Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding Recipe
Though I’ve been back from New York City for just over a month now, my heart (and stomach) are still stuck there! So I’m continuing my series of recipes inspired by NYC’s best dessert shops and bakeries, and I’m excited to present to you this recipe for Magnolia Bakery’s famous, fluffy and whipped original banana pudding! There is a Magnolia Bakery by The Grove in Los Angeles as well but what beats being able to make this at home?!
2026 UPDATE
I’ve modified the recipe below to make the custard base way more easily. It’s still made from scratch, but I now temper the eggs and skip using a double boiler. I’ve also added more detailed/alternative info for the ingredients!
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar (100g, or down to 60g if you prefer)
2.5 tbsp (20g) cornstarch (or 1/3 cup all-purpose flour)
3 egg yolks
1/4 tsp (1.5 g) fine sea salt
2 cups whole milk, hot (150°F)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
2 cups heavy whipping cream
4 large bananas, sliced
1 box of Nilla Wafers (graham crackers would work great too)
Recipe (UPDATED 2026)
Heat your milk to around 150°F (steaming but not boiled).
In a large heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Then add the sugar, corn starch (or flour), and salt and whisk until smooth.
To temper the eggs, pour about 1 tbsp of the hot milk at a time while whisking constantly. Make sure you’re pouring slow enough to maintain a smooth texture, otherwise you’ll get clumps.
When you’ve added about half of the milk to the egg mixture, pour the tempered egg mixture and the remaining hot milk into a 2qt heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Let this custard mixture cook for 8-10 minutes on LOW heat, stirring constantly with a silicone spoon so you can scrape the corners/edges.
As soon as the mixture gets thick (porridge-like custard), remove from heat.
Pour the custard into a heatproof bowl and stir in the vanilla extract and/or paste. Cover the bowl (plastic wrap or lid) and pop it in the fridge to chill until fully set and cold (at least 2 hours).
Once your custard has chilled…
Pour the heavy whipping cream into a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) and whip until there are no more peaks because it’s so thick that it’s beautifully clumped together (1:57 in the video)! But do NOT turn it into butter/buttermilk. PS: If your custard hasn’t chilled completely yet, put this whipped cream bowl in the fridge and wash some of your dishes.
Give your chilled custard a good stir to ensure it’s smooth (it might have formed a film on top while chilling), then use a large spatula to fold it into the whipped cream, one plop at a time (or like, 1/4 cup at a time). Do not beat or whisk it vigorously! I have made this mistake and it loosens the whipped cream, yielding a thick banana cream rather than a fluffy whipped pudding. This is how you fold it together.
In a 9x13 baking pan or lasagna pan, begin layering—pudding, wafers, bananas, pudding… Begin and end with the pudding; 4 layers in total if using a typical baking pan (you’ll have some pudding leftover); or 7 layers in total if using a trifle serving bowl. Top it with crushed Nilla wafers (5-6 should suffice).
Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving, to allow the Nilla wafers to soften.
And there you have it! Your very own remake of Magnolia Bakery’s famous banana pudding!
If the over-ripened/brown bananas don’t bother you, this pudding should last about a week in the fridge. Mine never lasts that long because it gets gobbled up!