My Favorite Banana Pudding Cupcakes are based on the classic Nilla Wafer banana pudding dessert. A perfect banana cupcake filled with vanilla pudding and topped with a dollop of Cool Whip blended with pudding then garnished with a vanilla wafer… what’s not to love!
What feels like a lifetime ago (but only about 7 years), I was a lonely, broke young mom home with my toddler all day every day. I worked very part time from home and was living in an unfamiliar town in a really rough little duplex house. To cheer myself up, I baked.
At that time, the most requested dessert for any gathering was always my banana pudding. With that in mind, I created these absolute favorite banana pudding cupcakes. They were one of those little bright places in that difficult time of life.
I’m so thrilled to pass this recipe on to you! I hope they bring a smile to your face. 🙂
Ingredients
To make my Favorite Banana Pudding Cupcakes, here’s what you’ll need:
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Sour cream
- Very ripe bananas
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Instant vanilla pudding mix, prepared with milk according to the package instructions
- Cool Whip
- Nilla Wafers
The bananas can be over-ripe, like what you would use for making banana bread. This is recipe is a great way to use up bananas that are past their prime!
Making Our Favorite Banana Pudding Cupcakes
Begin by creaming together butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and mashed bananas and mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then stir in to the wet mixture. The resulting batter will be a bit lump from the bananas.
Scoop the batter into muffin cups and bake at 350ºF for 20 minutes.
Once the cupcakes have cooled, use a knife to cut out a 1-inch circle in the center of the cupcake. Fill the cupcake with a teaspoon of vanilla pudding, then replace the removed circle of cupcake to cover the pudding filling.
When I cut out the center of the cupcake, the piece I remove looks like a little cone shape. I cut the tip of the cone off to make a nice little round “lid” to put back on the cupcake, covering up the pudding filling.
In a small bowl, combine Cool Whip and prepared vanilla pudding.
Dollop the pudding/Cool Whip mixture on top of the cupcakes.
Add a Nilla Wafer to the top:
Serve the cupcakes immediately, or refrigerate until serving.
Favorite Banana Pudding Cupcakes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 18 cupcakes 1x
Description
Banana Pudding Cupcakes are based on the classic Nilla Wafer banana pudding dessert. A perfect banana cupcake filled with vanilla pudding and topped with a dollop of Cool Whip blended with pudding then garnished with a vanilla wafer… what’s not to love!
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 2 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 package instant vanilla pudding mix, prepared with milk according to package directions
- 1 8 ounce container Cool Whip, thawed
- 18 Nilla Wafers for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream; mix well. Stir in the mashed bananas.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture and stir until combined.
- Prepare 18 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners. Scoop the batter into each cup, ¾ full.
- Bake the cupcakes at 350 for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the Cool Whip with ½ cup of the prepared vanilla pudding. Reserve the leftover pudding for filling the cupcakes. Refrigerate until it is time to frost the cupcakes.
- Cup a hole in the center of each cupcake about 1-inch in diameter and halfway down into the cupcake. Remove the center of the cupcake and reserve. Fill each cupcake with a heaping teaspoon of vanilla pudding. Cut off and discard the bottom half of the reserved cupcake centers to create a small “cap” to place back on the cupcake to cover the hole in the center hiding the vanilla pudding inside.
- Frost each cupcake with a generous dollop of the Cool Whip and pudding mixture. Place one Nilla Wafer cookie on top of each cupcake.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: dessert
- Cuisine: American
How did you like our Favorite Banana Pudding Cupcakes?
After you make the banana pudding cupcakes, come back and tell me how you like them! You can leave a comment and recipe rating in the comments section below. You can also click here to see this on Pinterest and leave a comment there or even your own picture of your dessert. Another option would be to tag me on Instagram @MomNeedsChocolate. Can’t wait to hear from you!
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