Gluten Free Banana Pudding Recipe

This post is sponsored by Walmart to shed light on their gluten free selection at their stores, but all thoughts and recipes are my own.

I have lived in Texas my whole life and as a a true Southern girl I love me some banana pudding. So creamy and delicious and sort of good for you!! haha I used to make it with just a boxed pudding mix, but wanted to test my hand at a scratch pudding and by changing it to be gluten free. It really wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be to make some changes and do it from scratch. So I hope you enjoy this gluten free banana pudding recipe and join this southern girl in a dreamy creamy treat.

I was able to pick up all my ingredients from Walmart since you all know by now that I am there.. a lot.. I like that they have a section with all of their gluten free brands in one location and there is a wide variety. Cookies, to breads, to sauces and more and at a more affordable price than you can get at most retailers. Since the cookies are the gluten part of a regular banana pudding recipe, I picked up some Glutino Animal Crackers to sub out for the other vanilla wafer cookies.

Making your own pudding is really easier than you think. It just takes a little patience over the stove to cook the pudding until thick. With milk, sugar, cornstarch, eggs, vanilla, and a little butter thrown in for good measure you will have banana pudding in no time.

You will start by putting the sugar, cornstarch, and milk into a saucepan. You will want to cook over low to medium low heat and don’t walk away. This mixture needs to be stirred quite often. This part takes a little patience. Keep stirring until you see the mix start to thicken, sometimes takes around 10 minutes. You don’t want the heat too high because the milk will wind up burning and the pudding will become lumpy.

Take off the mixture off the heat and add a spoonful at a time to the slightly beaten egg yolks. You just want to temper the egg yolks so that they do not scramble when adding in to saucepan with the pudding. After the egg mixture is warmed a bit, add it back in to the pudding and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and add in vanilla and butter and stir until combined.

I love some meringue on my banana pudding, but you could just do a whipped cream if that is more to your liking. If you like meringue like me as the freshly made pudding cools just a bit, you can whip up the egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar in a mixer until firm peaks form. You will know it is ready when the whisk attachment can pull the egg whites up and a peak stays put. Now at this point you can assemble the banana pudding.

Layer the pudding, bananas, and cookies twice then top with a spoonful of meringue. You will want to start and end with pudding. I made most of mine in 6 ounce ramekins so that everyone could have their own individual treat. If you are making it for a fancier party you could also layer them in a wine glass. If it is a family dinner, then layer the dessert in a 9×9 pan. You can then bake the pudding until the top becomes brown and the meringue sets. I goofed a bit with mine since I was in a hurry and just broiled the tops and hence thanks to kids forgot about them for a minute and they almost completely burned.. Yes this is my life 🙂 So I made one more in a wine glass to show you how they can be all fancy. If you are doing this then you can use a creme brulee torch to toast the meringue and top with another gluten free animal cookie.

Easy, creamy, and oh so divine. Now excuse me while I go sample my creation. Oh who I am I kidding.. I am going to do more than just sample and maybe even have one for breakfast!