Old Fashioned Banana Pudding

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
5 very ripe bananas
4 egg yolks
2 cups whole milk
1 T butter
Box of Vanilla Wafers
2 tsp vanilla extract

Meringue Topping:
4 egg whites
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Spray a nine by nine inch baking pan with cooking spray and then arrange a layer of vanilla wafers on the bottom. Set aside.

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Drop your egg yolks in a heavy saucepan. Add the flour mixture as well as the milk and vanilla and whisk well so no flour clumps remain. Turn heat on medium low and continue to whisk NON STOP for a solid ten to twelve minutes, or until the custard thickens up to a pudding consistency. This will take awhile. Be patient.

Once it’s thick, immediately take off the stove to cool. Stir in the butter. Chop your bananas and layer half on top of the cookies in the dish. Pour the custard on top. Layer the rest of the bananas, plus more cookies, on top of the custard and push down so that the cookies and bananas sort of sink into the custard a little bit.

Set aside and make your meringue. In a KitchenAid (or an electric hand mixer), beat the egg whites until they are frothy and you can’t see the bottom of the bowl. Gradually add the cream of tartar and the sugar while you continue to beat until thick, glossy peaks occur. This will take about five to six minutes, depending on your mixture.

When you have stiff peaks, turn off the mixer and spread or pipe the meringue on top of the pudding. Bake at 375 for about twelve minutes, or until the top of the meringue is golden brown. Chill for about three hours before serving.