Easy Vegan Banana Pudding (Magnolia Bakery Copycat)
A delicious and decadent High Protein Vegan Banana Pudding adapted from Magnolia Bakery’s traditional banana pudding! This plant-based take makes a creamy, vegan vanilla pudding loaded with soft vanilla wafer cookies, chopped pecans, and sweet banana slices. A classic southern dessert made with simple ingredients and completely dairy-free!
Servings: 3 -4 servings
Ingredients
- 2-3 super ripe bananas
- 1/3 cup pecans
- Mini "nilla wafer" style cookies
- 1/2-1 cup almond flour*
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 cup cashew butter or tahini it should be smooth and runny
- 3-4 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Vanilla pudding
- 15 oz firm tofu
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp cashew butter
Instructions
- Preaheat your oven to 350F and start by making your mini Nilla Water style cookies. Whisk together cashew butter or tahini along with maple syrup and vanilla extract until smooth. Add almond flour, coconut flour and baking powder and mix with a spatula until a dough forms. Start with 1/2 cup almond flour, adding more as needed until you achieve a rollable dough consistency.
- Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper, and scoop teaspoon size balls of dough to form cookies. Roll into a small ball, then press down lightly to form into a disc shape. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown and allow to cool.
- Next, prepare your pecans by chopping into large pieces and lightly dry toasting on medium heat in a small frying pan. Continuously shake pan or toss using a spatula until fragrant and golden brown. Set aside to cool.
- To make pudding, gently press tofu wrapped in a kitchen linen or paper towels to remove excess water. Add to a high speed blender along with maple syrup, vanilla extract and cashew butter and blend until completely smooth. You should not need to add extra liquid, but if you do, you can add a soymilk or other non-dairy milk by the tablespoon as needed. Taste, and add maple syrup as needed but keep in mind the cookies and banana will sweeten the overall pudding once ready to eat.
- Slice bananas into coins and prepare to assemble. Transfer pudding mix into a piping bag with large tip (or use a spoon) to layer pudding, followed by a layer of cookies and a layer of banana slices. Repeat until the serving glass is full, and top with additional banana slices, cookies and pecans.
- Allow pudding mixture to sit in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours to allow cookies to soften and pudding to chill before enjoying.
Notes
Secrets to Success
- To save time, the best order of operation is to start with the cookie, move on to the pudding while the cookies are in the oven, toast pecans, and then slice the bananas last. Since bananas can brown over time, I recommend slicing just before placing, though I do find that when they're covered in pudding, they don't brown too much. When left on the surface, however, they will brown naturally, so you may want to save your garnish slices until you actually serve.
- For best baking results when making the mini cookies, I highly recommend a nonstick silicone baking mat or parchment paper so you can easily peel them off the sheet once cooled! I also used a high-speed blender for smooth pudding consistency. Be sure that everything is completely blended--we don't want chunks in our pudding!
- I've found that almond flour can vary by brand, so I recommend you start with 1/2 cup and add more as you need until a workable dough forms.
- You can assemble this creamy pudding into individual servings and then chill it, so it’s easier to serve to a group.