Banana Pudding Trifle
Banana Pudding Trifle has layers of bananas, sour cream whipped cream, and crumbled Nilla wafers, for a delicious pudding trifle dessert.
This Banana Pudding Trifle is made with layers of trifle goodness—fruit, cream, and cookies! It’s perfect for any party, picnic, or just because you’re wanting to serve the most elegant, crowd-pleasing dessert! Keep the ingredients on hand to whip up this yummy dessert, because it feeds a crowd.
Why we love this recipe
- It makes an impressive birthday or celebration dessert!
- Everyone devours it – quickly!
- You can make it ahead.
Banana Pudding Trifle
For our son’s last birthday, he requested banana cream pie. Our daughter wanted to make his birthday dessert and decided that a banana cream pudding would be a slightly better (and easier to make) option, because no pie crust or oven was needed. Thus this Banana Pudding Trifle was made!
Because it was a last minute dessert that would be served the same day, she decided to pulse the cookies to a finer texture so that they could absorb the moisture faster than a whole cookie would—she also added some pecans to add a subtle warm, nutty flavor.
Or, if you love pudding, you may want to try our Banana Cream Pie recipe!
Gather these ingredients:
Storebought pudding (or about 6 cups of pudding–vanilla or banana flavor) or make homemade vanilla pudding! Or our recipe here:
- Heavy cream
- Full fat coconut milk
- Kosher salt
- Eggs
- Cornstarch
- White sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Butter
Whipped Cream:
- Heavy cream
- Powdered sugar
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
Nilla Pecan Crumble and filling:
- Toasted, salted pecans
- Vanilla wafers: or other dry cookies
- Bananas: make sure they are ripe
- Lemon juice
- Blueberries to garnish
How do you make a banana trifle?
- Puddding: Make the vanilla pudding (from the RE recipe or store bought) and allow at least 2 hours to cool before assembling.
- Cream: In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream on high, then add the powdered sugar. Whip until medium peaks, then add the sour cream, vanilla, and salt and whip to stiff peaks. The whipped cream will hold its shape well when stirred and appear a little shiny. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Crunchy topping: While everything chills, in a food processor, pulse the pecans until pea-sized, then add the cookies and pulse until fine like gravel. Set aside.
- Once the pudding has chilled, slice the bananas and toss in the lemon juice until coated. Transfer slices to a paper towel-lined plate and begin assembling the pudding.
- Assemble: Layer about half of the vanilla pudding, crumbled cookies and pecans, bananas, and 3/4 of the total whipped cream.
- Repeat once more and top with whipped cream, crumbled cookies (reserving 2 Tbsp to garnish the top), and blueberries.
- Chill for at least 2 hours before serving (preferable overnight) for the best results.
Tips and substitutions:
- No-brown bananas: Wait to cut and toss bananas in the lemon juice just before assembling the trifle, so that the bananas don’t disintegrate in the lemon juice.
- Use ripe bananas that are still firm.
- The Nilla wafers can be substituted for any sweet, crunchy cookie, like graham crackers.
- You can use any berry to garnish the top! Try raspberries and strawberries, too.
- The sour cream is SO delicious in the whipped cream, it adds a much needed touch of acid to cut the sweetness of the pudding.
- If you want to add cake, you can add chunks of pound cake or angel food cake.
- Try adding a drizzle of ganache for a delicious chocolate banana treat (and leave off the fruit on top).
- Any cookie will work in this recipe, so have fun using your favorites!
How do you serve a trifle?
- If you don’t have a trifle dish, then just use a big glass bowl, or assemble in small serving cups.
- Or, in about ten small glasses or mason jars, add a layer of cookies, layers of bananas, cream—and repeat.
This creamy dessert brings back many childhood memories of many banana desserts my mom would make.
Safe to say, our eldest son was more than pleased with the final product for his birthday!
Enjoy!
More banana desserts to try:
Frozen Peanut Butter Banana Bites
Sour Cream Chocolate Banana Cake
Get the Recipe:
Banana Pudding Trifle
Ingredients
Homemade pudding:
- 3 c heavy cream
- 14 oz can full fat coconut milk
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 8 egg yolks
- ⅓ c cornstarch
- 1 c white sugar, divided
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 Tbsp butter, room temperature
Whipped cream:
- 2 c heavy cream, chilled
- ½ heaping cup powdered sugar
- 1 c sour cream, chilled
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Nilla Pecan Crumble and fillings:
- ⅓ c toasted, salted pecans
- 4 cups Vanilla Wafers or other dry cookie
- 5-6 bananas sliced ¾’’ thick, chilled (see note)
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- Blueberries to garnish
Equipment
- Trifle glass dish
Instructions
- Make the vanilla pudding and allow at least 2 hours to cool before assembling. [You can make homemade or buy store-bought pudding.]
To make the pudding:
- In a large pot, add the heavy cream, coconut milk, and salt over medium heat. Warm the milk until the surface begins to steam and it is very warm to the touch—do NOT scald the milk or bring to a simmer.
- As the milk warms, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, and 1/2 cup of sugar in a medium mixing bowl until smooth.
- Temper the yolks; take the milk off heat and then, using a ladle, add about 1/4 c of the warmed milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly so the yolks don’t curdle or cook. Whisk in about 2 cups of the milk to the yolks before adding the liquid back to the pot with the remaining cream.
- Stir together and bring heat to medium-low. Whisk constantly until thickened, about 6 minutes or until the whisk leaves trails as you stir, the pudding clings to the walls of the pot, and the consistency is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Whisk in the vanilla extract, and butter until combined.
- Transfer to a heatproof bowl (or divide into ramekins) and press plastic to the top to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled.
Make the cream:
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream on high for about 1 minute, then add the powdered sugar. Whip until medium peaks for 2-3 minutes, then add the sour cream, vanilla, and salt and whip to stiff peaks. The whipped cream will hold its shape well when stirred and appear a little shiny. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- While everything chills, in a food processor, pulse the pecans until pea-sized, then add the cookies and pulse until fine like gravel. Set aside.
- Once the pudding has chilled, slice the bananas and toss in the lemon juice until coated. Transfer slices to a paper towel-lined plate and begin assembling the pudding.
Assemble the trifle:
- Layer about half of the vanilla pudding, crumbled cookies and pecans, bananas, and 3/4 of the total whipped cream. Repeat once more and top with whipped cream, crumbled cookies (reserving 2 Tbsp to garnish the top), and blueberries. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving (preferable overnight) for the best results.
- Serve and enjoy!
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
