Banana Pudding Cookies

If you love banana pudding, you’re in for a treat. These cookies have everything you love most about that classic dessert, from the pudding mix which is actually blended into the batter to the whipped cream and sliced bananas on top. They’ve even got those iconic wafer cookies crushed and baked into the dough as well as sprinkled across the top for extra crunch.

Read on for tips on making these simple cookies. Looking for more treats inspired by classic desserts? Try our carrot cake cookies, strawberry shortcake cookies, or creme brulee sugar cookies.

What is banana pudding?

Banana pudding is a dessert made of layers of vanilla pudding, sliced bananas and wafer cookies, topped with whipped cream. The first recipe for it appeared in an issue of Good Housekeeping in 1888 and called for cake instead of wafers. At some point in the next hundred years, Nabisco picked it up and started to use it to market their boxed Nilla wafers. Ever since then, those iconic wafer cookies have become the defining feature of banana pudding.

How ripe should my bananas be?

Great question– and the answer is a little more complicated than you might think. The best bananas for baking are super ripe: we actually prefer them to be mostly black on the outside, which means they’ll be super soft and sweet on the inside. That’s the type of banana you want for mashing and mixing into this cookie dough. On the other hand, you’ll want a perfectly ripe, but still slightly firm banana for slicing and using as decoration. If you’ve got bananas in varying stages of ripeness, this is the perfect time to use them all.

Do I need to make my own whipped cream?

You can– though, to be honest, store-bought works just as well. Just like with the actual banana pudding, you can choose how “from scratch” you want your dessert to be.

Can I make these cookies in advance?

Absolutely. These cookies can be baked and stored in an airtight container up to 3 days in advance. We recommend waiting to top them with the whipped cream, crushed wafers, and banana until you’re ready to serve them: if you do this too far in advance, the whipped cream will start seeping into the cookie and the banana might get a little . . . weird. 

Can I freeze these cookies?

You sure can! You can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it in balls, ready for baking, or freeze the cookies, already baked. Whichever you’re doing, we recommend freezing the cookie dough balls or already baked cookies individually on a baking sheet before storing them in an airtight container or bag– this prevents them from sticking together.

Editor's note: This intro was updated to add more information about the dish on July 11, 2022.