This Easy Mason Jar Banana Pudding Recipe is the perfect dessert for your Easter dinner. Bursting with banana flavor, this make-ahead dessert is the perfect comfort food to keep everyone in the family happy and begging for more!

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I seriously can’t believe that Sunday is Easter. It doesn’t even seem possible to me. Then again, I almost forgot what day of the week it was today so maybe you shouldn’t go by me…

This week is action-packed for us. Besides Easter being on Sunday, yours truly is celebrating a birthday this week! And then my son, Zach, turns 17 on Monday! It’s a lot crammed into a little amount of time and I’m kind of overwhelmed.

Normally, I would have things all under control weeks ago, but with the world as we know it coming to an end (total dramatics over here), I don’t even know which way is up, down or diagonal. 

Case in point, let’s talk about my trip to Publix today. I went to the grocery store this morning to get everything I needed for the week plus all the extras for Easter Sunday and the upcoming birthday celebrations. I had my list in hand and I was ready to go.

No sooner did I pull into the parking spot in front of Publix when I heard Ryan Seacrest on my radio cautioning people to stay indoors and do anything in their power not to visit the grocery store this week or next. 

I have been trying to give myself a little break from obsessively watching the news but I guess I missed the fact that this week and next are peak times for the spread of the virus. Ugh, this was the worst timing to pull up to the grocery store.

I kind of freaked out but had no choice but to go inside and get the things I needed on my list. If anyone was watching me, I can guarantee they thought I was a crazy person. I must’ve walked that store back and forth about a million times. I’d walk a few aisles and then look down at my list only to realize I missed something and had to walk back to get it.

For someone who normally makes weekly meal plans and writes my grocery list down per aisles of the supermarket, it was blatantly obvious I was off my game. This is always a sure sign that my head is going a million miles a minute and I’m completely overwhelmed…

After hitting every aisle in the store more than once, and visiting the liquor store next door for my upcoming Tequila Thursday, I eventually got everything on my list and safely made it back home. And I’m praying I didn’t bring home any germs! This whole situation is just so scary…

Once home, I unpacked my groceries and got working in the kitchen. Spending time in the kitchen helps ease my mind and distracts me from all the crazy going on around me. It’s my happy place, for sure.

On the cooking agenda, I had a fun recipe for tomorrow’s Tequila Thursday and an Easter-twist on my banana pudding trifle. The perfect two recipes to get me in the groove and away from the worry happening in my mind.

The cocktail came first and then I started on the banana pudding recipe. Something about banana pudding screams comfort food to me. Maybe it’s because of the way I feel after eating it, INCREDIBLY FULL AND HAPPY, but I tend to crave treats like this when I’m out of sorts.

The recipe I use for my banana pudding is from Paula Deen. I can’t even tell you exactly how long I’ve been making it. All I can say is it has never failed me once and I love it a little more every time I make it. 

I normally make it in a trifle but decided to change it up a bit and make individual mason jar servings instead. That way, I could easily just screw on the lid and place them in the refrigerator for later. Instead of committing to breaking into an entire trifle as a family, each of us can eat our banana pudding whenever we feel like it. 

To make things a little festive for the upcoming holiday this weekend, I picked up some Peeps and M&M chocolate candies to decorate the desserts with. Make sure to do the decorating right before eating. Do not store the mason jar desserts with the candies on top. The colored dye will bleed all over the top of your banana pudding if you do. 

The decorating step can be left out if you want, but I think it really adds to the overall cuteness of the dessert!

Easy Mason Jar Banana Pudding Recipe

6 bananas, 1 bag Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies, 2 cups milk, 3.4 oz Instant French vanilla pudding, 8 oz cream cheese (softened), 14 oz sweetened condensed milk, 8 oz frozen whipped topping (thawed), Easter M&M’s and Peeps for decoration (optional)

Measure 2 cups of milk and stir in your French vanilla pudding. Set aside and allow the pudding to thicken.

Next, peel and slice your 6 bananas so they are ready for assembling in your mason jars.

In a stand-up mixer, place your softened cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk. You want to continue mixing them together until smooth.

Gently fold in the thawed whipped cream topping into your cream cheese mixture.

Fold the thickened pudding into your cream cheese mixture until all the ingredients are combined.

Grab your mason jars and crumble two of the Cheesemen cookies into the bottom of each of them.

I used my large ice cream scoop, 3 tablespoon measurement, to add two helpings of the pudding mixture on top of the cookies. 

Next, add a layer of sliced banana. Note: You’ll be using one whole banana per mason jar breaking it up into two layers.

Repeat the process again by adding another layer of cookies, pudding mixture, and bananas. Top off the dessert with a final layer of pudding mixture leaving enough room to still secure the mason jar lid. Screw on all the lids and place the mason jars in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. I personally find the banana pudding to taste the best when it is made the night before.

Right before serving, add an Easter Peep and some M&M chocolate candies for decorations. 

Enjoy!

Thank goodness for this easy mason jar banana pudding recipe. It really helped me clear my mind today and got me out of my funk! When times are tough, I vote banana pudding as a coping mechanism! What helps you?

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