Gingersnap Banana Pudding

Happy Superbowl Sunday, foodie friends!

Let's be honest, my favorite things about football is the tailgate. Football gatherings mean delicious food and a good excuse to have some afternoon cocktails. I have a lot of spirit - I'll wear the colors and call the Dawgs (WHO'S THAT COMING DOWN THE TRACK??), and cheer just as loud as the people who know what's going on. But do I know what's going on? Usually not. Oops! My dad is from Massachusetts which makes me a Patriots fan by blood (sorry, Atlanta), so today I will be wearing my red white and blue... yes, including red wine stains. This banana pudding recipe is perfect for all get-togethers involving football or otherwise. It's something that I dreamed up while trying to incorporate two of my boyfriend's favorite desserts for his birthday a couple years ago - gingersnap cookies and anything with bananas in it. The gingersnaps are a delicious cinnamon-y twist in an otherwise pretty standard banana pudding masterpiece. I get asked to make this on the regular and I think you will find that you do too (which is no problem because it's super easy)!

Ingredients:

- 4 large bananas, sliced into 1/4 inch pennies
- 1 large tub cool whip
- 2 large boxes of vanilla pudding
- 6 C milk
- 1 box vanilla wafers
- 1 box gingersnap cookies

1 large 9x13 pan- the deeper the better!

Instructions:

- Set out your cool whip to thaw
- Whisk both boxes of pudding with your milk for a couple of minutes until soft set
- Layer your cookies, alternating types, over the bottom of the pan in a single layer
- Spoon about 1/3 of your pudding over the cookie layer, making sure to cover each cookie
- Layer bananas side by side in a single layer over the pudding
- Spread a thin layer of cool whip over the bananas once it's thawed enough to spread
- Start again with your cookies and repeat layers until you've reached the top of the pan

*I usually use a foil pan so I can bring it and leave it at a party without worrying about my dishes. I like to get a large deep foil roasting pan to maximize layers. For this one, I fit in three full layers of everything except for the bananas. The last layer is just cookies, pudding and a top layer of cool whip. If you want it to be extra pretty and your pan is big enough, you could put a third layer of bananas on the top immediately before serving so they don't turn brown.

*This pudding is best made about 24 hours before serving so your cookies and get nice and soft.

Enjoy!!