Walking Banana Pudding

Ingredients

1 3.4 ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix (or 2 cups prepared vanilla pudding)

2 cups 2% or whole milk

12 1-ounce packs or bags mini vanilla wafer cookies

3 to 4 small to medium ripe bananas

Reddi Wip or Cool Whip or sweetened whipped cream

Instructions

Prepare the vanilla pudding according to package directions using the milk. Cover and let chill 15 minutes to set up. Cut the cookie bags open on the side with a pair of scissors. Slice the bananas and evenly distribute bananas on top of cookies. Spoon about 2 ½ tablespoons pudding on top of the bananas. For softer cookies, spoon pudding directly on cookies first. Squirt Reddi Wip or dollop Cool Whip on top of pudding. Arrange the bags of Walking Banana Pudding in a plastic container, baking pan or baking sheet, overlapping them so they are slightly propped up and will not spill out. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. The longer they chill, the softer the cookies will be.

-Kathleen Phillips, “Who doesn’t love good ol’ Southern banana pudding? That’s right. Almost everyone! But sometimes you need a dessert that isn’t made in one great big ginormous bowl and can be eaten while walking and talking…. especially during a time when everyone is more mindful of the number of touches on the serving spoon.” Phillips is a food stylist, recipe developer, cookbook author, and event planner loving life in Gardendale, Ala. Drawing upon years of experience as the test kitchen director at Oxmoor House, she takes traditional Southern recipes and makes them with a shortcut to get you in and out of the kitchen. Visit www.gritsandgouda.com for more of her delicious recipes.