one-third of the cookies and one-third of the sliced bananas (enough to cover the layer). Repeat the layering twice more. End with a final layer of pudding.

  5. Step 5

    Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours. Cookies should be tender when poked with a knife. This dessert is best served within 12 hours of assembling. To serve, garnish the top with the reserved cookies or cookie crumbs.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
4,731 user ratings
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Comments

diane

Hey folks hurling judgement at strangers for using a mix: I’m a “scratch or die” baker but hands down the cookie I bake that sends people into orbit starts with a yellow cake mix and I’m fine with that. The most important ingredient in any recipe is love.

Clark

I worked at Magnolia Bakery over 20 years ago. We just made the vanilla pudding mix according to the instructions on the box (i.e. with whole milk). Not sure about this whole sweetened condensed milk with water thing. Sounds overly sweet.

diane

Here are the cookies that start with a yellow cake mix! :) 1 brick of cream cheese 1 stick of unsalted butter 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 1 yellow cake mix Powdered sugar Preheat to 325 In a stand mixer with the paddle, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the cake mix and mix until just combined. Form the dough into 1” balls and roll in the sugar. Place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. They should be gooey and not brown.

Jean

Magnolia Bakery's Banana Pudding was an excellent, easy to prepare recipe for a crowd at Thanksgiving. You really need to be able to serve it to a lot of people as I had so much left over. We kept the portions small because the delicious pudding was quite sweet. I would love to figure out how to make a smaller batch, but dividing the pudding mix and the sweetened condensed milk would be a challenge.

Tony

made this for Thanksgiving. this is without a doubt the best banana pudding I've ever tasted and a general good technique if you want to make a lot of decadent pudding at once. I'm going to be only making this recipe for the rest of my life. thank you magnolia and nyt

Cheryl

For those saying the pudding is too sweet: it needs to be too sweet to balance w/the unsweetened whipped cream. When you add water to the sweetened condensed milk, you are reconstituting the milk. So you end up with sweet milk. The heavy cream isn't sweetened at all so when you combine them it's perfect. It's no different than adding pudding made with milk to store bought whipped topping like Cool Whip, etc. If you taste the pudding before you add to the whipped cream, it will be too sweet.

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Credits

Adapted from Magnolia Bakery

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