Mr. Twist had a craving for banana pudding, and I remembered I had a great recipe. Years ago, my mother’s best friend, Margaret, gifted me a tiny little spiral A Little Taste of Texas cookbook. It still has the label from Sample House on it. On the back it says…
“Welcome to A Little Taste of Texas from the state that’s as big as the sky. It’s a star-studded mini collection of recipes big on flavor and loaded with sure-fire winners.”
The inscription reads “To Melissa from Margaret.”
One of the first recipes I made from that cookbook was banana pudding. I changed the name from creamy banana pudding to Porch Swing Banana Pudding because it’s one of those desserts you eat slowly with a spoon on a lazy afternoon. I added my twist of substituting vanilla wafers for Pepperidge Farms Chessman Cookies. They are shaped like chess pieces and are like a shortbread cookies. It’s beautifully made in a trifle dish, or I just made it in a square Pyrex dish. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Porch Swing Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 1/2 cups very cold water
- 1 3 3/4 oz package instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip
- 36 vanilla wafers or two packages of Pepperidge Farm Chessman Cookies
- 3 bananas, sliced
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and water.
- Add pudding mix and beat well.
- Chill the pudding mix for 5 minutes in the refrigerator
- Fold in cool whip.
- Spoon 1 cup pudding mixture into a 2 1/2 quart glass dish.
- Top with 1/3 each of the cookies, bananas, and pudding.
- Repeat layering twice, ending with pudding.
- If you have remaining cookies crush them and sprinkle on top. I also had enough to line the edges of the dish to create a border.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Note: In my opinion this dessert is best when it's made the day before so the cookies have a chance to soften in the pudding. But, either way it's delicious!
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.