Gluten-Free Banana Pudding

Our gluten-free banana pudding recipe is a gluten-free take on Magnolia Bakery’s famous banana pudding recipe. This no-bake treat has all the classic flavor you love, made with fresh bananas, fluffy vanilla pudding, and gluten-free vanilla wafer cookies.

Like Texas Sheet Cake, and a good pound cake recipe, banana pudding is one of those classic American desserts that’s especially popular at potlucks, picnics, and summer barbecues–any time you have a big family gathering!

There are as many banana pudding recipes out there as there are families who make them, but we adapted our recipe from the famous Magnolia Bakery banana pudding recipe. They’ve shared their recipe in Magnolia Bakery’s cookbook, and this adaptation is meant to mimic their famous recipe.

The combination of banana slices, the fluffy, creamy texture of the vanilla pudding, and the softened vanilla wafers is sweet, delicious, and perfectly nostalgic. It’s a perfect no-bake dessert for summer BBQs, parties and special occasions. 

You know I love making gluten-free pudding from scratch, but today’s take on this delicious dessert uses a few shortcut ingredients that keep this easy recipe simple enough for beginners. With that in mind, let’s dive in!

Simple Ingredients To Get Started

Magnolia Bakery’s banana pudding recipe is famous in part because of their fluffy vanilla pudding mixture. Their secret? Pudding mix. Really. Let’s get into it:

• Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix. Yep, we’re doing it. Why? Magnolia Bakery even does it! An instant pudding mix will give you a classic vanilla flavor and easy-to-work-with texture that makes this banana pudding recipe easy.
• Whole Milk. Magnolia traditionally mixes up their pudding mix with ice cold water and a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk, but dozes of reviewers mentioned that it’s a touch too sweet for their taste. I’ve found I prefer banana pudding made with whole milk better. I don’t recommend low-fat or fat-free milk here, since we’re going for a richer, thicker texture.
• Heavy Cream. Next up is heavy whipping cream. We’ll lighten the texture of the creamy pudding by mixing in fluffy whipped cream.
• Vanilla Bean Paste or Vanilla Extract (Optional). To elevate the flavor a bit, I love to add a tiny dash of vanilla bean paste. Don’t have it? Feel free to skip it!
• Just Ripe Bananas. For the best texture and flavor, I recommend just ripe bananas for banana pudding. The bananas shouldn’t be brown or spotty (overripe) or green (underripe). Look for bright yellow bananas with a medium-firm texture.
• Gluten-Free Vanilla Wafer Cookies. Most vanilla wafer cookies (like Nilla Wafers) are NOT gluten-free. To make gluten-free banana pudding, you’ll need to use gluten-free vanilla wafers, like Kinnikinnick vanilla wafers. You’ll need two boxes! (about 12 oz. cookies)

How To Make Gluten-Free Banana Pudding, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. 3-4 Hours In Advance, Make The Pudding. In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), combine cold water (or whole milk) and sweetened condensed milk. Add pudding mix and whip with a whisk, hand mixer, or a whisk attachment for 2-3 minutes, or until the pudding mix is completely dissolved.
2. Chill Pudding 3-4 Hours, AT LEAST. Transfer the pudding mixture to an airtight container (or cover the bowl) and chill at LEAST 3-4 hours (up to overnight). Do NOT skip the chilling step, or your pudding mixture will turn out runny!
3. Whip The Cream. Add cold cream and vanilla bean paste to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a glass or metal mixing bowl). Whip 3-5 minutes on medium speed, until the whipped cream reaches stiff peaks. (If you pick up some whipped cream on a beater or whisk attachment and rotate it around, the whipped cream should hold its shape.)
4. Mix In Pudding. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and fold in the pudding mixture a dollop at a time until fully and evenly blended.
5. Layer The Pudding. Set aside 4-5 cookies for garnish. In a large, wide glass bowl (like a trifle bowl!), or a 9×13 pan, add a layer of vanilla wafers (1/3 of the gluten-free cookies). Top with a layer of sliced bananas (1/3 of the bananas) and a layer of the pudding mixture (1/3 of the pudding mixture). Repeat this process twice (1/3 cookies, 1/3 bananas, 1/3 pudding, 1/3 cookies, 1/3 bananas, 1/3 pudding), finishing with the final 1/3 of the pudding mixture.
6. Cover & Chill 4-6 Hours. Next, cover the dish with plastic wrap and chill 4-6 hours in the refrigerator. (Ideally, the cookies should be soft!) Right before serving, garnish with the reserved cookies (you can leave them whole or crumble them like I do!) Feel free to garnish individual servings with additional whipped cream and sliced bananas, if desired.