Banana Pudding Cups

These adorable Banana Pudding Cups are a sweet and light treat, perfect for parties or just for a snack!

With vanilla wafers, vanilla pudding, and banana slices, these individual banana pudding cups are great to put together for celebrations and gatherings.

This sweet treat is easy to customize and change to your taste, and so easy to make! Just like these Mini Fruit Tarts, pudding cups are a great individual dessert!

Why You’ll Love these Pudding Cups

Next time you need a quick and foolproof dessert for a party or BBQ, these pudding cups have you covered!

Sweet and light, these single serve cups are an adorable way to please and impress your guests without loads of effort on your end.

And the pudding is homemade, but can easily be substituted for store bought vanilla pudding!

Easily customizable to your own tastes, this is a simple but reliable dessert recipe that produces delicious results every time. Best of all, these pudding cups are so much fun to eat!

A great option for the summer when you want something cool and not too heavy. Try these nilla banana pudding cups for yourself! An even lighter dessert are these Pineapple and Orange cups, with a yummy whipped topping.

 

Nilla Banana Pudding Cups Ingredients

Banana Pudding Ingredients

• bananas – you’ll want to use fresh bananas, once they start to turn brown you may want to consider buying some new ones for this recipe!
• whole milk – ensures that your pudding is nice and thick.
• cornstarch – another thickening agent for pudding.
• salt – the secret to a good dessert is some salt to balance out all the sweetness!
• sugar – for sweetness.
• egg yolks – add some color and help bind the pudding.
• butter – for smooth and creamy flavor.
• vanilla extract – provides the important vanilla flavor.
• mini Nilla wafers – to create layers and for some extra sweetness.

Whipped Topping Ingredients

• heavy whipping cream
• powdered sugar

 

Instructions

Make the Pudding

1. In a small bowl whisk together milk and cornstarch. Set aside.
   

   It’s not hard to make your own pudding!

2. In a medium saucepan whisk together the remaining milk, salt, and sugar. Cook over medium and allow the mixture to heat until steaming, stirring constantly. Do not let boil.
3. While the milk heats, whisk egg yolks in a small bowl. Add a ¼ cup of the heated milk to the egg yolks while whisking. Then add egg yolks back to the milk and whisk.
   

   If you follow these instructions closely, your pudding will turn out perfectly every time!

4. Add the cornstarch mixture as well. Cook until thick and creamy.
   

   Cornstarch will make your pudding nice and thick!

5. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla and whisk. Let pudding cool.
   

   Vanilla and butter provide lots of yummy flavor!

Assembling the Banana Pudding Dessert Cups

1. Whisk the heavy whipping cream with a mixer in a medium bowl and add powdered sugar, then whisk constantly until stiff peaks form. Transfer whipped cream to a plastic piping bag or use a ziplock baggy and cut the corner off.
   

   There’s nothing better than fresh homemade whipped cream!

2. Put the pudding in a piping bag as well. Now you are ready to make each dessert.
3. First, put a couple of Nilla wafers in the bottom of the dessert cup. Then layer a slice of banana, pudding and whip cream.
   

   Start with the solid ingredients for a strong base.

4. Repeat the layering again.
   

   Make your layers as large or small as you like!

5. Top each banana pudding cup with a nice dollop of whipping cream on top.
   

   No matter what the dessert looks like at the end, it will be tasty!

6. Crumble cookie on top for decoration. Put one of these mini wooden spoons in each cup.

If you love the look of these square dessert cups, you can get them here on Amazon! They look great, especially paired with the wooden spoons.

Mini Banana Pudding FAQs

How do you make pudding thicker?

The egg yolks and cornstarch already present in this homemade pudding are thickening agents, but if you want thicker pudding you can try adding some gelatin or sweetened condensed milk.

What is the difference between pudding and custard?

The main difference is the ingredient used as the thickening agent. Custards are typically thickened with egg yolk, whereas puddings are thickened with flour or cornstarch.

This homemade vanilla pudding falls somewhere in between in terms of consistency and flavor!

Is Cool Whip or whipped cream better?

Homemade whipped cream is always going to taste better, and you have the option to control the sweetness and consistency.

That being said, Cool Whip or storebought whipped cream is a good substitution for this recipe in a pinch.

Can I make Nilla Wafer Banana Pudding Cups ahead of time?

Yes! You may want to hold off on assembling them until it’s time to serve them, but the pudding can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge, covered in plastic wrap.

For the whipped cream, you may see better results if it’s whipped just before serving, but you may also be able to keep it in the fridge for a day or so.

Powdered sugar usually contains a bit of cornstarch, which would work to stabilize the whipped cream.

 

Popular Variations and Substitutions

• If you don’t want to make your own pudding, any vanilla pudding from pudding mix will taste just as good and may be a bit easier to prepare. You can also make a banana pudding if you really want to heighten the banana flavor.
• Want to get really fancy with it? Bake some sponge cake and cut into pieces the size of your containers and use that as a layer instead of (or in addition to!) the vanilla wafers.
• Finish off with a drizzle of chocolate or caramel sauce.
• This can also be made as a trifle–just do the same layering in a large bowl instead of individual cups.

 

More Recipes You’ll Love

• Charcuterie Jars – Another single-serve recipe that makes adorable individual mason jars filled with your favorite charcuterie ingredients.
• Peach Sangria – A sweet and refreshing cocktail that’s perfect for the warmer months.
• Spiked Southern Peach Lemonade – This bold and fruity drink distills all of the best flavors of summer into one drink!
• Bacon Cabbage Dippers – Keto-friendly and deliciously savory, this appetizer is perfect to serve at parties or for game day.
• Banana Cream Pie – If you can’t get enough of desserts with banana, check out this classic pie recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

 

Nilla Wafer Pudding Cups