Banana pudding is a delicious dessert and one that lends itself to making larger batches. Is it possible to make banana pudding in advance and keep it in the freezer? Today, we cover everything you need to know in order to freeze banana pudding successfully.
Is Freezing Banana Pudding A Good Idea?
Freezing banana bread (see also Can You Freeze Banana Bread?) is a tricky endeavour. If you’ve ever tried simply tossing homemade banana pudding into the freezer, you might have noticed that it came out all brown and with a weird texture. No, banana pudding is not the easiest thing to freeze. However, it’s definitely possible, if you follow some simple tips and think about it in advance.
Freezing Banana Pudding: Everything You Need to Know
When it comes to freezing banana pudding, there is a difference between freezing pudding you’ve made at home and freezing store-bought banana pudding (no matter if it’s leftovers or whole packages). Both can be frozen, but when it comes to homemade banana pudding there is a trick you can do while making the pudding to make it freeze better.
How To Freeze Homemade Banana pudding
One of the most annoying things about home-made banana pudding is that it tends to turn brown and start looking weird (despite still tasting ok) no matter if you keep it in the fridge or in the freezer. However, there is a way to stop that!
You’ll have to think ahead, though. This trick only works if you think about freezing before you even start making your pudding. Before you start, cut the banana into slices. Take a small bowl and fill it with juice of one lemon mixed with half a cup of water. You’ll want to dip each banana slice into the mixture.
Banana slices and mashed bananas turn brown over time due to oxidation. When you do the lemon juice trick, you prevent this from happening. Banana pudding with bananas prepped like this will look fresh even after freezing.
Dipping your bananas in lemon juice might feel a bit tedious, but the results are amazing.
How To Freeze Store-Bought Banana Pudding
The above-mentioned trick with lemon juice will not work with store-bought banana pudding. However, store-bought puddings might or might not freeze well (see also Can You Freeze Pudding), depending on how they were made. Still, in most cases, freezing store-bought banana pudding is totally fine.
If you want to freeze an unopened pack of banana pudding to extend its shelf life, go ahead and do so. There are no special preparations needed, except perhaps writing the date of freezing on the package.
If you want to freeze leftover banana pudding from an opened container, we recommend you transfer it to an air-tight container of appropriate size. Freezer bags can work too although scooping the pudding into the bag can be a bit tricky.
How To Thaw Banana Pudding
There will probably come a time when you want to eat your frozen banana pudding right away. However, it’s not the best idea to try to thaw the pudding quickly, for example in warm water or in the microwave. A much better solution is placing the pudding in the fridge and letting it slowly defrost.
Frozen Banana Pudding Shelf Life
Banana pudding has a delicate texture which makes it not last as long in the freezer as some other foods. In fact, the shelf life of frozen banana pudding is surprisingly short. It is best consumed within two weeks of freezing. You might stretch it for a week or two longer, but, in general, you definitely shouldn’t keep your banana pudding for more than a month.
Leftover Banana Pudding Ideas
Ok, so we’ve ascertained that you can freeze banana pudding (see also Freezing Rice Pudding). But, if you make a huge batch and freeze it, eating banana pudding over and over can get a bit boring. What else can you do with it? Here are some creative ideas:
Banana Pudding Ice Cream
If you like to make ice cream at home (or if you own an ice cream machine you haven’t tried out yet, try transforming your banana pudding into ice cream, or better yet, mix it with vanilla ice cream. The results are delicious.
Banana Pudding Ice Pops
Is there anything easier for using up fruit juices than making ice pops? But, banana pudding is not really liquid. What you need to do in this case is mix the banana pudding leftovers with milk until you get a smooth mass. Pour this mixture into ice pop forms. For perfect results, try gently tapping on the outside of the form to release trapped air (the pudding-milk mixture is fairly thick so it might need this). Add the sticks and freeze. Bam! You have a delicious and healthy summer treat.
Bread Pudding
Bread pudding is a traditional dish in many cultures (although it might go by different names depending on where you live). While it does not involve any pudding per se, it’s a great way to turn old bread into a scrumptious dessert. And now, you can also use up you banana pudding and make the bread pudding even more delicious.
To do this, you’ll want to combine the leftover banana pudding with eggs, milk, and sugar (you can use any bread pudding recipe you like – just add the banana pudding to the liquid part). When you are ready, combine with bids of (stale) bread and bake until golden – delicious.
