Banana Pudding Dessert

Ingredients

• 30 vanilla wafers, finely crushed
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Advertisement


• 1/2 carton whipping cream, whipped and divided
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 medium bananas
• 3 cups low fat milk
• 2 packages (4 serving size) instant vanilla pudding
• 1/2 lemon
• partial square baking chocolate, grated

Directions

Melt butter. Pulse vanilla wafers in food processor. Combine crumbs with melted butter and press into 13 x 9 inch glass baking pan. Place in freezer.

Combine softened cream cheese and powdered sugar and stir until well mixed. Set aside. Put whipping cream into mixer with whisk attachment and mix until soft peaks form, about a minute. Slowly add sugar and continue mixing for an additional minute. Take half of the whipped cream and add to the cream cheese mixture, blending together. Set aside remaining whipped cream in a small bowl. (You'll need the mixer bowl again!)

Remove pan from freezer and drop spoonfuls of whipped cream/cream cheese mixture on top, spreading evenly across top. Return pan to freezer. Squeeze half a lemon into a small bowl and remove any seeds. Pour milk and instant pudding into mixer bowl and beat for about 2 minutes. Peel and slice bananas into the bowl with the lemon and toss them with the lemon juice. Remove pan from freezer. Place bananas evenly over the cream cheese layer and drop a few dollops of the pudding mixture on top of bananas, spreading evenly. Top with remaining whipped cream, and using a micro-plane grater, grate chocolate in a light layer all over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and place into refrigerator, allowing to set for at least 3 hours before serving. Cut into squares to serve.

*Allowing each layer to set a bit in the freezer helps, not only with spreading the next layer, but also when cutting into squares for serving.

By Mary from Ocean Springs, MS