Southern banana pudding from the pantry shelf

Banana pudding is one of those desserts that tastes like a Sunday at somebody's grandmother's house. Vanilla wafers, sweet bananas, creamy pudding, layered in a dish and left in the fridge to soften. It's plain comfort, and it doesn't ask much of you.

What surprised me is how well it comes together from the shelf. Same layered method, same taste, but the bananas and the milk come out of cans that keep for years. That means you can make it on a school night, or the week the store shelves are thin, and it's the same pudding either way. You don't have to trade the tradition for the convenience.

What the pantry brings to it

Two shelf-stable ingredients do most of the work here, and they carry real flavor without any fresh produce.

• Freeze dried banana slices rehydrate in about five minutes. You get sweet, honest banana flavor with no slicing and no worrying about fruit that went brown and mushy on the counter.
• Powdered Vitamin Milk gives you the creamy base. It's the liquid the pudding needs, and it also brings 14g of protein and 16 essential nutrients, so dessert does a little more than usual.

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Classic Southern-style banana pudding

This serves 6 to 8, and it's a make-ahead dessert, which is half the reason to love it.

Ingredients

• 1 cup freeze-dried banana slices
• About 1 cup warm water, for rehydrating the bananas
• 1 (3.4-oz) box vanilla instant pudding mix
• 4 Tbsp Powdered Vitamin Milk
• 2 cups cold water, for rehydrating the milk
• 1 box vanilla wafers
• Optional: whipped cream or extra crushed vanilla wafers for topping

Instructions

1. Rehydrate the pantry ingredients.

• Bananas: put the freeze dried slices in a small bowl and add just enough warm water to cover them. Let them soak five minutes, then drain off any extra water.
• Milk: in a separate bowl or shaker bottle, mix the Powdered Vitamin Milk with 2 cups cold water. Stir or shake until the powder is fully dissolved.

2. Make the pudding. In a medium bowl, whisk the vanilla instant pudding mix with the rehydrated milk until it starts to thicken, about 2 minutes. For a lighter, airier texture, fold in some whipped cream now.

3. Layer it. This follows the traditional Southern method, and the layers are what give you that texture.

• Start with a single layer of vanilla wafers on the bottom of a serving dish or in individual parfait glasses.
• Add an even layer of the rehydrated banana slices over the wafers.
• Spoon a generous layer of pudding over the bananas.
• Repeat until you've used everything, and end with pudding on top.

4. Chill it. Cover the dish and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Overnight is better if you have the time. The resting lets the flavors come together and softens the wafers into a cake-like layer, which is the whole point.

5. Garnish and serve. Right before serving, add a dollop of whipped cream or a sprinkle of crushed wafers for crunch. Serve it cold.

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Comfort you can keep on the shelf

This is the real Southern banana pudding, made with Freeze Dried Banana Slices and Powdered Vitamin Milk. Simple ingredients, the flavor you remember, and the creamy layered texture that makes it worth the wait in the fridge. Keep a can of each on the shelf, and a dessert your family loves is never more than a few hours away.