This homemade low-carb banana pudding recipe is the perfect match for a southern cuisine enthusiast. This creamy dessert is suited for a low-carb, grain-free, keto, gluten-free, Atkins, or Banting Diet.
Banana pudding is an iconic southern classic. It’s a dish that holds its own against countless complicated, fancy desserts. No matter the time of year, this pudding is an elegant “southern way” to top off a delicious meal.
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I was first introduced to banana pudding many years ago at our family reunion in Floyd county, VA. My great aunt Glenna brings her banana pudding to this family gathering every year. Year after year, her delicious pudding is one of the first dessert dishes to be scraped clean.
The first time I tasted Aunt Glenna’s silky smooth pudding, I was hooked. The creamy pudding with sweet bananas and the crunch of vanilla wafers made me visit the dessert table again and again. I’ll never forget going back to the dessert table for a second, or maybe a third, time and finding the bowl completely empty. I learned a valuable lesson that day–always visit the dessert table and load up on pudding BEFORE going to the dinner buffet.
As much as I love banana pudding, it isn’t exactly low-carb. In fact, as much as I scoured the Internet, low-carb banana pudding recipes are pretty scarce and those I did find used sugar-free instant pudding as a base pudding. Don’t get me wrong, instant pudding definitely speeds things up, but I like to know exactly what goes into my food from start to finish. In addition, there’s a special satisfaction when a recipe is completely homemade. Making things from scratch may take a bit more time, but this pudding recipe couldn’t be easier.
At first, I was a bit intimidated to attempt creating a homemade low-carb banana pudding. Fruit naturally has a very high carb content, but bananas have just about the highest carb content out of all fruit. Banana has an incredible flavor, but in order to keep things low-carb, it has to be used in incredibly small quantities, which is exactly what we do in this recipe. For six servings, we only use a quarter of a banana. Even in such small quantities, a ripe banana still provides the desired banana flavor. If you still want an extra boost of flavor, you can add a bit of natural banana flavoring to top it off.
I don’t think anyone can make banana pudding like my aunt Glenna, but this pudding, complete with crunchy little wafers, still tastes fantastic and fills that need for southern comfort food like only banana pudding can.
Enjoy!
-Harper
Low-Carb Banana Pudding
Ingredients
Vanilla Wafer Ingredients
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup granulated stevia erythritol blend
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 4 Tablespoons almond milk
- 1 egg separated
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Banana Pudding Ingredients
- 1/3 cup plus 3 Tablespoons granulated stevia erythritol blend separated
- 1 teaspoon xantham gum
- pinch salt
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon plus 1/2 tsp vanilla extract separated
- 1/4 teaspoon natural banana flavor
- 1 1/2 cup plus 1 cup organic grass-fed heavy cream divided
- 1/4 banana thinly sliced (optional)
Instructions
Vanilla wafer Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, sweetener, baking soda, salt. Gradually add 4 tablespoons milk, stirring between each addition.
- Whisk in egg yolk and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Place egg white in a small bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat egg white until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold half of the whipped egg white into the almond flour mixture to lighten, then fold in the remainder of the egg white being careful not break down the fluffiness.
- Transfer batter to a pastry bag with a small circular tip. Pipe 1"-1 1/2" circular wafers, leaving at least 1 1/2 inches between each wafer. Alternatively, you can simply place by teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheets. You will end up with about 18 mounds of dough.
- Place in oven and bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.
- When finished baking, remove from oven. Let cool about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack using a spatula and let cool to room temperature.
Banana Pudding Directions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together sweetener, xanthin gum and salt. Add the yolks, and stir until combined.
- Gradually add 1 1/2 cup cream, stirring until smooth between each addition. Mixture should begin thicken.
- Place saucepan over medium low heat, stirring constantly. Heat for 3-4 minutes or until mixture begins to boil.
- Remove pudding from heat and let cool to room temperature. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and banana flavor, if using.
- In a medium bowl, beat 1 cup heavy cream with an electric blender until stiff peaks form. Add 3 tbsp sweetener and 1/2 tsp vanilla and beat just until combined.
- Add the whipped cream into the cooled pudding, folding to combine.
To serve
- Layer pudding, banana slices and wafers as desired.
Recipe Notes
Per serving:
Calories: 335
Fat: 30.2 grams
Carbs: 5.5 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Protein 5.5 grams
Net carbs: 3.5 grams
This is awesome! I need to pin this recipe!
It looks so mouthwatering recipe.
Hello,
If I use swerve instead, do i still need the xanthan gum.
Thx, PJ
WOW this banana pudding is calling my name! I love banana pudding, but it’s normally way to sugary and high in calorie + carbs for my liking!
