In this gluten free bananas foster pudding, banana pudding gets a makeover with butterscotch pudding and homemade vanilla wafers. It's a mashup of two classic desserts that were meant to be together!
Ya'll, I don't even think I can make regular banana pudding anymore. Because this gluten free bananas foster pudding has stolen my heart for good! Butterscotch pudding? Check! Rum? Double check!! Dulce de leche? Triple check!!!
How I Develop Gluten Free Recipes
One of the biggest downfalls to baking gluten free is that quite often we have to bake every component of a recipe that's supposed to be "easy" or "quick." And when I made my original gluten free banana pudding, I really wanted it to be both easy and quick. So I used store bought gluten free shortbread cookies. And it was absolutely delicious!!!
But sometimes it's not so easy to find the gluten free counterpart we need to make a recipe. That's always a dilemma for me when I think about what I'm baking. The first question I ask is "will I be able to find _________ (fill in the blank) at whatever store I normally go to? Or will I have to go to 3 different stores to find it? And when I do, will it totally break the bank??
I'm one of those people who don't want to waste a whole day driving around looking for something I need to make a recipe. By the time I've found it and spent an exorbitant amount of money on it, I could have made it myself at home!
For this recipe, though, I wanted something that would be a little easier than making a whole ton of vanilla wafer cookies just to have them layered in a dessert that would soften them up anyway.
Making One Giant Cookie
I had this idea a while back when I made a graham cracker crust for a pie. I didn't want to make a bunch of individual graham crackers just to pulverize them in a food processor, so I made one giant cookie and then crushed that into crumbs. It was SO easy, I've been using this method ever since!
In this recipe, we make one GIANT gluten free vanilla wafer cookie that we cut in half to sandwich in between all the pudding and bananas. It's so perfect and yet takes almost no time at all!
Simply roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper. I use these pre-cut parchment paper sheets all the time because they're very convenient and easy. They're a little bit smaller than my baking sheet, but still work great!
Remove the top parchment and bake the giant cookie, still on the parchment, on a baking sheet for about 16-18 minutes, or until golden brown.
Using this shortcut means many things for us:
- We don't have to spend time at many different stores searching for gluten free vanilla wafers, or time making several little cookies.
- We don't have to spend a ridiculous amount of money on said gluten free vanilla wafers.
- Our gluten free vanilla wafers are far superior to the store bought ones.
- The possibilities for other recipes are endless! Think about all your recipes that call for cookie crumbs or cookies layered in desserts.
The Pudding Mixture
I could eat this pudding alone and be utterly and completely satisfied. It is SOOOOOO good and so flavorful, and it's incredibly easy to make, too, so you won't feel like you're slaving.
If you saw my recent post for gluten free brioche au chocolat, you saw how easy it is to make pastry cream, which is basically a thick pudding. You are welcome to make your own pastry cream, BUT to take an even easier way out, just buy a box of dry butterscotch pudding and mix it with whole milk.
Whip heavy cream and rum (or vanilla) until stiff peaks form and transfer it to a medium bowl. Using the same bowl that you whipped the heavy cream in, whip cream cheese with a can of dulce de leche until well combined. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese followed by the butterscotch pudding. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Putting it All Together
Layering the bananas foster pudding is as easy as layering any banana pudding. Start by cutting the large vanilla wafer cookie in half to make two halves to stack in a 9 by 13-inch pan.
Take just a little bit of the pudding mixture and spread it on the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch pan. Place one of the large "cookies" on top, followed by half of the bananas and half of the pudding mixture. Repeat this layering process again for a total of two full layers.
Cover the pudding with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate overnight. This will allow the cookies to soften to that cakey texture that is one of my favorite parts of banana pudding!
For an indulgent Fat Tuesday treat, or for any day of the year, try a mashup of banana pudding and bananas foster in this gluten free bananas foster pudding🍌🍌🍌
Gluten Free Bananas Foster Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 recipe vanilla wafers (see below)
- 1 13.4-ounce can dulce de leche
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon dark rum or vanilla extract
- 1 4-ounce package instant butterscotch pudding mix
- 2 cups (480 ml) whole milk
- 6 large bananas, sliced
VANILLA WAFER COOKIES
- 1½ cups (210 g) Kim's gluten free flour blend (or the blend of your choice containing xanthan gum)
- ¾ cup (94 g) powdered sugar
- 8 tbsp (1 stick or 113 g) cold butter, cut into small pieces
- 3-5 tablespoon cold whole milk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the whole milk with the butterscotch pudding mix until smooth. Cover and place in the refrigerator until set.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Transfer this to another bowl. Using the same mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese until smooth. Add the dulce de leche and continue to whip to combine. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, followed by the butterscotch pudding mixture. Refrigerate until ready to use.
MAKE THE VANILLA WAFER COOKIES
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt until blended. Add the butter pieces and pulse until coarse crumbs form.
- Add the vanilla and then 3 tablespoons of the milk and pulse. If the dough doesn't come together, add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough gathers around the blade. This may take up to one minute.
- Scrape the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper that fits a half sheet pan (18 by 13 inch). Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and roll the dough into an even thickness until it fits the size of the bottom parchment.
- Remove the top parchment and slide the bottom parchment onto a baking sheet. Bake until golden on top and light brown at the edges, about 16-18 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the large cookie in half horizontally so you wind up with two halves that are about the size of your baking pan (9 by 13 inches).
LAYERING THE PUDDING
- Spread a little bit (about a half cup) of the pudding mixture onto the bottom of the 9 by 13-inch pan. Add one of the large cookies, followed by half of the banana slices. Dollop half of the pudding mixture onto the banana slices and spread to cover all the bananas.
- Repeat with second large cookie, the rest of the banana slices, and the rest of the pudding mixture.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the cookies to soften. Will keep in the refrigerate for up to 4 days.
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