Chocolate Banana Pudding (Vegan)
Picture classic banana pudding with a luscious chocolate upgrade. This take includes homemade chocolate-vanilla wafers, velvety chocolate pudding, and thin slices of perfectly ripe bananas. It’s crowned with a light, fluffy layer of whipped cream and sprinkled with rich dark chocolate shavings. Sweet, creamy, indulgent, and dairy-free, it’s the ultimate treat for your next summer party or get-together.
What you will need:
I gave classic banana pudding a chocolate twist by swapping the traditional vanilla pudding and vanilla wafers for homemade chocolate pudding and chocolate vanilla wafers. You can easily use store-bought pudding and regular vanilla wafers instead if you prefer. All the ingredients are pantry-friendly and easy to find at your local grocery store.
Ingredient:
- Chocolate Pudding – Chocolate Pudding (Vegan) (or store-bought pudding)
- Chocolate Vanilla Wafers – Chocolate Vanilla Wafers (Vegan) (or store-bought Vanilla Wafers)
- 4 large bananas
- lemon juice
- plant-based heavy cream
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- cream of tartar
- chocolate shavings for decoration
How to:
First things first, let’s make the chocolate vanilla wafers and chocolate pudding. You can find the recipes for both of these on the website. I suggest preparing the cookies and the pudding ahead of time; this ensures that the pudding is nice and cold when it comes time to bring the dessert together.
Let’s prepare the whipped cream. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the heavy cream, cream of tartar, and vanilla extract. With a balloon whisk attachment, whip on high until soft peaks are achieved. Once you have soft peaks (it takes two to three minutes), add the powdered sugar. Continue whipping on high for another minute. Lastly, peel and thinly slice the four large bananas and toss them in a little lemon juice to keep them from browning.
Now that all of the components are ready, let’s bring this dessert together. Start by dividing the chocolate pudding into 2 equal portions (1 1/2 cups each). Take 1/3 of the whipped cream and divide it into 2 servings. Add one serving of whipped cream to one of the 1 1/2 cups of pudding; fold it in and set it aside. Add the second serving of whipped cream to the other 1 1/2 cups of pudding; fold it in and set it aside.
The dish I used for this recipe is a 9x9x2 square pan. Line the bottom of the dish with 22 to 25 vanilla wafers. Place one of the portions of pudding over the top of the cookie layer. Make sure to spread it out evenly and cover all of the cookies. Take half of the sliced bananas and place them on top of the pudding layer.
Repeat all three layers one more time – Place another 22 to 25 cookies over the top of the banana layer. Place the other portion of pudding on top of the cookie layer, making sure to spread it out evenly and completely cover the cookies. Take the other half of the sliced bananas and place them on top of the pudding layer. The rest of the whipped cream is spread out over the banana layer. Decorate the top of the whipped cream with some chocolate shavings.
Cover the dessert and place in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours to set before serving. It will remain fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Alright, let’s get started. Please make and enjoy!
Chocolate Banana Pudding (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Chocolate Vanilla Wafers – Chocolate Vanilla Wafers (Vegan) 50 to 55 wafers (or store-bought Vanilla Wafers_
- 1½ recipes Chocolate Pudding – Chocolate Pudding (Vegan) 3 cups of pudding (or store-bought chocolate pudding)
- 4 large just ripe bananas – thinly sliced
- lemon juice – fresh or bottled
- 1½ cups plant based heavy cream – cold
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tbsp vanilla extract
- chocolate shavings for decoration
Instructions
- The homemade chocolate pudding and chocolate vanilla wafers need to be prepared first. They can both be made a day or two in advance. If you prepare them the same day, make sure the wafers are room temperature and the pudding is cold before assembling the dessert.
- Peel and slice the bananas and toss them in a little lemon juice – use just enough to make sure all of the bananas are coated (helps keep them from browning).
- To make the whipped cream; in the bowl of a stand mixer add the heavy cream, cream of tartar and vanilla extract. With a balloon whisk attachment, whip the ingredients on high until soft peaks are achieved. This will take about 3 minutes. Once soft peaks are achieved, add the powdered sugar and continue whipping on high for another minute.
- Divide the pudding into two portions – each portion is 1½ cups. Take about 1/3 of the whipped cream and divide it into 2 portions. Add one portion of the whipped cream to one of the 1 1/2 cups of pudding: folding it in. Take the second portion of whipped cream and add it to the other 1 1/2 cups of pudding: folding it in.
- I used a 9x9x2 square pan for this recipe. Start by lining the bottom of the pan with the chocolate vanilla wafers. I used 22 to 25 cookies. Spoon a layer of chocolate pudding (one of the two servings combined with the whipped cream) over the cookie layer. Make sure to spread it out evenly and completely cover the cookie layer. Place a layer of sliced bananas over the top of the pudding layer.
- Repeat all 3 layers. Place another 22 to 25 cookies on top of the banana layer. Spoon the second serving of pudding, combined with the whipped cream, over the cookie layer. Place the rest of the sliced bananas over the pudding layer.
- The rest of the whipped cream is dolloped on top of the dessert. Decorate the top of the whipped cream with some chocolate shavings.
- Cover and place the dessert in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours to set.The banana pudding will remain fresh in the refrigerator for 3 days.