Healthy Banana Pudding For Toddlers (and Adults, too)
Let’s be honest with ourselves: you could just buy and make a box of instant vanilla pudding, throw in some banana and wafer pieces, and be done with it—so why prepare the recipe that follows? Simple: 1) it’s a healthy banana pudding that has significantly less sugar and much more protein than some mass produced garbage, 2) tastes just as good, and 3) comes together in the same amount of time as the boxed stuff. (Heck, skip the parfait-like layering we describe in the instructions and it will take even less time.) Is it as good as the banana pudding you may have had in a home or restaurant in the southern United States? Probably not—and, frankly, you don’t want to know how that came together. (Spoiler: a lot more egg yolks, corn starch, and condensed milk than you would have expected or cared for).
How do we do it? Cottage cheese. A little cream cheese. Graham cracker crumbs instead of, you know, full-on cookies. And bananas. Obviously. But a lot of bananas. You’ve probably got a lot of bananas, right? If you’re looking for something to do with them that isn’t a smoothie or banana bread, here’s the answer: healthy banana pudding that’ll come together before naptime ends. Sweet treat time begins right after, my friend.
- 4 oz Cream Cheese
- 4 Bananas
- 2 tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- Cardamom (or cinnamon)
- Graham Cracker Crumbs (or wafers)
- Whipped topping (optional; nice if you want it look/feel like traditional banana pudding)
- Bring the cream cheese to room temperature. Cut up two of the bananas into thin coins.
- in a blender, add the cottage cheese, cream cheese, two bananas, maple syrup, and a generous shake or two of cardamom; blend until smooth and thick. (Note: if too thick or chunky, add a small bit of milk to loosen.)
- To serve, pour enough of what you just blended to fill the bottom of a small bowl, then layer enough of your cut banana pieces to cover the pudding, followed by your graham cracker crumbs or crushed-up nilla wafers. Repeat, adding at least one more layer each of pudding and banana + crumbs/cookies; feel free to add a third layer of each, too.
Won’t need much more than a spoon and a glass of water. The pudding is very rich, so don’t be surprised if your child does not finish a cup or bowl; better yet, offer a half portion and some fruit to balance it all out. (Note: you can skip step 3 and just serve the pudding as is.)
The cottage cheese + cream cheese + fruit pudding approach works well with mango and strawberries, too–just add another ounce of cream cheese to compensate. As noted in the ingredients list, using no- or low-salt cottage cheese and/or cream cheese will allow you to reduce the amount of sweetener you put in.