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The ultimate summer dessert amped up! Salted Caramel Banana Pudding is a fabulous spin on the southern favorite, layers of cookie crumbs, lightly whipped pudding bananas and salted caramel sauce create a memorable dessert that will leave your tastebuds singing for joy!
It was a big day yesterday and I’m hear to tell you all about it! I mentioned on Tuesday that I would be sharing my tips on How to Picnic Like a Pro with Fox 29 Good Day Philadelphia and it was a total blast. Jenn from Fox stopped by my house and we, basically, picnicked in my backyard all morning while Landon painted himself with craft paint. Food was consumed, clothes were destroyed and it was simply the most fun I’ve ever had shooting a Fox segment.
I shared a ton of tips on how to make sure your next picnic is absolutely Instagram-worthy….like adding some cloves to fresh limes to help keep bugs away. Now, our flies are sort of super powerful and I fully expected on to land right on top of the lime during the live segment but they didn’t….they cooperated, so I’ll be sure to follow through with their paychecks on Friday. We also made a homemade picnic blanket out of a $5 drop cloth (full instructions will be included HERE tomorrow!)
I showed Jenn how to get super fancy with a watermelon and some sunflowers while discussing the importance of not honoring the rainbow with your color scheme. If you’re going to try to show off your fancy picnic, pick just a couple colors and stick to it.
And most importantly….the food, pick packable picnic fare that’s easy to whip up like this super popular Broccoli salad and pack it in a flat container like a brownie pan to maximize space in your picnic basket. Make a crushable sandwich like this Pressed Picnic Sandwich and store it at the bottom of the basket or cooler to press all those wonderful flavors together. And whip up a dessert in a jar like this Salted Caramel Banana Pudding! I knew you were waiting for this one. And you’ll be happy to know it’s soooooo, soooooooooooo EASY!
I modified my Chocolate Banana Pudding a bit to go back to the traditional recipe and then just added a bit of caramel sauce to the mix. It was a splendid idea if I do say so myself and if you’ve ever had banana pudding, I think you’ll agree with this 100%. If you haven’t had banana pudding….then what are you waiting for? It’s the most amazing concoction ever on the planet and you should procrastinate no longer. I will say, I was a little hesitant myself but now I’m a full blown Banana Pudding junkie.
And for good reason, Salted Caramel Banana Pudding is the bees knees….it’s one of the best desserts I’ve ever created. I kid you not…..and I know it’s going to be a huge hit at your next soiree.
{Picnic Basket and Table in a Bag from Crate and Barrel}
Salted Caramel Banana Pudding and How to Picnic Like a Pro

Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 12-ounce package Nilla wafer cookies
- 3 bananas, sliced
- 1 cup caramel sauce
- 2 teaspoons sea salt flakes
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the water, pudding mix and sweetened condensed milk 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 top with caramel sauce. Sprinkle with sea salt 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. Drizzle with caramel sauce, a sprinkle of sea salt and garnish with banana before serving, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can the water be eliminated?
I haven’t tried it without the water so I can’t say for sure.
love it
Thank you!
Followed this recipe to a T – let the pudding mixture sit over night, and it’s still just pure liquid. Not sure what is missing from the recipe, but it doesn’t work.
Hi Jaimie….I’m sorry it didn’t work out. Your the first person this hasn’t ever worked for so can I ask if you modified the ingredients at all? Did you use exactly the ingredients called for in the recipe? If so, it should work as written.