Banana Parfaits
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These banana parfaits are a more sophisticated take on the classic Southern pudding, using rich homemade vanilla pudding and buttery shortbread cookies.
These banana parfaits are a slightly fancier take on classic banana pudding, the Southern dessert made with layers of vanilla pudding, bananas, and vanilla wafers. While many versions rely on store-bought shortcuts for the pudding and whipped cream, this one goes the homemade route. A rum-spiked vanilla pudding, lightened with homemade whipped cream, is layered with bananas and buttery shortbread cookies in individual glasses. It’s a little more dressed up, but still pure comfort food. The pudding needs a few hours to chill, and the parfaits are best assembled a few hours ahead, so plan accordingly.
“This is absolutely sublime – perfection!”
What you’ll need to make Banana Pudding Parfaits
You’ll need sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks, milk, butter, vanilla, rum, heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar, ripe bananas, and shortbread cookies.
Instead of the classic Nilla wafers, I use crumbled Walkers Pure Butter Shortbread cookies (any brand of shortbread cookies will work) because they have a rich, buttery flavor and stay crunchy even when completely covered with pudding. The crunch of the cookies against the creamy smoothness of the bananas and pudding is what makes these parfaits unique. If you want to stick with tradition and use vanilla wafers, that’ll work too; just keep in mind that they will have a softer texture.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Prep the base. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan and whisk together.
Pro Tip: Whisking the dry ingredients with the egg yolks before adding the milk creates a smooth paste. This prevents the cornstarch from clumping, ensuring your pudding has a silky texture.
Step 2: Add the milk. Whisk in the milk and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat.
Step 3: Thicken and flavor. Once bubbling, reduce the heat and whisk constantly until the pudding thickens; then, off the heat, add the butter, vanilla, and rum and whisk until evenly combined.
Step 4: Chill the pudding. Transfer the pudding to a large bowl and refrigerate for a few hours until cold, placing plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a film from forming.
Pro Tip: If you’re in a hurry, place the bowl of hot pudding inside a larger bowl filled with ice and a little water. Whisking the pudding occasionally in this ice bath will rapidly draw heat out and chill it more quickly.
Step 5: Prep the cream. Once the pudding is cold, whip the heavy cream on medium-low speed.
Pro Tip: For texture, you’re aiming for silky peaks that hold their shape, and be careful not to overwhip. If you accidentally overwhip the cream and it looks grainy, gently fold in another tablespoon or two of the heavy cream with a spatula to smooth it back out.
Step 6: Fold the mixture. Add the whipped cream to the pudding and gently fold it in, then put it in the fridge until you are ready to assemble the parfaits.
Pro Tip: Using a folding motion incorporates the airy cream into the heavy pudding without deflating it, resulting in a fluffy mousse.
Step 7: Assemble the parfaits. Spoon a large dollop of pudding into the bottom of each glass, cover with a layer of crumbled cookies and bananas, and repeat the layers, finishing with the pudding.
Step 8: Garnish and Refrigerate. Crush some of the remaining cookies into crumbs and sprinkle over top of each parfait. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 12 hours.
More Creamy Fruit Desserts You’ll Love
Banana Parfaits
Ingredients
For the Pudding
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 egg yolks
- 3½ cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ tablespoons dark rum
For the Sweetened Whipped Cream
- ¾ cup heavy cream, cold
- 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
For Assembling
- 4 bananas, very ripe but not mushy, sliced (see note)
- 2 (5.3-oz) boxes Walkers Pure Butter Shortbread Cookies, or similar, broken into ¼-inch pieces
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks. Whisk in the milk and bring to simmer, stirring frequently, over medium heat (it will take 5 to 8 minutes). When the mixture starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low and continue cooking, whisking constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes until the mixture thickens. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately whisk in the butter, vanilla and rum. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the pudding to prevent a film from forming. Chill in the refrigerator until cool, a few hours. (To hurry it up, you can place the bowl in an ice bath and whisk occasionally until cold.)
- Once the pudding is cold, place the heavy cream in a medium mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, whip on medium-low speed until the whisk or beaters begin to leave tracks in the cream. Add the confectioners' sugar and whip until the cream holds medium, silky peaks. Go slowly towards the end; if it gets grainy or curdled, you’ve gone too far. Use a rubber spatula to fold the whipped cream into the cold pudding.
- Spoon a large dollop of the pudding mixture into the bottom of each parfait glass. Top with one layer of cookie pieces and one layer of sliced bananas. Repeat once and top with a final layer of pudding. Crumble some of the cookie pieces and sprinkle over top. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 12 hours.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This turned out so delicious! I ended up putting them in (8) half pint mason jars which was just enough for an individual serving (and super cute too). I’ll definitely be making this again!
Hi Jenn! How far in advance can I make the pudding? I would like to make this for a dinner party, and can do the assembly 3-4 hours ahead, but would prefer to make the pudding earlier (ideally a day ahead)? What do you think?
You can make the pudding 2 to 3 days ahead of time. Hope you enjoy!
Hello!
I have oodles of cookbooks but really down to one blog and cookbook now and it’s
Once Upon a Chef! Love everything I have made and so have family and friends.
Tomorrow I am making banana parfaits but unfortunately I do not have rum.
Do you think I can substitute Grand Marnier or just add vanilla?
I am also using your turkey recipe, stuffing recipe, carrot and butternut squash soup recipe,
and roasted veggies! So Thank You again!
I’m so flattered that my recipes are you go-to’s!! You can just leave the rum out — the parfaits will still be delicious. 🙂
Hi Jenn. Could you use almond milk instead of whole milk in this recipe?
Hi Karen, I’m not confident that this recipe would translate well to almond milk — sorry!
What is the difference in using cornstarch rather than flour? I’ve seen them both ways but don’t understand why one is chosen over the other.
Hi Carol, I prefer to use cornstarch for puddings.
Thank you, Jenn, this really helps. Now to making this one with cornstarch for my banana
pudding crazy family!
This is absolutely sublime! The rum really gives it a nice depth. Perfection!
Hubby loved it 😍. I added an add’l tablespoon of rum and used vanilla wafers.
Hello Jen
I made your Banana Pudding Parfait today for my 4th of July dessert it was wonderful your recipes are always on point.
Thanks so much!
Tamara
From Birmingham Al
Have made this for a birthday treat (as requested) and it was fantastic. I was wondering if I could modify your crust from the coconut cream pie ( 2 boxes of Walkers shortbread and 4 tablespoons of butter) to serve this as a pie? Thanks for your help.
Yes, Jane, I think that would work out nicely-great idea! You didn’t mention the coconut from the crust but I think it would also be tasty here. Please LMK know how it turns out!
I made the coconut cream crust per your recipe instructions (with coconut). I made the banana pudding and whipped cream per recipe. I assembled the pie a few hours before the party: mixed cold pudding and whipped cream, put 1/3 of mixture in crust, used 3 sliced bananas, covered with remaining mixture, and placed filled crust in refrigerator. Before serving, I crushed the remaining shortbread cookies on top of pie. Jenn, People went CRAZY for it. It was a HUGE HIT. Thank you for getting back to me in time for my party. Many had seconds and wanted the recipes. It was nice to have a pie versus individual servings if you do not know how many to expect. Thank you so much for another holiday hit!
Yay! Thank you for reporting back (and for creating a new recipe for me…I’m going to try it!).
This is great to hear! Going to try this weekend.
Hi! If I can only assemble the pudding 6 hours or 2 hours in advance of serving, which would you recommend?
Thanks in advance!
Hi KJ, I’d do 6 – it will be fine. 🙂