5 from 4 votes

Banana Cream Pie Delight

Name: Banana Cream Pie Delight
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 9
Ingredients: Crust:; 3/4 cup real salted butter (softened); 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup crushed Nilla wafers; Filling:; 1 - 8 oz package cream cheese (softened); 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar; 1 cup frozen whipped topping (COOL WHIP) (thawed); 2 bananas (sliced); 1 4 oz package instant banana cream pudding; 2 cups cold milk; Topping:; remaining COOL WHIP; 1/2 cup crushed Nilla wafers

They’ve been around for as long as I can remember. They usually consist of some sort of baked crust layer, followed by a sweetened cream cheese layer, then pudding, then whipped topping. Four layers is the general rule of thumb for these “delight” desserts. Now, how you make those layers is up to you. You can switch up the flavors of the pudding and the crust layer. But usually the cream cheese layer and the whipped topping layers stay the same. So it’s a fun dessert to play around with once you have the basic concept down. We make a Cookie Monster Dessert (see the end of this post) that my husband devours. It has a chocolate chip cookie crust layer – whoa!

Layered desserts

The only small change I made to this version from the original was I added Nilla wafers to the crust layer instead of chopped pecans. Now, I love pecans. Love. Them. But my family, not so much. So I went with the crushed wafers as a crunchy alternative. Feel free to use the pecans though. We really, really enjoyed this banana version. It tastes just like a banana cream pie on steroids – in a good way.

Banana Cream Pie Delight recipe from The Country Cook

Ingredients:
for the crust:
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup crushed Nilla wafers

for the filling:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed (COOL WHIP)
2 bananas, sliced
1 (3 oz.) package instant banana cream pudding
2 cups cold milk

for the topping:
remaining COOL WHIP
1/2 cup crushed Nilla wafers

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray an 8×8″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Prepare crust by adding the butter and flour to a bowl and blend using a large fork or pastry blender.

Add crushed Nilla wafers and mix (don’t crush the wafers too small, leave some bigger pieces for a crunch).

Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. The easiest way to do this is to put a little flour on your fingers and press it down.

Nilla wafer crust pressed into a square baking dish

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

fully baked vanilla pie crust in a square Revol white baking dish

While the crust is cooling prepare the filling. In a large bowl using a stand mixer or a hand mixer add the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar. Cream the mixture until smooth. Stir in one cup whipped topping and set aside.

cream cheese and powdered sugar mixed in a Kitchenaid stand mixer

Prepare pudding according to package directions adding the 2 cups cold milk. Using a wire whisk, mix the pudding until thickened.

instant banana pudding whisked with cold milk

When the crust is completely cooled spread on the cream cheese mixture evenly.

cream cheese mixture spread on a baked Nilla wafer crust

Add a single layer of sliced bananas.

sliced banana added on top of sweetened cream cheese

Add the prepared banana cream pudding and spread evenly.

instant banana pudding mixture spread on top of sliced bananas

Top with remaining COOL WHIP.

Cool Whip topping spread on top of banana cream pie pudding

Sprinkle the crushed vanilla wafers evenly over the top. Chill for at least 2 – 3 hours before serving.

Enjoy!