Banana Pudding

My dad and me before walking down the aisle.

Of all the desserts out there, Banana Pudding is my dad's absolute favorite.  For his birthday, Father's Day, and any other day I want to show him some love, I make it specially for him.  Banana Pudding is great because you can pick up tasty bananas year-round at the grocery, so it's a perfect go-to dessert.  We're all born and raised in Georgia, so you better believe it has lots of bananas and vanilla wafers to accompany the homemade vanilla pudding!

[If you have bananas left over when you finish this sweet treat, since they're nice and ripe you'll want to use them in something immediately.  They'll be perfect in Banana Nut Muffins or Banana Blueberry Muffins!]

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups of 2% milk
5 egg yolks, beaten
4 tbs butter (1/2 stick), at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
7 ripe bananas
Nilla Wafers -- I use about 1 1/2 12 oz. boxes in the pudding & save a few for garnishing
Whipped Cream [for serving]

Directions:
For the Pudding:
In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the sugar, flour, salt, and milk.  As it is heating, stir it until the mixture is completely blended and there are no lumps!  [Be patient -- it takes a little while!] *Keep the heat on medium-low!  Otherwise the pudding will burn and stick to the pan!*  Stir the mixture every couple of minutes until it begins to bubble.

While the pudding mixture is warming up, combine the 5 egg yolks a measuring cup with a spout and whisk the yolks.

Once the pudding mixture is bubbling, cook it for 2 more minutes, stirring continuously as it thickens.  After 2 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and scoop about a 1/2 cup of the pudding mixture to the beaten egg yolks.  Stir the egg/pudding mixture until the ingredients are combined.  Place the pudding mixture back on the stove over medium heat and pour the egg/pudding mixture back into the pan.  Continue to cook, stirring continuously for about 3 minutes.

After 3 minutes, reduce the heat to Low and add the butter [Rather than adding the half-stick in one large chunk, it melts much better if you slice it!] and vanilla.  Stir it until all of the butter has melted and been blended with the pudding.  Remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for about 10 minutes before building the banana pudding.

Now it's time to slice those bananas!  Slice the bananas into about 1/4 inch medallions.  You have 10 minutes, GO!

Building the Banana Pudding:
You can build your Banana Pudding in a regular baking dish, a large trifle bowl, individual trifle bowls, or just a regular bowl -- however you wanna do it!  First, cover the bottom of your dish in a nice layer of Nilla Wafers.  Next, add a layer of bananas.  After that, pour over a nice layer of the pudding, using a spoon to spread the pudding evenly.  Repeat these steps until you've used all of your pudding.  You will want to finish with a pudding layer on top.  Cover your pudding and place it in the fridge to cool for about 2 hours.  When you're ready to serve it, add a top layer of whipped cream.  Eat it with a spoon and a glass of milk.  Mmmmmm!