If you love bananas and vanilla wafers and vanilla caramel pudding, this will knock your socks off!
 
CRUST
 
Vanilla wafers, finely ground to yield two cups
(I used the home-made vanilla wafers I made the other day)
7 tablespoons butter, melted
 
Using a food processor, mix the ground graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until well blended.
 
Press mixture into a nine-inch deep-dish pie plate, pressing all around with your fingers and pushing the edges up until the crust evenly lines the pan.
 
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10 minutes or until bubbly and a rich brown color. Cool. (You can cool the crust in the freezer while you made the pudding.)
 
PUDDING
 
5 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
2 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons cold salted butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 medium-size ripe bananas, sliced to about 3/8” thick slices (peeled, of course)
 
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the cornstarch and sugar. I used my electric mixer with whisk attachment. (Save the egg whites to make scrambled egg whites for breakfast in the morning!)
 
In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Gradually whisk the milk into the egg yolks until smooth.
 
Transfer the pudding mixture to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly until the pudding is thick, about 3 minutes.
 
Remove from heat and whisk in the cold butter and vanilla.
 
Arrange the bananas in the chilled vanilla wafer crust.
 
Pour the pudding over the sliced bananas. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until chilled, about 4 hours.
 
TOPPING
 
Just before serving, top with a generous layer of fresh cream whipped with 1/2 tsp of fresh vanilla bean seeds & innards and 1 tbsp coconut palm sugar.