Vanilla Wafer Pudding Recipe With Pineapple
A close cousin to our vanilla wafer homemade banana pudding recipe, our vanilla wafer pudding with pineapple is just as delicious with a light sunshiney sweetness that perfectly complements the custard pudding texture.
Banana pudding is a popular dessert in the South, but today I’m sharing a great substitution for bananas with this pineapple vanilla wafer pudding recipe. Crushed pineapple is the perfect substitution for that fresh banana flavor and the lightly sweet taste perfectly complements the homemade custard. Add that toasted fluffy meringue topping and crunchy Nilla wafers and you have what I call a delectable dessert!
This is great when folks don’t care for bananas or if you don’t have any on hand, since canned pineapple is nice and shelf-stable. Banana pudding aficionados don’t skip a beat when you place this before them either. My kids can attest to that and they usually don’t like pineapple but they love this vanilla pudding!
Keep on scrolling, because this post is full of helpful tips. Today you’ll also learn:
- How easy it is to make a pudding custard from scratch. Now, y’all know one of my favorite baking shortcuts is using instant pudding mix. But today I’m forgoing an instant vanilla pudding mix to show you how easy it is to make a homemade custard.
- How to make a perfect meringue with ingredients you have on hand.
Now let’s make some vanilla wafer pudding with pineapple!
Recipe Ingredients
- Vanilla wafers
- Flour
- Milk
- Sugar
- Crushed pineapple
- Eggs
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Vanilla Wafer Pudding
To begin making your custard, crack and separate your eggs: whites in one bowl and yolks in the other.
Don’t let ANY of those yolks slip into your whites
It is important that you not get any yolks in your whites because we are going to whip those up into a meringue later and if they have yolks in them, it won’t work. However, if you do get yolks in them, you can just go ahead and leave the meringue off and serve it plain or with a whipping cream topping as well.
In a medium saucepot, combine your milk, flour, sugar, and eggs.
Place this over medium heat and stir constantly until it is smooth, creamy, and thickened.
This will probably take 10-15 minutes so you can use this time to call your Mama!
Once that is all thick and creamy and delicious, pour in your vanilla extract.
Yum diddly custard pudding!
Place half of the vanilla wafer cookies in the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish.
Spread half of the crushed pineapple (undrained) over this.
Pour half of the pudding mixture over.
Add the rest of the wafers.
The rest of the crushed pineapple…
and the rest of the pudding mixture.
How to Make Your Meringue
Place egg whites in a perfectly clean mixing bowl. Beat egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
This means that when you pull the beaters out of it, there is a peak of meringue sticking up where the beaters were and it collapses down a little after you remove the beaters.
Add sugar and beat until still peaks form.
This means that when you pull the beaters out of it, there is a peak of meringue sticking up where the beaters were and it stays sticking up.
You can see photos of making meringue on this post.
Spread the meringue over the top of your pudding, taking care to make sure it touches the sides of the pan on all sides.
This prevents it from pulling back from the sides while it bakes.
Place in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes or just until the meringue is lightly brown. Check it often while cooking.
I prefer to serve this immediately while it is still warm but you can wait a bit or even serve it cold later. But please try warm and fresh first!
Before you dig in, take a moment to close your eyes, bow your head, and give thanks for all of your blessings.
Enjoy 🙂
Storage
Now, custard never freezes well, so I don’t recommend freezing leftovers. But you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge instead for up to 4 days.
Recipe Notes
- Remember these two important meringue tips. First, your mixing bowl has to be totally clean because if there is any greasy residue it will keep the meringue from setting up. Second, remember NO egg yolks or the meringue won’t work.
- If you want to forgo the meringue, simply serve the vanilla wafer pudding with homemade whipped cream or Cool Whip instead.
- Substitute the vanilla wafer cookies for graham crackers or chessmen cookies.
- Swap the pineapple for another fruit, like if you want to make a traditional or canned peaches.
Recipe FAQs
What vanilla wafers should I use?
My mother says you have to buy a name-brand box and I do agree with her, they really are the best. However, if my budget doesn’t allow it, I have no problem with buying generic at 50% of the cost of the name brand. Once you drown them in this yummy pudding, no one will know the difference unless you tell them.
