Alright, so today I’m walking you through how I whipped up this graham cracker crust banana pudding. Had a craving, you know? And I like to mess around in the kitchen, see what happens. So, here’s the lowdown on how it went.
Tackling the Crust First
First things first, that graham cracker crust. It’s kinda the main event here, different from your usual banana pudding.
- Okay, so I grabbed a sleeve of graham crackers. Maybe a bit more, like, a sleeve and a half. Just eyeballed it.
- Tossed ’em into a big ziplock bag. Whacked ’em with a rolling pin. Yeah, you could use a food processor, make it all fancy and fine. But this way works. Got some aggression out, too.
- Then, butter. Melted about half a stick, maybe a little more. Poured it over the crumbs. Threw in a spoonful or two of sugar. Again, no exact science here, just what felt right.
- Mixed all that up with a fork until it was like damp sand. You want it to stick together when you press it.
Pressed that mixture into my pie dish. Used the bottom of a measuring cup to get it kinda even and packed down. Didn’t bake it. Nah. Just popped it in the freezer for a bit to firm up while I got on with the rest. Quicker that way.
Moving on to the Filling and Bananas
With the crust chilling out, I got started on the filling.
I went for the easy route. Box of vanilla instant pudding. Look, homemade is great and all, but sometimes you just want pudding without all the fuss. Mixed it with cold milk, like the instructions said. Whisked it good, then stuck that in the fridge too. Let it set up.
While the pudding was doing its thing, I sliced up some bananas. Got about three, pretty ripe ones. Not black and mushy, but sweet. Sliced ’em not too thick, not too thin.
Putting It All Together – The Assembly Line
This is the fun part, layering it all up.
So, I got my crust from the freezer. Still solid. Nice.
- First layer: bananas. Spread ’em all over the crust.
- Next: a good splodge of that vanilla pudding. Smoothed it out over the bananas.
- Then, more bananas. Why not?
- And then the rest of the pudding on top of that.
For the topping, whipped cream. Straight from the can. Yep, I said it. It’s easy, it’s fast, and for this kind of dessert, it just works. No shame in my game. Piled it on.
Some people get all traditional with Nilla wafers in their banana pudding. But this was about the graham cracker crust. Gives it a different texture, a bit more bite, a bit more… something. It’s my twist, I guess.
The Wait and The Final Verdict
Covered the whole thing with plastic wrap and shoved it in the fridge. This is always the tough bit, waiting for it to chill properly. Needs a few hours, really, for all the flavors to get friendly with each other.
Later on, I finally dug in. And you know what? It was pretty good. Really good, actually. The graham cracker crust was a winner. It held up, had a nice toasty flavor that went great with the sweet bananas and creamy pudding. It’s not super fancy, but it’s comforting.
Would I make it again? Definitely. It’s a straightforward dessert, doesn’t take a culinary genius. And it disappeared pretty fast, which is always a good sign. Maybe next time I’ll try a different pudding flavor, or get ambitious and make my own whipped cream. Who knows? But for today, this graham cracker version hit the spot. A successful kitchen experiment, I’d say.
