Soft, buttery banana pudding drop cookies topped with creamy banana frosting and packed with classic banana pudding flavor. These easy cookies are made with pudding mix for extra softness and are perfect anytime you're craving a nostalgic Southern-style dessert.
Ingredients
- Butter
- White Granulated Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Banana Extract
- Large Egg
- All-Purpose Flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- 3.1-Ounce Box of Instant Banana Cream Pudding Mix
- Nilla Wafers
- Salt
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
- Yellow Food Coloring or Icing Gel
How to Make Banana Pudding Drop Cookies
Banana Pudding Drop Cookies
- Crush Nilla wafers in a food processor until fine crumbs.
- Cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in banana extract and egg.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, pudding mix, crushed Nilla wafers, and salt. Mix just until combined.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone mat. Do not use nonstick cooking spray, as this can cause cookies to spread.
- Using a 1½ tablespoon cookie scoop, add mounds of dough to the baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet in the fridge for 1 hour to chill. Do not skip this step; this prevents the cookies from spreading.
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Remove the baking sheet from the fridge and place it directly into the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are lightly golden, but the centers are still soft.
- Let the cookies cool completely.
Banana Buttercream Frosting
- While they bake, make the frosting. Beat butter until creamy, about 4 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar gradually.
- Mix in banana extract, milk, pudding mix, and salt until fluffy.
- Using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop or a spoon, add dollops of frosting to each cooled cookie. Top with half of a Nilla wafer.
FAQ
Mashed banana adds excess moisture, a cakey texture, and faster spoilage. Whereas the banana pudding mix gives more flavor, softness, bakery texture, and stability.
You might want to add more banana pudding mix. However, too much pudding mix can alter the texture by making cookies gummy, overly soft, and pale.
Instant pudding mix adds flavor, softness, and moisture to the cookies and frosting. Cook-and-serve pudding mix is formulated differently and may make the cookies gummy, dense, grainy, and less flavorful overall.
Pull them out when the centers still look slightly soft. They continue baking on the baking sheet and stay chewy.
The dough can be prepared and kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours before baking.
The cookies can be baked 1-2 days ahead and frosted before serving. This works especially well if you are topping with Nilla wafers because they can become soggy as they sit in a container of frosted cookies.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
I recommend adding the Nilla wafers to the frosting just before serving. As they sit in a container with the frosting, they get soggy.
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Banana Pudding Drop Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Banana Pudding Drop Cookie
- 6 tablespoons Butter room temperature
- ¼ cup White Granulated Sugar
- ⅓ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Banana Extract
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3 tablespoons Instant Banana Cream Pudding Mix 4.3-ounce instant pudding box is enough for both the cookie dough and frosting
- ⅓ cup Finely Crushed Nilla Wafers
- pinch of Salt
Banana Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup Butter room temperature
- 1¼ cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 tablespoons Instant Banana Cream Pudding Mix
- ½ teaspoon Banana Extract
- 1 tablespoons Milk
- pinch of Salt
- 1 drop Yellow Food Coloring or Icing Gel
Instructions
Banana Pudding Drop Cookies
- Crush Nilla wafers in a food processor until fine crumbs.
- Cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in banana extract and egg.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, pudding mix, crushed Nilla wafers, and salt. Mix just until combined.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone mat. Do not use nonstick cooking spray, as this can cause cookies to spread.
- Using a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop, add mounds of dough to the baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet in the fridge for 1 hour to chill. Do not skip this step; this prevents the cookies from spreading.
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Remove the baking sheet from the fridge and place it directly into the oven. Bake for 11-13 minutes until the edges are lightly golden, but the centers are still soft.
- Let the cookies cool completely.
Banana Buttercream Frosting
- While they bake, make the frosting. Beat butter until creamy, about 4 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar gradually.
- Mix in banana extract, milk, pudding mix, and salt until fluffy.
- Using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop or a spoon, add dollops of frosting to each cooled cookie. Top with half of a Nilla wafer.
Notes
- Only use instant pudding mix. Do not use cook-and-serve pudding.
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