Nutter Butter Banana Pudding

Brooke's Recipe

Every good Southern woman should know how to make banana pudding.  I remember watching my mother line her dish with vanilla wafers, then lay down those perfect yellow circles of ripe banana and finish by spooning on layer after layer of golden vanilla pudding.  Waiting for the pudding to come together in the refrigerator would torture my father. He would peek in at it every 10 minutes and ask "Is it time to eat it yet?"  I would always watch him take his first bite and smile.  The look on his face was pure bliss.

Fast forward 20 years and I am now making banana pudding for my own husband. He knows when the bananas and Nutter Butters come out of the grocery bag, that it's pudding time. He usually leaves me alone while I am assembling it, but just as I set the pudding in the fridge for its flavor incubation, I hear a whisper over my shoulder and I am 5 years old again standing in my mother's kitchen ...... "Is it time to eat it yet?"

Ingredients:

1 packages of Nutter Butters
1 box JELLO instant french vanilla pudding mix
3 cups cold milk
2 cups of whipped cream
8 oz cream cheese
4 large bananas (the ripest you can find. Don't even bother making this if you have unripe bananas)

Start by finding yourself a pretty bowl. Some people make it in a trifle dish but I just have a glass bowl.  You could make it in a flowerpot and it would still taste amazing, but seeing the layers through the glass makes the dessert look extra decadent.

Prepare the JELLO pudding according to the directions on the package.  Instant pudding takes less than 5 minutes to thicken. Then add the cream cheese and the whipped cream. Beat with a hand mixer on low until combined.

Slice your bananas into quarter inch circles.

Place a layer of Nutter Butters on the bottom of the bowl, then a layer of bananas and then spoon over a layer of the vanilla pudding. Continue going layer by layer until you reach just below the top of the bowl. Don't fill it all the way up.  The next step is to place plastic wrap over the top.  If you fill the bowl all the way up, the pudding will stick to the wrap. After you finish with the wrap, place the whole bowl in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Overnight is even better, but this has yet to happen in my house. Then top with additional whipped cream to serve.

Note***  During Girl Scout Cookie season, make this with TagAlongs.  This adds an another flavor layer of chocolate..