Alton Brown's Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers

Ah, childhood memories of banana pudding.  Alton Brown was lucky enough to enjoy this classic as a purely homemade dessert.  I, on the other hand, had the classic Midwest version which consisted of pudding from a box mix at home or, most likely, from a large vat at a Sunday buffet.  In fact, I had never even heard of the baked version.  They both sound oh so good to me and this show went right up to the top of the 'must try soon' list.

So far the vanilla wafers are the only part to make it through my kitchen.  I'll have to wait until I have some guests over before I tackle the pudding variants so I don't eat the whole bowl myself, though I am really interested to taste the baked pudding.  The wafers are easy to make since the recipe requires only a few ingredients and nothing exotic; assuming most of us keep real vanilla extract on hand.  Into the Kitchen Aid, onto the cookie sheets, then into the oven in a jiffy.  The baking time for my oven was 16 minutes; right within Alton's range of 15-20 minutes.  The little wafers were crispy and packed a vanilla punch not found in the boxed variety!  I can't say if using vanilla sugar would make any noticeable difference, but it couldn't hurt.  One addition I'll try next time is a bit of nutmeg and/or cinnamon; might be good for holidays cookie mixes.

Even though I wasn't preparing either the refrigerated or baked varieties, I had noticed a box of instant vanilla pudding in the cupboard and tossed that in the mixer with an extra dash of vanilla extract for a quick cool treat (it has been nasty hot here this week).  Added some banana slices and I was the proud parent of a delighted two year old!

Good Eats -- Yes We Have No Vanilla Pudding is available on iTunes

Next up: the awesome grilled pizza I have been devouring the past two days!