The microwave is probably the most under utilized piece of cooking equipment in your kitchen. Most of us use it for popping bags of microwave popcorn and re-heating leftovers. Banana Pudding is a traditional southern dessert that I’ve been eating and making for most of my life and invokes some wonderful memories of Sunday dinners growing up. My grandmother would stand over the stove for the 20 or so minutes it would take to make banana pudding and faithfully stir until the magic came together. She was a wonderful cook and role model, but she often used short cuts such as god forbid, Jello Cook and Serve pudding. I didn’t know what a from scratch banana pudding was until I was grown and made it myself. Wow!! What a revelation!! Granny didn’t know what she was missing, but now that I do, I always make my pudding from scratch. I knew there had to be an easier way than standing over a hot stove, so I did a little experimenting with the microwave one day and found that you can get the same results, but much easier and quicker.
Microwave Banana Pudding
Inspired by Original Nilla Banana Pudding
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
3 egg yolks
1 pinch salt
2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract
3-4 ripe bananas, sliced
1 box Nilla Wafers or any other brand of Vanilla Wafer cookies
Whisk together sugar, flour, salt, egg yolks and milk in a large glass mixing bowl or glass 4-cup measuring cup, until well blended. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, remove and whisk. Microwave for 2 more minutes, remove and whisk. Microwave for an additional 2 minutes, removing and whisking in the vanilla. In a 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish or casserole dish, layer Nilla Wafers, bananas and pudding mixture and repeat layers with Nilla Wafers. We like it just like this, no meringue or anything else on top.
A Wiener Dog in the Kitchen 