Magnolia Bakery’s Banana Pudding Recipe (2024)

Hey folks hurling judgement at strangers for using a mix: I’m a “scratch or die” baker but hands down the cookie I bake that sends people into orbit starts with a yellow cake mix and I’m fine with that. The most important ingredient in any recipe is love.

I worked at Magnolia Bakery over 20 years ago. We just made the vanilla pudding mix according to the instructions on the box (i.e. with whole milk). Not sure about this whole sweetened condensed milk with water thing. Sounds overly sweet.

Here are the cookies that start with a yellow cake mix! :)1 brick of cream cheese1 stick of unsalted butter1 egg1 tsp vanilla1 yellow cake mix Powdered sugarPreheat to 325In a stand mixer with the paddle, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the cake mix and mix until just combined. Form the dough into 1” balls and roll in the sugar. Place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. They should be gooey and not brown.

This recipe is often requested by friends and family. I have made in trifle bowls, mason jars and even in pie form (my husband is a banana cream pie fanatic). It is always consistently good and could not be more simple. I always like to crush 5-6 cookies and sprinkle over the top to add a little crunch right before serving.I do not feel the need to do the first step in a stand-mixer, but definitely for whipping the heavy cream. A hand held mixer would work just as well.

This pudding is like a banana flavored taste of heaven! I am so happy to have the recipe now, thank you. To the scolds who don't like cream, artificial flavors or pudding mix, great then don't make the pudding but stop trying to make others feel bad just because you can't find enjoyment in it.

Tried it with Biscoff cookies instead of vanilla wafers - next level!!!

Toasted, ground pecans, with a little butte,r and salt in lieu of vanilla wafers makes it gluten-free, and maybe better.

This is the classic southern banana pudding served at holidays. I do not understand the need to make the pudding with condensed milk. I think it makes it too sweet. I just make the pudding with milk as called for on the box. And I prefer the cooked instead of instant pudding. And it helps to coat the sliced bananas in lemon juice. They stay fresh longer and the lemon adds a nice zest.

My friends go wild when I make this dessert for get together! I don’t bother with a stand mixer for the first step. The water, condensed milk, and pudding mix can be easily mixed by hand. Also, i only use half the can of condensed milk and it is still plenty sweet!!

Why a stand mixer? Wouldn't a hand-held mixer with whisk work?

Totally agree!! Please share your yellow cake mix cookie recipe... ;)

In remembrance of my grandmother, we put egg white meringue on the finished pudding, which was then browned with a small kitchen torch: it was delicious!

I totally agree with Diane and I am anxiously waiting for her magical cookies that start with yellow cake mix! Thank you NYT for including recipes like this (and the pistachio Bundt cake from last week). These recipes are part of American history and have just as much validity as high brow recipes. I love both.

Water was used to thin out the condensed milk. Condensed milk is also sweetened as well as evaporated so there’s too much sugar in that recipe. Use plain cold milk, and instead of whipped cream whip a can of ice cold evaporated milk to soft peaks. OR Just use half as much whipped cream with a Tablespoon of icing sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract and just use the whipped cream as a topping and not folded into the pudding. No one needs all those extra calories or sugar.

Unfortunately, Nilla wafers are much smaller than they used to be, which is a shame. One wafer used to cover the bottom of a muffin tin, making them perfect for individual cheesecakes (a popular recipe in the 1970s & 1980s). Not any more.

Made exactly as directed for a party, and it was a hit! Then after the party, my kids scraped the remaining bits of pudding still clinging to the sides of the bowl completely clean. No leftovers!In the first step, I mixed by hand. Second step, used a stand mixer.Note: I didn't find it too sweet based on the sweetened condensed milk - I think it was offset by the unsweetened whipping cream.

I use the Jello banana cream pudding mix and replace 1/4 c. of the ice water with bourbon.People lose their minds over this dessert, it's so good.

Vanilla extract is a good addition to this recipe.

A big sweet and the assembly and wait limit usefulness in my house. Flavor is good but I don’t expect repeat. The King Arthur banana muffin is on repeat here

Made this for a client yesterday, making it for me now.

I followed the suggestions of some of the previous commenters and mixed the vanilla instant pudding mix with whole milk (per the box's recipe). The pudding turned out delicious, but I would certainly recommend letting the assembled pudding sit overnight so that the wafers can get soft. I tested the pudding right after assembling and it was delicious, but after a night of absorbing moisture in the fridge, the wafers were immaculate. Will absolutely be making again.

I added a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to give it more dimension--delicious!

I have had Magnolia's banana pudding many times and enjoyed it. It's too sweet but the occasional small serving with a black coffee can be lovely. I am surprised they'd release the recipe to reveal it as a pedestrian assemblage of cheap, artificial ingredients. This is not a crime, but the prices they charge might be. Further still, there's nothing particularly precious going on here. Tinker with abandon. Maybe cool whip is better than whipping cream yourself. Try adding more bananas.

Add in a little chocolate syrup while assembling, drizzle a little over top with sparkle sprinkles to make it festive.A delight…agree don’t bother with sweetened condensed milk/water just use milk or make real banana pudding for that step.

I made this for our warming center when it was -24 degrees (-55 with wind chill) and despite it being a cold dessert, I saw mouths hold bites in their mouths and savor it. It’s good and a soul warmer with the blended whipped cream. I highly recommend this. We served this with Kim Severson’s Red Beans and Rice recipe.

Wonderful recipe and sadly close enough to the real thing that I will be making it often here in Florida. There goes the waistline! Best part it’s very easy to tweak based on your preferences so it’s the ultimate bespoke Magnolia pudding. We prefer it a tad less sweet so upped the cream by a cup or so. (It will start to get a little too airy if you increase cream to pudding ratio by a lot more). Also increased bananas.

Easy and delicious. We have folks who don’t like bananas so I tried very ripe mango and pineapple instead and it was flawless. Just as long as the fruit’s flavor is distinctive and present (and it’s not wet), one can substitute for bananas.

I made this recipe as written with the exception of how I included the Vanilla Wafers. Instead of placing the cookies in whole, I crushed them and sprinkled the crumbs as layers. Having eaten the pudding from Magnolia Bakery several times where the cookies are placed in whole, my family said they preferred it the way I did it where the cookies were crumbled. I put the pudding in individual ramakins and the crumbs made it easier to eat while also giving it a nice texture.

This is my husband's favorite dessert. It's so easy to make and it tastes exactly like what we used to get from Magnolia Bakery when we lived in NYC.

I have not, and will not, be making this. Any banana pudding that starts off with a box of pudding mix does not taste like real banana pudding. Trust me, I've had a lot of short-cut banana puddings made with pudding mix and they just don't cut it.