Chewy cookies loaded with all the yummy flavor of southern-style banana pudding. Mmmm-AZING!
Banana Pudding Cookies Recipe
A southern comfort dessert baked into cookies that are downright delicious! These Banana Pudding Cookies bake up with the best vanilla and banana flavors and amazing texture from the banana chips and cookie wafers. You can have these cookies ready to enjoy in less than 30 minutes and they’ll probably disappear faster than that!
A Southern Girl’s Cookie
As a southern girl, I grew up on banana pudding. Layer after layer of ripe bananas, creamy vanilla pudding, crunchy vanilla wafers and sweet whipped cream. Sometimes I crave it and don’t feel like making a whole big bowl of it.
So it dawned on me one day that I could bake up my favorite pudding cookies with some sweet dried banana chips and crunchy vanilla wafers mixed throughout to make them taste like one of my all-time favorite comforting desserts but in cookie form. This banana pudding cookies recipe is yum, yum!
In place of banana cream pudding, you can use instant vanilla pudding mix, but the cookies would have less banana flavor. Or in place of the vanilla extract, you could use banana extract for even MORE banana flavor!
Ingredients and Supplies
(see recipe card at the bottom of this post for measurements and details. To learn more about specific baking ingredients and how they function in baking recipes, reference my Complete Guide to Baking Ingredients)
Ingredients:
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract – you can use banana extract in place of the vanilla extract for even more banana flavor, if desired.
- All-purpose flour
- Banana cream instant pudding mix – the banana cream pudding mix enhances the flavor and texture of these cookies so nicely. If you can’t find the banana cream flavored instant pudding mix, you can use vanilla instant pudding mix
- Baking soda
- Vanilla wafer cookies
- Dried sweetened banana chips
Supplies:
How to Make Banana Pudding Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.
- In a separate bow add the dry pudding mix, flour and baking soda. Whisk together.
- Add the dry ingredients, 1 cup at a time, to the wet ingredients in the mixer until just combined. The dough will be thick.
- Add the vanilla wafer cookies and banana chips and beat on low speed until slightly crushed throughout. Shape dough into 2-tablespoon sized rounds and place a few inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Bake for about 14 minutes or until the cookies start to turn a very light brown and barely crackle on top, rotating the cookie sheets after 7 minutes of baking.
- Let cool completely on cookie sheets (no need to transfer to a cooling rack) or eat warm right away with a cold glass of milk!
How to Store Banana Pudding Cookies
Store leftover banana pudding cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.
To freeze banana pudding cookies, let cookies cool completely, stack with parchment paper in between each layer of cookies and store in a freezer safe container or resealable plastic bag.
Let thaw completely at room temperature.
More Ways to Enjoy Banana Pudding
- The Best Banana Pudding: Layers of vanilla wafers, fresh bananas and creamy vanilla pudding come together in The Best Banana Pudding you’ll ever make!
- Banana Pudding Dip: Everything you love about a truly fantastic banana pudding in a party dip your guests will go…bananas for! Dip vanilla wafers or graham crackers into this sweet, creamy Banana Pudding Dip and see what the fuss is all about!
- Berry Colossal Crunch Banana Pudding: Breakfast and dessert collide in this tasty twist on classic banana pudding using Berry Colossal Crunch cereal milk to make the pudding as well as crunchy cereal layered throughout. Oh my yum!
- Banana Pudding Pound Cake: Incredibly moist and flavorful Banana Pudding Pound Cake that you’ll go bananas for, literally!
More of My Favorite Cookie Recipes
I am crazy about cookies! So I could not be more excited to share My Favorite Cookie Recipes. Crafted by a true cookie-lover, these treats are absolute cookie perfection.
- Loaded M&M Cookies: A mouthful of mini chocolate candies in every bite! These Loaded M&M Cookies are chewy, chocolatey and totally delicious!
- My Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies: Crispy, chewy, sweet, salty, nutty and oh-so chocolatey! My Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies are cookie perfection!
- Classic Peanut Butter Cookies: With their famous criss-cross pattern and soft, chewy bite, these Classic Peanut Butter cookies are everything a perfect cookie should be. You’ll be hooked at first bite!
- Carrot Cake Cookies: Topped with a white chocolate drizzle, these Carrot Cake Cookies are so delicious and perfect for anytime baking!
- And more!
If you make these Banana Pudding Cookies, be sure to snap a picture and share it with me or tag me on Instagram @thebakermama so I can see. If you’re on Facebook, be sure to join my Friends of The BakerMama group to connect and share all the fun and yummy recipes of mine that you make! 
I just love seeing how inspired and creative y’all get with the ideas I share. Enjoy!
xoxo,
Banana Pudding Cookies Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 14 mins
- Total Time: 24 mins
- Yield: 36 cookies
- Category: Dessert
Description
Chewy cookies loaded with all the yummy flavor of southern-style banana pudding. Mmmm-AZING!
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 (3.4 ounce) box banana cream instant pudding mix
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup vanilla wafer cookies
- 1 cup dried banana chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, dry pudding mix, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients, 1 cup at a time, to the wet ingredients in the mixer until just combined. The dough will be thick.
- Add the vanilla wafer cookies and banana chips and beat on low speed until slightly crushed throughout. Shape dough into 2-tablespoon sized rounds and place a few inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Bake for about 14 minutes or until the cookies start to turn a very light brown and barely crackle on top, rotating the cookie sheets after 7 minutes of baking.
- Let cool completely on cookie sheets or eat warm right away with a cold glass of milk! Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
I made these a couple of days ago and thought they came out well! Right amount of mix-ins, good but not overpowering banana flavor. Texture pretty good. For me the yield was about 40 cookies rather than 18, which is an extremely different number so I’m not sure if that’s a misprint. I don’t know if this is due to variability in flour measurements, but mine didn’t spread much at all in the oven so next time I think I will use a bit less flour. I gently flattened them with a spatula after they came out of the oven and that improved the shape a bit. This is more of a minor nitpick because I was happy with the result overall!
Hi, Shannon! Thank you so much for sharing. I am happy that you enjoyed them! I will check the yield – thank you for bringing to my attention.
Can I premake these and then freeze them? When thawing, do they still hold their crunch? Thanks!
Hi Stacy! Yes, just be sure to let them cool completely before freezing. When you’re ready to defrost and enjoy them, remove them from the airtight container and let them defrost at room temperature so they don’t absorb the moisture as they defrost. The cookie should still be chewy while the vanilla wafers remain crunchy. Enjoy!
Do the banana chips stay crunchy?
Hi Marie! Yes, they stay very crunchy and are such a great addition to these cookies!