I have been obsessed this past week with banana pudding. And not just your ordinary banana pudding, but a dairy free banana pudding.
It just so happens as I was putting my carton of Silk coconut milk in the fridge the other day, I saw a recipe on the back for banana pudding. This is what started my crazy banana pudding search. I decided to try the recipe and I opted for Splenda instead of sugar, because I wanted a refined sugar- free pudding.
Now I don't know if it was the Splenda, or if I stirred it too long or at too high a temperature, or maybe this is what it's supposed to look and taste like. But according to the reviews it got, I think either I messed up somewhere along the way or those reviews are all falsified! Because my coconut milk banana pudding didn't look anything like the photo! Gasp!
While their coconut banana pudding looked fluffy and creamy and Oh So delicious, mine was clumpy, not at all fluffy cloud-like, and had a very mild vanilla taste, even after I added more vanilla than the recipe called for.
Now don't get me wrong, for a sugar-free alternative, it was edible (but I threw out the rest), but nothing like the creamy vanilla pudding I remember as a kid.
Needless to say, I started looking at ways to improve my dairy free pudding. I wanted a creamy pudding that tasted like bananas. After all, there’s a reason they don't call banana pudding vanilla pudding. It's supposed to be banana pudding with sliced bananas, vanilla wafers, and whipped cream.
Banana. Mania!
So off I went to search for the ultimate dairy free banana pudding recipe. It wasn't easy and I don't recommend it to anyone. Long sleepless nights, weary, tired eyes, endless cups of coffee, after searching endless hours, maybe even days, on Pinterest.
Did you know you there are lots of recipes for banana pudding on Pinterest? And I love how they put pins on your search page that don't even have the ingredient you're searching for. Somehow I got lost in the chocolate and peanut butter search. I didn't even know I was looking for a chocolate and peanut butter recipe!
They must know I have a short attention span. Oh look butterflies.....
squirrel....oooh, pretty red bird!
Hello, I'm back!
So after my search, I finally found this dairy free pudding recipe using coconut milk and honey. I love how it uses honey and not refined sugar.
I tweaked it a bit and came up with my own version of dairy free banana pudding. A rich and creamy, banana-ey pudding that has no refined sugar and is dairy free. I hope you like it as much as I do. (Pssst, I even tried it with vanilla wafers and it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!).
If you don't like this version, you can always try the recipe on the back of the Silk coconut milk carton. But if you do, please let me know how yours turned out, clumpy like mine or like a whipped cloud of vanilla yumminess as pictured on the carton.
Oh, look at the shiny spoon....
Banana Pudding - GF, Dairy-free, Soy free
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 8 to 10 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas, pureed
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons Banana Royale Fountain Flavor
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon honey
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 cups canned coconut milk, full fat
- extra bananas for garnish
- Puree 2 bananas in a blender.
- Pour bananas into a small bowl and add salt, vanilla, and banana flavoring. Mix together and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks, honey, and cornstarch. Set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan, heat coconut milk over medium heat for about 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Do not let it boil.
- Remove coconut milk from heat.
- Using a ladle, pour about 1 cup of warmed coconut milk into egg yolk mix. Making sure you stir constantly as you do this so you don't end up with scrambled eggs. Stir in another small ladle of coconut milk into egg yolk mixture.
- Add egg yolk mixture back into sauce pan and stir together.
- Place pan back over medium heat and continue to stir while cooking for another 3 to 4 minutes. Mixture will become thicker the longer you cook it. Continue to stir while not letting it boil. If it starts to boil, turn down heat or remove pan from heat and then replace back on burner and continue cooking until it reaches desired thickness. Keep in mind, it will be less thick after adding banana mixture.
- After mixture thickens, remove from heat and stir in banana mixture, mixing well.
- Transfer into a large bowl. Cover top with wax paper. Place into refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
- After pudding chills, serve in small bowls or cups.
- Garnish with fresh, sliced bananas, whipped cream (dairy-free, of course), and/or granola.
*Helpful Hints*
- I purchased Banana Royale Flavor Fountain online at Olive Nation. It's Kosher, sugar free, gluten-free, calorie free, and water soluble.
- If you don't have a blender, you can mash the bananas by hand with a fork. But they will make your pudding clumpy instead of smooth.
- Depending how ripe your bananas are, pudding might turn out tan in color. It's perfectly ok like this as it does not affect the taste. Also pudding will darken during storage in refrigerator due to bananas.
- If you want to make this Paleo friendly, use arrowroot powder in place of cornstarch. However, measurements might not be the same for arrowroot as they are for the cornstarch. This recipe was made for using cornstarch.
- If you don't have a blender, you can mash the bananas by hand with a fork. But they will make your pudding clumpy instead of smooth.
- Depending how ripe your bananas are, pudding might turn out tan in color. It's perfectly ok like this as it does not affect the taste. Also pudding will darken during storage in refrigerator due to bananas.
- If you want to make this Paleo friendly, use arrowroot powder in place of cornstarch. However, measurements might not be the same for arrowroot as they are for the cornstarch. This recipe was made for using cornstarch.
Inspired by ~ Rebecca at Paleo Grubs.
Disclaimer ~ I was not paid for this post to endorse Olive Nation. I just purchased their product and thought I would share it with you, as its an excellent flavoring for many things.
Disclaimer ~ I was not paid for this post to endorse Olive Nation. I just purchased their product and thought I would share it with you, as its an excellent flavoring for many things.
Shared with: Savoring Saturdays
