Just because you have an allergy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t expect to enjoy your favorite foods. Enjoy every bite of this Lactose Free Gluten Free Banana Pudding…again and again!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #livethefairlife #CollectiveBias

Getting older has its ups and downs. Just about six months ago, my husband was diagnosed with Celiac’s Disease and I discovered that my friend lactose and I were not exactly getting along. So changes in both our diets made for across-the-board changes for the whole family like our favorite summertime treat, banana pudding.

The world of food changes a lot when you take out gluten. And lactose.

That creamy blend of bananas, cream and the crunch as you bite into the vanilla wafer goodness is one of the sweetest simplest joys. And with no gluten and now trying to avoid lactose, banana pudding was going to be real hard to make for the next Saturday BBQ or Sunday afternoon picnic.

Never one to let NO get in my way, I was determined to find a way to make my husband one of his top desserts, now gluten free banana pudding with ‘nilla wafers, y’all.

So after a quick trip to Kroger, off to the kitchen (and to Google) I went, to recreate my mother-in-law’s rich and dreamy banana pudding recipe. With only #7 ingredients, I was able to directly replace all the ingredients including gluten-free flour and fairlife for a pudding that was:

• 50% more protein than regular milk
• 30% more protein than regular milk
• 50% less sugar (versus normal milk)
• that’s lactose free. Whoo-hoo for me (and my stomach!)
• And ultra-filtered to perfection (to understand why that is something you SHOULD care about, check this out!)

And best of all, with fairlife you get all of those benefits without any change in the taste. That’s right, it tastes like “just like milk” because that’s exactly what it is with all the benefits!

As you can see the while family is on board so we have three fairlife milk varieties in our fridge…and I’m only missing the whole milk because I used it for the pudding!  (We kinda like it a lot.)

And of course no ‘nanner pudding would be right without the wafers!

So adapting a gluten recipe, I was added a little fairlife and chia seeds (a great healthy alternative for xanthan gum which helps to thicken recipes using gluten-free ingredients) for a dead-on homemade ringer (that does mean it tastes just like it.)

While developing a recipe for gluten-free vanilla wafers was a little work in progress, I figured out a quarter-sized dollop makes the ideal-sized cookie with the right consistency you expect from your childhood memories.

Normally I’d serve banana pudding in a big trifle bowl and layer it beginning with wafer, banana, pudding and repeat, this time smaller portions of the custard seemed to be the right (basically so I could ensure one of us didn’t eat all of it!)

Quick note: You can make homemade whipping cream using fairlife whole milk by adding gelatin, powdered sugar and a little time in the refrigerator if you wanted to go completely homemade!

I think it’s fair to say that fairlife makes my life (and yours) a whole lot better with all the same ingredients, but better made.

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Lactose & Gluten Free Banana Pudding

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Ingredients

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• For the wafers:
• 1 1/3 cups gluten free flour
• 1/2 teaspoon chia seeds
• dash teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup light brown brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten, room temperature
• 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extra
• 2 tablespoons fairlife whole milk

For the pudding:

• 1 c. sugar
• 3–4 tablespoons gluten free flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fairlife whole milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 1/2 stick butter (4 tablespoons)
• 2 teaspoons butter

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Instructions

1. For the wafers:
2. Preheat oven to 325F. Lay parchment paper on baking sheet to prepare pan.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk flour, chia seeds, baking powder, soda and salt.
4. Next add butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and milk, making sure to beat well. Batter will be thick, but not dry.
5. Scoop nickel to quarter size dollops of dough on pan about 1 inch apart.
6. Then using GF flour or water, flatten cookies slightly so they appear like wafers when cooked.
7. Cook for 15 minutes, remove from oven and cool before serving.

For the pudding:

1. Whisk sugar, flour, and salt in a medium saucepan.
2. Then over low heat, add milk and yolks and stir until mixture begins to bubble.
3. Next add butter and vanilla until it begins to thicken.
4. Store in fridge to cool and get thicker.
5. To prepare, layer pudding, wafers and slice bananas for the best banana pudding ever!

Want more ways to make your menu more fairlife? Check out these recipes!