The BEST Low-FODMAP Banana Pudding; Gluten-free
A low-FODMAP and gluten-free recipe for classic Banana Pudding. Fresh, creamy, with the flavor of vanilla wafers that everyone loves. IBS and gut- friendly!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes + chilling *see recipe
- Yield: 15 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups low-FODMAP lactose-free whole milk
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract; divided
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup low-FODMAP, gluten-free, all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 large egg yolks, plus 1 large whole egg
- 3 & 1/2 cups lactose-free heavy cream; divided*
- 1 teaspoon banana extract (optional)
- 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
For layering:
- 12 ounces low-FODMAP, gluten-free vanilla wafers or cookies, homemade Nilla wafers, or similar*
- 3 just-ripe bananas, sliced (100g each, peeled)*
- Garnish: sliced bananas, crushed and whole cookies, white chocolate curls, or cinnamon
Instructions
- If necessary, pretreat your heavy cream with lactase drops and refrigerate overnight
- Place your whisks and mixing bowl into the freezer to chill for the whipping cream
- Separate your egg yolks into a medium bowl, and whisk by hand with the whole egg, sugar, LF flour, salt and 1 cup of the LF heavy cream. Set aside for a few minutes
- In a medium saucepan, place the low-FODMAP milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla and whisk together over medium heat until hot, careful to not let the milk burn
- Slowly add small amounts of the hot milk into the milk/cream mixture, to temper this, whisking well, until it is warm. You don’t want to cook the egg (Always add the hot mixture to the cold when tempering eggs)
- Add the egg mixture to the remaining hot milk in the saucepan and turn to medium-low
- Continue stirring until this thickens into a pudding (about 10 minutes, be patient), adjusting heat as necessary, but not hot as it will burn. The thickening happens suddenly
- Add banana extract, if desired
- Remove from heat, and strain lumps if needed
- Cover with plastic wrap making contact with the surface of the mixture, and cool well to room temperature (you may also refrigerate and begin the next steps later)
- Take out your chilled bowl, and using your electric mixer (stand or hand mixer) on high, beat remaining 2 & 1/2 cups LF heavy cream with confectioner’s sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla, until stiff peaks form
- Place in the fridge until the vanilla pudding is chilled
- When ready to assemble, remove about 2 cups of the whipped cream, and gently fold this into your vanilla pudding until smooth. Leave the rest of the whipped cream for the topping
- Chop your bananas to about 1/8-1/4-inch thick
- Layer your 9 by 11 inch baking pan with vanilla wafers, then sliced bananas
- Spread about 1/2 the vanilla pudding over top, then add another layer of vanilla cookies, bananas, and the rest of the pudding
- Top this with the whipped cream
- Cover with plastic wrap and allow to set in the fridge for at least an hour, or overnight (I like overnight so the cookies get soft)
- Prior to serving, top with chopped vanilla wafers, banana slices, white chocolate curls, and cinnamon, if desired. I suggest you don’t decorate the top until before serving, so your banana slices don’t brown 🙂
Notes
- Although this recipe has not been lab tested, a single serving should be low-FODMAP based on the ingredients (using available FODMAP data at time of posting)
- Equipment: electric mixer, saucepan, 9 x 11 x 3-inch baking pan (or similar dimensions)
- If you can’t find commercially available lactose free cream, then purchase a product that removes lactose from milk and dairy (Lacteez, Milkaid). These do require you to treat the dairy for about 24 hours prior to use
- I used Kinnikinnick brand gluten-free Nilla wafers: The ingredients are: sugars (cane sugar, tapioca syrup), egg whites, white rice flour, potato starch, shortening (palm oil, modified palm oil), pea starch, tapioca starch, cellulose, water, natural flavors, salt, baking powder, modified cellulose, sunflower lecithin, beta-carotene
- If you haven’t heard of ‘Nilla wafers’, they are basically a round vanilla cookie (or ‘biscuit’), commonly used in banana pudding
- Bananas vary in FODMAP content based on ripeness. Unripe bananas are low-FODMAP in 100g servings. If it is ripe, consume less than 35g per serving. For this recipe, you want the banana quite firm, but not green. They should be easy to slice, and handle, not mushy
