Southern Banana Pudding

Anyone from the South knows you don't show up to a party empty-handed. Last weekend found us at quite a few shindigs (I know our popularity is astounding-ha!) and I wanted to try something beyond the usual dish of brownies or plate of cookies. After a miscalculation on days of the week and number of bananas necessary (I'm an English teacher not a Math teacher) I realized we had a few more than necessary. After some searching I found the recipe below and figured I'd give it a whirl!

46 Nilla Wafers, divided

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 packages (3.4 oz each) vanilla instant pudding

2 cups cold milk

1 tub (8 oz) cool whip, thawed

4 bananas, sliced

1 package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. 

Crush 30 wafers; mix next four ingredients.

Spread onto bottom of 13 X 9 pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 5 minutes; stir. Bake 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool.

Beat pudding mixes and milk with whisk 2 minutes.

Stir in 1 cup cool whip. 

Layer 1/3 of the crumb mixture and half each of the bananas and pudding in a 2-quart serving bowl; Repeat.

Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar in medium bowl with mixer until blended.

Gently stir in 1 cup of remaining cool whip; spread over top, sealing to edge of bowl.

Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.

Refrigerate 3 hours.

Top with remaining cool whip and whole wafers just before serving.

Enjoy!

It sounds like a lot of work, but it really wasn't. And, I can assure you the final product was well worth it! Here are some pictures from the process:

 The mess I created

 First layer

 Delectable topping

 Finished product!

Side view of bowl with our precious monogram-thanks Kelsey!