You may also like these delicious dessert recipes:
How To Make Homemade Banana Pudding From Scratch
Frozen Southern Banana Pudding Cups
Homemade Banana Pudding Recipe With Meringue Topping
Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Super Moist)
Chocolate Vanilla Wafer Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar or Swerve
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- dash salt
- 1 box vanilla wafers
- 1 can crushed pineapple 20-ounce, undrained
Meringue
- 3 egg whites
- 1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
- Place the egg yolks, milk, 1/2 cup of sugar, flour, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, cook until thickened (about 15-20 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, 3 egg yolks, 2 cups milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, dash salt
- Place half of the wafers in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish. Spread 1/2 of the crushed pineapple on top, cover with 1/2 of the custard, and repeat.1 box vanilla wafers, 1 can crushed pineapple
- Place egg whites in a clean mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form (see post for more clarification on this). Add sugar and beat again until stiff peaks form. Spread over the top of the pudding and take care to make sure the meringue touches the sides all around. Place in a 350-degree oven until the top is lightly brown (about 15 minutes).3 egg whites, 1/4 cup sugar
- Best if served warm.
Notes
- No yolks in the meringue mix or it won't work.
- Make sure the mixing bowl for the meringue doesn't have any grease in it or the meringue won't set.
- If you don't want the meringue, the vanilla wafer pudding tastes great with whipped cream on top too.
Nutrition
“Integrity is Christlike character in work clothes.”
~Unknown. Submitted by Ashanti Hoskins. Click here to read more or submit your own.
Banana pudding and really any pudding is one of my comforting favorites. If you want to level up on the pudding game, use pepperidge farm chessmen instead of nilla wafers.. You will be mind blown 🙂
I will have to give that a try Kylie, thanks for sharing!!!
My mother used pineapple all the time if the bananas were too green and the kids just couldn’t wait:)
I wonder how coconut would be? Or, all three? It would be a Piña Colada pudding!
Hmmm. Now I’ll have to try it. I love those the flavors combined or alone. Vanilla pudding and vanilla wafers never fail to be wonderful. The fruit merely elevates it.
Oohh, let me know how it turns out if you try it!!
‘I got in a habit, which is easy to do, of looking for the negative.’ Me too, me too. Gonna make a practice of your experience now and strongly hope this would work with me too.
You can do it Tattie!!!
Oh yum! Christy, I agree with you about the vanilla wafers. I have the Nabisco wafers to be of lesser quality and many wafers are broken. I have found the store and generic brands to have a good flavor and to be of good quality with fewer broken wafers.
I hope you get the chance to make it soon Patricia!!!
Hi Christy,
We love your recipes and use them often but I was disappointed because I was not able to print or even view the 30 free recipe cards that you offered.
Hey Linda! I’m so sorry you are having problems with this. The document is a simple pdf file, which is pretty much universal on computers at this point: easiest option to open and print. It may be that you don’t have a pdf reader on your computer. If that is the case, it would prevent both of these from happening but you can download it free at adobe.com. Hope this helps!
Dear Christy,
You are often an inspiration to me and this post was no different. My daughter has recently left another rehab (heroin) and I had to tell her I couldn’t have her in my life if she continues to use. This was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do but reading this post reminds me that I have so much to be grateful for. My marriage is solid, my other two children are happy and healthy and I have a wonderful and loving family. Thanks for your words, recipes and love.
~~Mary
I can’t even begin to imagine the depth of your pain, but you are correct, you still have MUCH to be grateful for! I will put your daughter on my prayer list as well as the rest of the family.
Christy I love all puddings. Have a favorite persimmon pudding. It is a James Beard award recipe that’s easy to make, I think. I also like the pineapple pudding and I make a coconut pudding that is made by the same Banana pudding recipe that’s on the box.
Attitude sin is another sin I have wrestled with during my life. I also came to understand that I could chose to have a bad attitude or I could chose to have a good one. Andit works! There is a saying I repeat every day. “when you chose to sin you chose to suffer”. Amen?