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A delicious keto version of the classic banana pudding made with layers of unsweetened whipped cream and keto gluten-free shortbread cookie crumble. You will love this keto banana pudding with less than 1 gram of net carbs per serving!
Is banana pudding keto?
No, the classic banana pudding is not keto-friendly. It’s made of milk, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla wafer cookie, and banana slices. All these ingredients are high in sugar and carbs and are not keto-approved.
How to make keto-friendly banana pudding?
The classic Southern recipe can easily be adapted to create the most delicious keto-friendly banana pudding. The ingredients you need to make a keto low-carb banana pudding recipe are:
Heavy cream – for a dairy-free keto pudding you can replace heavy cream with canned coconut cream. Shake the can before measuring.
Unsweetened almond milk – hemp milk is also a great keto nut-free option
Erythritol or xylitol or any keto-friendly sweetener you like. This recipe works with Monk fruit. Make sure to use my sweetener converter to adjust the amount. Monk fruit, like stevia, is very sweet and you will need a tiny amount to reach the same level of sweetness.
Natural Banana extract – not all banana extracts are equal and have different strengths. That’s why I recommend starting with the minimal amount recommended by the recipe, then adjust to taste.
Vanilla extract
Egg yolk
Whole eggs
Xanthan gum – that’s your pudding thickener, don’t skip it or the pudding won’t be thick at all.
Butter – this adds a boost of creaminess to your pudding. If dairy-free, you can skip this ingredient. the result will be lighter but still delicious.
Ingredients at room temperature
First, gather all your ingredients and bring the eggs at room temperature. This is an important step to avoid cooking the eggs in the hot milk in the next steps of the recipe.
Egg mixture
Before you start, beat the eggs and erythritol (or any keto sweetener you like), and xanthan gum together until well combined. It is important that you sprinkle xanthan gum into the bowl to avoid lumps, don’t add the gum all at once.
Set the bowl aside while you warm the milk and heavy cream.
Warm milk and cream
In a saucepan, over medium heat, warm unsweetened almond milk, and heavy cream together. Stir constantly to avoid having the mixture overflowing the pan or burning. After 2 minutes, remove from heat.
Temper the eggs
Scoop 2 tablespoons of the warm milk mixture and stir one at a time into the egg mixture bowl. This step brings the egg mixture to the perfect temperature, preventing the eggs from cooking in the hot milk.
Bring the egg mixture into the saucepan
Now that the egg mixture is lukewarm, you can pour into the saucepan along with the hot milk/cream mixture.
Return to heat
Continue to cook under low heat for 5-8 minutes until the mixture thickens and covers the back of the spoon.
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If the mixture is not thick enough, sprinkle some extra gum all over the sauce, stirring at the same time to incorporate.
Don’t add more than 1/2 teaspoon of gum or the pudding will be slimy.
Adding butter and flavoring
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in fresh butter, vanilla, and banana extract.
Stir in until the butter is fully melted and test the pudding flavor to check if it matches your linking. You may want to increase the banana extract flavoring depending on its strength.
Always add by 1/4 extra teaspoon, stir and taste. Adjust until it reaches the banana flavor you love.
Can I use real bananas in my keto pudding?
No, you can’t use real banana in this keto banana pudding if you want to keep the carbs low!
Bananas are one of the highest-carb fruits and not a keto-approved fruit to stay in ketosis.
Therefore, it’s not recommended to add real banana puree to flavor your keto pudding. Instead, I am using natural banana extract, it contains no carbs, no sugar and a real banana flavor.
How to store the keto banana pudding?
This sugar free banana pudding keto recipe must be stored in the fridge, in a sealed jar. Or, you can use a simple mixing bowl covered with plastic wrap.
It is important to cover the container to prevent the formation of a film on top of the pudding.
This recipe stores for up to 3 days in fridge. You can also freeze your pudding in small sealed containers and thaw in the fridge overnight.
How to assemble?
This easy keto banana pudding can be served in many ways :
Plain – serve 1/2 cup of this recipe, plain no toppings or layering.
Layered – the classic banana pudding recipe is assembled with a layer of banana slices, whipped cream, and vanilla nilla wafers. All these ingredients are high in carbs and you can’t use them to assemble this keto banana pudding. Instead, use unsweetened whipped cream and one batch of my keto vanilla shortbread recipe crumbled into pieces.
How much carbs in keto pudding?
This keto banana pudding has a low-carb count per serving.
The serving size is half a cup of this recipe. It contains only 0.9 grams of net carbs, but it’s very fulfilling with its 11 grams of fat and 120 kcal. Jump to the recipe below for full nutrition information.
If you opt for the layered pudding, you would need:
Ground chia seed pudding with Almond milk is a smooth chocolate peanut butter healthy dessert or breakfast. Easy, gluten-free, vegan, low carb, keto, and whole30!
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Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together: egg yolk, whole egg, erythritol, and xanthan gum that you gently sprinkle on top – don't add all the gum at once to avoid lumps! Whisk until fully combined. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat unsweetened almond milk and heavy cream over medium heat. Bring to a simmer for 3-4 minutes and stir often to prevent the liquid from overflowing the saucepan.
Remove the saucepan from heat. Scoop 1 tablespoon of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk vigorously to combine. Repeat this step once, stirring 1 extra tablespoon of hot milk into the egg mixture. This step is very important, it brings the eggs to a lukewarm temperature and prevents the hot milk from 'cooking' the eggs.
Now that the egg mixture is tempered with milk, pour the egg mixture from the bowl into the saucepan, stir and return to medium-low heat (don't boil!).
Cook for 5-7 minutes, gently stirring, until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
You can sprinkle an extra 1/4 teaspoon of gum if not thick to your liking but keep in mind that the pudding will keep thickening while cooling down.
Once thickened, remove from heat and stir in the fresh butter, vanilla extract, and banana extract.
Test the pudding sweetness and flavor. Adjust the amount of banana extract to taste. Add extra 1/4 teaspoon at a time, stir and taste. You can add up to 1 extra teaspoon, depending on the strength of your banana extract.
Pour the banana pudding into a wide bowl to steam out and cool. Stir every 10 minutes to prevent skin from forming on top.
When cool, about 20 minutes later, place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour or until chilled before serving or assembling
Serving – Assembling ideas
Serve 1/2 cup of chilled banana pudding per person, plain or with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream on top. To make a layer as seen in my picture, add banana pudding, unsweetened whipped cream, and crumble of my keto shortbread cookie recipe (I am using 3 cookies per serving). Top with unsweetened whipped cream and sliced almonds.
Storage
Store in the fridge the assembled dessert. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, for 4-8 hours before serving.
Dairy-free option:
Replace heavy cream with canned coconut cream. Shake can before measuring. Note that this option adds a coconut flavor to your pudding.
You can omit butter for the dairy-free option.
Nutrition: the nutrition panel is for 1/2 cup of plain banana pudding.
Hi Carine, Is there a flour other than almond flour that can be used in your bread. It is really difficult to purchase almond flour in Adelaide, Australia. When available,it costs $22 per kilo which is an outrageous price. Cheers Jill
You can make your own sunflower seed flour, blend the seeds in the blender until a fine flour form and use as same amount to replace almond flour. Both options are keto but sunflower seeds are very cheap. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
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Hi Carine, Is there a flour other than almond flour that can be used in your bread. It is really difficult to purchase almond flour in Adelaide, Australia. When available,it costs $22 per kilo which is an outrageous price.
Cheers Jill
You can make your own sunflower seed flour, blend the seeds in the blender until a fine flour form and use as same amount to replace almond flour. Both options are keto but sunflower seeds are very cheap. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
Looks nice