Chocolate Banana Pudding
Classic Banana Pudding is given a chocolatey twist in this easy dessert recipe. Sweet, light Chocolate Banana Pudding is just like the Southern favorite but made with chocolate wafer cookies and a pudding that’s blended with rich, chocolate flavor. Soon to be a staple at any occasion.
I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend…whether you celebrate Easter or not, it was still the weekend. And a beautiful one here in the Philadelphia area. Sunny skies and warm breezes…it’s enough to make you really angry when you see 34 degrees pop up in the extended forecast. That’s just Mother Nature being a big meanie head. I’ve already planned to stay in all day and cook some fun things to share. Like this Chocolate Banana Pudding….it will be happening on a regular basis from now on.
I’m not a big banana flavored anything fan. I love bananas, they’re the BEST grab and go healthy treat. But once you make something that is supposed to TASTE like banana without actually having banana in it…I was always a little suspicious. It may have something to do with a cocktail or shot that tasted like banana going in and out….but we will leave that story for another time. Let’s get back to the pudding. I first decided to dive into a bowl of classic Banana Pudding at New York’s famous Magnolia Bakery. I was still a little skeptical but it was Magnolia Bakery. Nothing in Magnolia Bakery tastes like poo so I thought if I were to like ANY Banana Pudding…it would be theirs. So, I dug in….and dug in….and kept digging until there was nothing left but a small smear of crumbs at the bottom of the bowl. My husband was less than thrilled….he like banana everything.
So, recently…I saw that they now have a CHOCOLATE Banana Pudding and being the self-proclaimed chocoholic that I am…I just knew I had to make something similar. I ran to the store and gathered everything I thought I’d need, whipped up a batch of my own Chocolate Banana Pudding. I didn’t do much research on their chocolate version but I figured it would have the famous Chocolate Wafer cookies and some kind of chocolate blended into the famous banana pudding mixture. It worked just fabulously and was a huge hit at our Easter brunch yesterday. I’m not even kidding….I had made a chocolate version of this crepe cake and it sat next to the pudding looking all sad with just one slice removed (my slice…it was fabulous, people!).
I’m guessing I have a knack for making pudding because my most popular dessert recipes on this site are my Very Best Vanilla Pudding (it is the very BEST), the Very Best Chocolate Pudding (again….the BEST) and this Chia Seed Pudding (the MOST POPULAR RECIPE EVER!) Go figure…you will definitely see more pudding in the weeks to come. 🙂 So easy and so amazingly comforting and so face-plantingly wonderful!
Get the Recipe: Chocolate Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 12-ounce package chocolate wafer cookies
- 3 bananas, sliced
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the water, pudding mix, sweetened condensed milk and cocoa powder until smooth and thick. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours until set.
- In a medium bowl, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Working in thirds, fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture until combined.
- Place one layer of wafer cookies in the bottom of a trifle bowl and then top with a layer of bananas. Spread a layer of pudding on top of the banana and then repeat until all the ingredients have been used (or your bowl is filled to the top.) finishing with a layer of pudding. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight. Sprinkle with crumbled chocolate wafers and garnish with banana before serving, if desired.
25 Comments on “Chocolate Banana Pudding”
Can you use banana pudding in place of vanilla?
Yes, it works well with banana pudding.
I am a little late to this party but looking for this kind of recipe for a southern dinner. May I ask why you used a box pudding rather than making it from scratch as they are not difficult?
I like the consistency (reliability) of a box pudding for this one because homemade puddings can sometimes go awry when you’re mixing it into a dessert that has to sit overnight. This was for the ease of more inexperienced cooks. If you have a good pudding recipe you want to use in it’s place, I’m sure it will be even more amazing.
One word, awesome! Used chocolate pudding instead of vanilla and a little cocoa also. It was so good that when it was gone , I used a spatula to get every little bit!!
One of our favorites! Thank you for your comment, I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
My favorite combination!
Mine too!
Would using varlhona chocolate be ok ? And if I want to make it less sweet, how much of condensed milk Maximum should I omit?
Absolutely! I’d just add half the condensed milk.
When making the whipped cream, do you add sugar and vanilla first or do you fold in just the whipped cream without adding anything to it?
The whipped cream is folded in without anything in it….it gets sweetened by the pudding.
Can you just utilize chocolate pudding? or is it best with cocoa powder and vanilla pudding?
You could use chocolate pudding but I feel like the cocoa makes it extra chocolatey!
Thanks! Just emailed you the same question – please disregard
I made this and it was good but a few tips I learned. Use Garidelli chocolate. I used Kroger and mine was not dark at all and not as chocolatey tasting once I added the heavy cream. I had to use 4 bananas. The chocolate wafers are on the ice cream toppings aisle, no clue why, two trips to Kroger and googling to find them! The wafers are also 9 oz, not 12. I didn’t realize this until making it. You do need the extra, I just spreader mine thinner. And get the big package of jello, I picked up smaller and was just short a little and had to buy another small for just a little.
Is the small box of vanilla pudding mix powder equivalent to 3/4 cups? Also do you think using regular mills wager be good enough?
Thank you!
Regular milk would be fine and I would get the large box of vanilla pudding mix to be safe.
Can you use milk instead of water?
Absolutely! It may just be a little thicker…which is never a bad thing. 🙂
I love Magnolia’s Bakery. When I lived in L.A., I’d go there periodically for a piece of pound cake or one of their other delicacies. …So when I wanted a twist on my usual banana pudding (which is delicious), I came across this recipe and just had to try it. I made it today, and it was fantastic!! I had to substitute chocolate Oreos for the chocolate wafers because I couldn’t find any chocolate wafers at my local grocery stores. However, the Oreos worked just as well. …So I wouldn’t take away any flavor from the chocolate pudding, I scraped the cream out of each Oreo and just used the cookie itself. It was delicious and on a table full of desserts, the chocolate banana pudding was the first to go! This recipe will definitely become a staple in my dessert files!
Thank you so much, Cici! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi. Which chocolate wafer cookies do you use? I tried to find the chocolate Nilla wafers but cannot find them anywhere. I’ve looked in New York City and Northern NJ. The Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer cookies seem too thin. Help!!!
I used the Nabisco Chocolate Wafer Cookies, they worked perfectly in the recipe…definitely not too thin.
This chocolate banana pudding looks so silky smooth and creamy! Banana flavored desserts aren’t always at the top of my list, mostly because so many places use fake banana flavoring which I can’t stand. This though, is perfect with the fresh banana slices and chocolate pudding!