Chocolate Chip Cookie Banana Pudding

This recipe is another one from the recipe contest I participated in.  The ingredients this time around were bananas, cream cheese, and chocolate chips.  Oh the challenge!

This turned into one of my favorite weeks in the contest because this was a really cool challenge.  Banana pudding is not new to me, as I had made a delightful version a few months back layered with whipped cream.  I had never heard of cream cheese in banana pudding, so I figured that would be fun to try.  At first chocolate chips seemed like the way to go, but then I realized instead of vanilla wafers why not use chocolate chip cookies?  I picked up some of the little Entenmans once since I know those are crispy and small in size.

I softened the cream cheese by letting it sit out for about 10  minutes, then whisked it with one cup of the milk and brown sugar.

In another bowl, I whisked together the remaining 2 cups of milk and the instant pudding for 2 minutes.

Then, I beat heavy cream for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. I stirred in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar.

I stirred the pudding and cream cheese mixtures together, then gently folded in the whipped cream until just combined.

In a large casserole, I laid out some d the chocolate chip cookies, quickly eating the broken ones to avoid any non-perfect cookies from participating in my dish.

I peeled and sliced up 5 nicely ripened bananas.

Then, I laid them over the cookies.  Building up!

I poured the pudding in over that.

 Finally, I topped it off with some more sliced bananas and sprinkled on the chocolate chips.

A true competitor for a baking challenge!  Chocolate chips and bananas made nice friends, and the cookies were a nice change from the standard wafer.  These softened overnight, but when i brought this to work I served it with some fresh cookies and the world was a happy place. I was nervous about the cream cheese--it was quite the change from my banana pudding and banana cream pie recipes--but it had a perfectly smooth consistency and I liked the end result.  Tragically, this one didn't end up winning the contest, however it did make for a another neat experiment and of course, a new recipe to share.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Banana Pudding Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese
3 cups whole milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 package vanilla instant pudding mix (3.4 ounces)
15-20 small chocolate chip cookies
5 bananas
3 tablespoons chocolate chips

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, beat heavy cream for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla extract and powdered sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream cheese until creamy. Stir in brown sugar and 1 cup of whole milk. Fold into the large bowl with the whipped cream. Next, whisk together the remaining 2 cups of milk and the instant pudding for 2 minutes. Stir into cream cheese and whipped cream mixture. Line the bottom of a casserole dish or large bowl with cookies. Slice bananas about 1/4 inch thick, then lay half of the slices on top of the cookies. Pour pudding over the top, then add remaining banana slices. Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips. Keep refrigerated.

adapted from banana pudding & savannah banana pudding