How to make banana pudding thicker and creamier, so you can share with everyone! Easy and delicious.
Ever notice that the traditional banana pudding is more gelatinous whereas the pudding you remember from the 21st century is much less so? In the second half of this article, we explain how to increase the thickness of your banana pudding recipe.
How to Thicken Banana Pudding for the Perfect Consistency
Banana pudding is one of those desserts that everyone loves. It’s perfect for a Sunday brunch, acts as a good housewarming present at a party, and also is appropriate for younger kids to eat. Of course, the best banana pudding recipes are the ones that have that creamy, thick consistency that people adore.
Unfortunately, not all pudding recipes have this trait. Whether it’s due to a mix-up with the original recipe or a recipe that just didn’t pass muster doesn’t matter. What matters is that you now have unusually thin banana pudding that you want to thicken up.
Did you ever wonder how you could thicken up banana pudding fast?
The best way to thicken banana pudding’s consistency is to create a slurry using starch and water, then add it to the pudding. After you’ve added a small amount, heat the pudding until it’s simmering, and stir.
Knowing how to thicken pudding isn’t as bad as you think it is. Here’s what you need to know about thickening it up and making your dessert perfect.
Why Is My Banana Pudding Not Thick Enough?
Most of the time, this is actually a mistake that involves not mixing up the pudding enough. At one point of the pudding making process, it’s normal for dust to clump up together from instant pudding mixes. Usually, if you whisk it for a couple more minutes, you’ll see a change in consistency.
If you’ve stirred it up a bit without much improvement, then it could be that the recipe is just too watery. This means that you will need to add a thickening agent to the mix or increase the other ingredients until the consistency is a little better.
How To Add Thickness To Banana Pudding
There are two main ways to increase the thickness of your banana pudding. We’re going to go over the two of them, then give you more information about alternatives.
Adding Cornstarch: The Step By Step Process
Almost any type of edible starch can be used to thicken up banana pudding, provided you didn’t add banana slices in it quite yet. Corn starch is the most popular option. However, most people don’t understand how to do it properly.
It’s important to understand something about starch: you can’t just add it in and expect your pudding to thicken up as it’s supposed to. Cornstarch (or modified cornstarch) will require you to heat it up in order for it to thicken. Here’s how you can add cornstarch properly:
- Mix equal parts cornstarch and water.
- Add in a small amount of the cornstarch-water mix at a time. Stir gently, making sure the starch is moved evenly throughout the pudding.
- Get your banana pudding to heat up to a simmer. Keep it there for 20 to 30 seconds, stirring gently.
- Drop the temperature of the pudding, and finish stirring things up. It should be done by now.
Adding More Instant Pudding Mix: The Shortcut
If the idea of adding cornstarch and triggering its gelatinizing properties scares you, that’s okay. Sometimes people prefer to work with stuff they know will be tried and true. If you have an extra box of instant pudding, you can add it to the pudding mixture you already have to increase the thickness.
Add a little bit of the extra pudding pouch at a time, since instant pudding takes time to fully absorb moisture. Once it’s at the desired consistency, you will be able to enjoy a nice, thick bowl of banana pudding.
Adding Cornstarch Alternatives To Your Pudding: The Scoop
Though the vast majority of people choose to use cornstarch or more pudding mixt to fix a runny banana pudding, those aren’t the only options on the menu. If you’re low on cornstarch, you can also use other starch-based thickening agents that are currently on the market.
If you are making banana pudding from scratch, then you should stick to starch-based thickening agents. Other alternatives you can consider include:
- Modified cornstarch
- Tapioca
- Flour
Figuring out how to use each agent can be tricky, which is why it’s good to read up on it. Each thickening agent has its own traits, so it’s smart to be aware of the differing thickening times. For example, if you decide to thicken your pudding up with flour, it can take as much as 20 minutes before the flour stops tasting chalky.
How To Make Banana Pudding Stiffen Up
Sometimes, it’s not actually a matter of getting the banana pudding to be thicker. Rather, sometimes you want the pudding to be able to gelatinize into a mold. This is actually fairly easy to do.
After you’ve mixed your pudding, add flavor-free gelatin to the pudding you’ve made. (The best ratio we’ve heard so far is to use ¾ of a teaspoon per cup of pudding made.) Then, stir it up, pour it into the mold that you want to use, and chill it for several hours.
Which Ingredients Don’t Work Well With Banana Pudding?
There are certain ingredients that people sometimes use that can harm the consistency of banana pudding. Some of them might be surprising, while others are just less-than-ideal for thickening up pudding recipes…
- Skim Milks. Skim milk, 2 percent, and other low-fat milks do not work well with pudding. Puddings usually need a higher fat concentration to get the buttery consistency that people adore.
- Plant Milks. Much like how skim milks don’t really work well when it comes to thickening, plant milks are often a gamble in terms of consistency. Most of them simply don’t work and require extra thickening agents. This, in turn, puts pudding at a higher risk of clumping. Gross!
- Flour. Yes, flour is a viable thickening agent, but it’s far from the best one. Flour has to be sifted and folded in carefully otherwise it can clump up. Worse still, it can take 20 minute or more for it to heat up and actually lose the chalky, bland taste it’s known for.
