banana pudding

I love Banana Pudding. I love it’s retro, deep south feel. I like that it’s far too sweet for its own good. It’s one of those things I have vivid memories of eating as a child, at church pot lucks, family dinners, chinese restaurant buffets (oh yes.). Its natural place in life is in a big bowl right beside the jell-o and the congealed salad. You know the one, with the pineapple chunks and marshmallows?



And it doesn’t get any better than home made stove-top pudding. No instant pudding packets should be let near banana pudding, it's just not right. And it’s so easy to make it yourself, you really have no excuse.



So last night, to go with our first chicken cooked on the grill of the year, I made banana pudding pie. And covered it cool-whip. It was delicious.

Ingredients:
2 cups vanilla wafers
3 bananas, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie plate with a layer of alternating vanilla wafers and banana slices.

To Make Pudding: In a medium saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with flour. Mix well, then stir in half the milk. Beat egg yolks and whisk into sugar mixture. Add remaining milk and butter or margarine.

Place mixture over low heat and cook until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Pour half of pudding over vanilla wafer and banana layer while still hot.

Make another layer of alternating vanilla wafers and banana slices on top of pudding layer. Pour remaining pudding over second wafer and banana layer.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Chill before serving.