Kitchen

[Sunshine Kate]

Can banana pudding (bananas, pudding, sour cream and Cool Whip), be made the night before Thanksgiving and refrigerated?

Will it still be good?

TIA

[Tigriss]

Yes

[Poodlepet2]

Not to start a great debate.... but I think it's how you like your cookies: mushy vs. crisp. Banana pudding is a treasured childhood memory, and my sister and I could eat ourselves silly, but Mom would complain that she had to throw the rest out.  (Go figure: we ate many a mushy dipped cookie-such as Oreos with gusto).

I would say-if nothing else- you could make the filling beforehand.....split into two batches.  Make one for those who like mushy vanilla wafers, and the second could be for those who like crispy cookies.....

I have not had banana pudding for a long time- I have to figure out a diabetic recipe for this one!  Yes, I know Jello has sugar-free instant pudding, but it's sweetened with aspartame. No controversy-I just choose not to use it.

That being said, I just discovered Instant Clear,-

[Poodlepet2]

Something just happened, but Instant Clear Gel is amazing....it is so under-rated.  I will have to see what I come up with! Great topic!

Poodlepet2-and warm hugs!

[Tigriss]

I don't know what instant clear gel is, but you could make up the pudding part ahead of time, and just assemble the day of if you don't want to risk the cookies getting soggy. You could also just top it with cookies right before serving and the rest is just pudding.

[Kachina624]

Dont forget,  bananas exposed to the air will turn brown. 

[froggy]

Well, when I make banana pudding we never eat it all at once and it is just fine for another day or two. The bananas in my pudding ar not exposed to air. IMHO the flavors meld a little more when it sits for a while.

[colliegirls]

Your post reminded me of how much I love banana pudding with whipped cream all over the top!! Mmmmm

[Zhills]

Let the pudding set out so it won't be so stiff before you ad the cookies and bananas.  You want it to settle in around everything and meld the flavors.  Now refrigerate it!

At our last reunion someone made a huge pudding with the pudding hot and all the bananas were black and the cookies were soggy.  It had then been put in the fridge overnight.  You saw lots being tossed in the garbage.

[stevieb]

I don't care if the cookies are crisp or not, in fact I prefer them on the soft side but not soggy. Personally, I don't like it nearly so much cold. It can be refrigerated and it's still good, but to me, it's best unrefrigerated. I've also found that when refrigerated it begins to liquify more quickly. Of course, any left over has to be refrigerated.