RECIPE DOCTOR
Fat-free milk still makes tasty banana pudding
By Elaine Magee
Knight Ridder News Service
Q. I have this recipe for banana pudding that's burning a hole in my recipe box. I can't make it because of the high-calorie and fat ingredients, but it sure sounds delicious. Can you transform it into a pudding I CAN make?
A. Bananas win the award for "fruit you are least likely to see Elaine eating." Can't tell you why, it might be a texture thing. But after hearing a couple of people talk about various banana pudding recipes they had seen lately (including a food network chef preparing one similar to this recipe except using Chessman shortbread cookies), I decided to dive right in, banana phobia and all!
The original recipe uses whole, sweetened condensed milk; we used fat-free. It calls for whipping cream; we fold in some light Cool Whip (if you can't do Cool Whip, you'll have to go with the whipping cream.) We also used reduced-fat vanilla wafer cookies instead of regular wafers. The shortbread cookies would have even more calories and fat than the regular wafers.
Just these changes brought down the calories from 616 to 250 and the fat grams from 27 to 3.5! It still tastes wonderful, too, even to someone who normally avoids bananas.
I'm calling this pudding "deluxe" banana pudding because it is so much more than just a pudding. It has several layers each of extra creamy pudding; vanilla wafers and banana coins.
Original recipe contains 616 calories, 27 grams fat, 13 grams saturated fat, and 65 mg cholesterol per serving.
Deluxe Banana Pudding
- 1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
- 1 1/2 cups cold water
- 1 (3.4-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
- 4 cups light Cool Whip
- 4 bananas, sliced
- Juice from 2 lemons
- About 36 reduced-fat vanilla wafers
In mixing bowl, blend condensed milk and water together. Sprinkle pudding mix over the top and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in Light Cool Whip.
Dip banana slices in lemon juice and gently shake off excess; place on a plate or in a shallow bowl.
In a 2 1/2 quart serving bowl (see-through works well), spoon ¡ of the pudding evenly into the bottom of the serving bowl. Top with about 12 vanilla wafers and ¡ of the banana slices. Repeat these layers two more times with the remaining pudding, wafers and banana slices. Cover the bowl and chill until serving. Will keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
Makes 12 servings.
Per serving: 250 calories, 3.5 g protein, 50 g carbohydrate, 3.5 g fat (2.5 g saturated fat, 0.2 g monounsaturated fat, 0.1 g polyunsaturated fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 150 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 12 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids n/a. Omega-6 fatty acids n/a. Weight Watchers points: 5
Elaine Magee is author of "The Recipe Doctor Cookbook" and "The Flax Cookbook." Readers may write to her through her Web site at www.recipedoctor.com. Personal responses cannot be provided.