Hi,
I am making this for my diabetic. Would like to substitute sweetner with swerve sugar replacement. Question is do I still need to add the Xanthann Gum?
Thx, PJ
Yes, I would still use the xanthan gum. Also, you may need to use a little more sweetener if you use Swerve as it is less sweet than Pyure.
-Annissa
I love banana pudding, this is a good excuse for me to indulge more in it! 🙂
I made the Wafers last night practicing for Thanksgiving. They were delicious!! However, they didn’t seem crunchy enough to be able to be used in the pudding without turning soggy. Any recommendations on what I can do to make them a little more firm/crunchy?
A few extra minutes in the oven at 200 degrees would probably make them a little crunchier. I also cool the wafers on a cooling rack which seems to keep them from being soggy in the pudding. Hope this helps!
This sounds awesome. I have been learning to eat without all the potatoes and pasta for the last 6 weeks and doing great but now I am looking to satisfy my sweet tooth without over doing it. Your recipes have truly helped me.
I have a question on this recipe. Please explain the heavy cream. How do I separate it?
Loretta,
Thanks for checking out our site! I hope our recipes satisfy your sweet tooth! Heavy cream can be found in the dairy section of the grocery store. It’s usually in pint or half-pint sized containers. You don’t need to separate it yourself.
Annissa
For Loretta,
Re: Separating the cream I’m pretty sure it means 1 1/2 c for the pudding and 1 c for whipping.. so the 2 measurements are used separately. You don’t need to separate the cream from itself 🙂
Cheers
Yes, Diane,
Now that I look at Loretta’s question, I see what you mean. Thanks for helping!
Annissa
How could I make this into a pie???
You could simply pop it into a baked low-carb pie crust like the one I used for my key lime pie. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours before serving. Topping it with some whipped cream just before serving would make it gorgeous! Have fun!
In the narrative it says this makes 4 servings, but the recipe says 6. Can you clarify please? BTW, fantastic recipe!!! I left the little cookies in the oven after baking and they were quite crunchy…and delicious! The pudding is rich and satisfying. Thank you so much for such a great recipe!!
Hi Renee,
The recipe makes 6 servings. I just changed the narrative.Thanks for letting me know!
-Annissa
Would this recipe work to make a layered dessert or would the wafers get soggy. I’m thinking layer of crackers, banana, then banana pudding, and repeat ending with pudding & then extra whipped topping. My grandchildren loved the pudding on its own but would like something a bit more elegant for a birthday dessert. Thanks for you response & delicious recipes.
Sharon,
I think it would be beautiful layer. I’m not sure if the wafers will get soggy or not, but it would be less likely to happen if you assemble it just before serving. That way they won’t have time to get too soggy. Another option would be to assemble the layers of banana, whipped cream, and bananas ahead, then add the wafers on top just before serving. As an aside, the bananas will bring up the carb count significantly, but I’m not sure whether that is important to you. Hope this helps!
-Annissa
Made this for my family members who are doing the Keto diet. Recipe was simple and very tasty. Made mistake with cookies and over browned them. Second catch was better but still a bit over done. Not sure if it was oven or what but pay attention when you’re doing them. Didn’t have the banana flavor so went without it. Not sure if you need it TBH. I’ll definitely make this again or I’m likely to be beat briskly about the head and shoulders by the dieters in my crowd. One idea I have for my second try is to do I quick saute of the bananas with some of the sweetener called for in the recipe to try and get a bit more kick from the bananas. I’ll use a pat of butter and reduce the heavy cream to even things up best I can. Overall this is a winner.
I’ve also decided to try the same thing with key lime juice instead of vanilla and bananas. A key lime dessert would be an awesome addition to their menu I think. I’ll post results.
Carl,
Glad you enjoyed it! You many want to check out my recipe for key lime pie. You could just make the filling and I think it might be just what you’re looking for.
-Annissa
Made this for thanksgiving and everyone loved it!! I didn’t make the wafers, but the pudding was easy and turned out delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Has anyone tried to make this recipe non-dairy? Maybe using canned coconut milk for the heavy cream? And just skipping the whipped cream topping?
Didn’t have the time or energy to make the wafers but I made the pudding and it was great! I have a whip cream canister so I put a little English toffee Stevia and some cream in it and put that on the top of the pudding. Don’t fold anything and anything just put the whip cream on top of the pudding. It was lovely. I will definitely try the cookies next time I just had extra egg yolks but I didn’t know what to do it and this came up
That should’ve read I didn’t fold the whip cream into the pudding just put it on top and it was fine