Banana Pudding Dessert

I had some leftover vanilla wafers from the rum balls recipe, so I decided to make some banana pudding. I combined a few different recipes to come up with this very rich and creamy version.

Note: This recipe is basically egg free, but if you are really trying to avoid eggs because of allergies, be sure your vanilla wafers are egg-free. I've found some with eggs and some without.

Banana Pudding Dessert

Ingredients:
70 vanilla wafers, crushed
1 stick of butter
4 bananas
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 package (5.1 oz) vanilla instant pudding
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups cold milk
1 tub of Cool Whip, thawed
a few extra vanilla wafers for garnish (optional)

Be sure to thaw the Cool Whip in the refrigerator and soften the cream cheese before starting.

Preheat oven to 350.

Crush the vanilla wafers. (I just use a Ziploc bag and a rolling pin.) Put them in a 13 x 9 inch pan. Melt the stick of butter and mix it into the crushed cookies. Press into bottom of pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Beat the softened cream cheese until fluffy. Add the sweetened condensed milk, pudding mix, vanilla, and cold milk. Beat for 2-3 minutes until creamy. Fold in half of the Cool Whip.

Slice the four bananas on top of the baked cookie crust. Smooth pudding mixture on top of bananas. Finally, top with remaining Cool Whip. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

If desired, garnish with extra cookie when ready to serve. (I wish I had taken a picture of this because the slices looked really cute with the little vanilla wafer sticking up on top.)

Serves about 20 people.