- Arrowroot Flour. Arrowroot flour is a little bit different than most other flours and starches. Along with being gluten-free, it has a tendency of getting a slimy texture hen used to thicken pudding. Due to the fact that most people don’t want to deal with sliminess, it’s a bad take.
- Artificial Eggs. While it’s great to see that there are now vegan egg alternatives and similar, the truth is that they are a gamble when it comes to being used in pudding. Pudding can be a fairly fickle thing to cook, even if it’s of the banana category. If your recipe asks for eggs, it’s best to stick to the real eggs.
- Nilla Wafers. Some people have tried to thicken pudding by crumbling up these cookies and adding them to the pudding. Don’t do this! If you want to add the wafers after the pudding is made, do it. Just don’t add crumbles, as this turns your pudding into a very sloppy mess.
How to Make Pudding Thicker
Did you know you can make your pudding thicker?
Yes, you read that right. Thin pudding is one of the most prevalent complaints about this delectable dessert. Even if this isn’t a deal-breaker for most people, it could keep you from enjoying the sweet treat you want.
Runny pudding appears to be a little more fluid than it should be, as you may have observed when making it. You may still eat it, but you can also improve the recipe to make it thicker. Make sure that you don’t toss out your somewhat runny pudding just yet. We’re here to help you out with a thicker, creamier pudding!
How to Make Pudding Thicker
Making pudding isn’t tricky, but it’s easy to get the consistency wrong. There are countless options for creating fresh and delectable desserts using leftover pudding and thickeners.
One ingredient that’s not a secret on how to make your pudding thicker is cornstarch. Cornstarch is a must for thickening pudding, but you may use all-purpose flour, potato starch, arrowroot powder, or tapioca starch if you don’t have it.
Dissolve one to two teaspoons of cornstarch in water. Ensure that you mix your pudding mixture well before adding cornstarch mixture and simmering for at least two minutes, and stir until it thickens.
Aside from cornstarch, you can also add gelatin. Gelatin would be an acceptable substitute if you didn’t add any thickening components to your pudding while it was cooking. Before mixing in a teaspoon of unflavored gelatin, you must let your pudding mixture rest in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking it and serving
How to Make Pudding Thicker For Pie Filling
Making the pudding thicker will transform it into a pie filling. Pudding for pie filling should be thick and rich if you’re making it from scratch. You know how frustrating it is to eat watery pudding if you’ve ever tried it, especially if it’s home-cooked pudding.
Cornstarch may thicken pudding during the cooking process, but there are alternative options if you don’t have any on hand or don’t want to use it for health reasons. Instead of cornstarch, you may use gelatin or flour to help it hold its form and thicken it.
How to Make Instant Pudding Thicker
In cooking desserts or any dish, it is relevant that we consider the right proportions of ingredients. We need to understand that the more fat in the milk, the thicker your pudding will be in the milk’s logical world.
So, if you want to know how to make instant pudding thicker, whole milk, almond milk, or half-and-half are excellent choices.
It is also possible to thicken the pudding by adding egg yolk, gelatin, or cornstarch. To produce a thicker pudding, use egg yolks, whereas cornstarch is better for making a thinner pudding with a bit of starchy aftertaste but can still thicken the pudding depending on the amount you put.
How to Thicken Pudding (Plus What Makes It Watery)
Pudding is a dish that people all across the world love for its light texture and its decadent flavoring. Because of this, many people try to make pudding themselves. When they do this, they find that making pudding isn’t nearly as simple as some people think that it can be.
There are a lot of steps involved in making pudding and there is a lot of technique involved when it comes to making sure that the pudding is just the right texture. With that being said, there are many people out there who struggle with perfecting the texture of the pudding and end up with a slightly watery mess that nobody really appreciates.
Thankfully, there are a few options that these people can turn to so that they can make the best pudding possible with the least amount of trouble.
To put it simply, there are three main methods that you are going to want to pay attention to with the first method being a precautionary step before you invest any money into special ingredients for this special dish.
Trial and Error
Pudding can be quite the finicky dish, which is something that people do not always expect when there are pudding mixes in the stores. Because of this, it can take a fair amount of trial and error to make sure that you are doing everything properly.
The main way to thicken up pudding without adding additional thickeners is to make sure that you are aware of just how much you are mixing it up. If you mix it too vigorously, it can become too watery. If you mix it too little, the ingredients won’t combine the way they should
It can take some effort to try and figure out just how much mixing you should do to get the pudding to your desired thickness. For some people, it might not even be the way that you are mixing the pudding but it might be that you read a recipe wrong and you messed up the ingredients slightly.
If you are working with a pudding recipe for the first time, you should consider looking at just how often you are mixing the pudding and how vigorously you are doing so, and ultimately making sure that you are following the recipe.
This step should always be a first before you add something brand-new to your ingredient list and alter the way the recipe works.
Adding in Something New
There are two main ingredients that you can try adding to your dish to forcefully thicken it up. Which one you choose is completely up to you and neither of them is particularly better than the other option. It all comes down to what is available in your area and what you feel more comfortable adding in.
Your choices are gelatin and a starch-based thickening agent (specific types of flour). Gelatin can be a bit more tedious in terms of measuring out how much gelatin you need and making sure that the gelatin is doing what it should.
On the other hand, the process for adding starch can be a bit more complex for people who are not too used to cooking.