A whole banana is where most banana pudding gets its sugar. This sugar-free banana pudding uses half a medium banana, 70g of peeled weight, split across eight servings, and that is the whole trick. There is enough of it to taste like banana, and not enough of it to matter.
The wafers are homemade too. There is no packaged vanilla wafer that does this job, so they are baked from blanched almond flour and oat fiber on a sheet pan, and they soften into tender cookie layers while the pudding chills.
Why You’ll Love This Sugar-Free Banana Pudding
Half a banana, eight ways. Seventy grams of peeled banana is the flavor, not the structure. Everything that sets the pudding comes from Neufchatel, 0% Greek yogurt and gelatin, so each 3-fl-oz glass of this sugar-free banana pudding lands at about 158 calories and 4g net carbs.
Homemade vanilla wafers, baked from scratch. Blanched almond flour and oat fiber take the place of wheat, and 10 to 14 minutes at 325°F turns them into 16 thin discs. They are the cookie layer in this sugar-free banana pudding, not a side dish, and after four hours in the fridge they stop being crisp wafers and start being tender cookie.
Neufchatel and 0% yogurt instead of heavy cream. That pairing is where the 9g of protein per serving comes from, and it keeps the texture creamy without turning it rich. If you want the same glass-built dessert with a spiced cookie layer instead of a vanilla one, the sugar-free biscoff-style tiramisu cups are built the same way.
Gelatin sets it, not eggs. A teaspoon and a half of unflavored gelatin bloomed in cold water gives a soft set you can still spoon, which is what keeps this sugar-free banana pudding scoopable rather than rubbery.
Portioned before you start. Eight 3-fl-oz dessert glasses, one per serving, which is the entire reason this sugar-free banana pudding is easy to plan a table around.
Ingredient Notes
The list splits cleanly in two, and the wafers are the half people skip. They are the cookie layer in this sugar-free banana pudding, and they need 10 to 14 minutes in the oven, which is barely longer than the pudding takes to mix.
For the wafers: 56g of blanched almond flour and 6g of oat fiber stand in for wheat flour, 20g of softened butter and one large egg bind them, and 20g of powdered allulose sweetens them. The ½ tsp of alcohol-free vanilla flavor keeps the taste clean without pulling any added sugar into the bowl.
Weigh the oat fiber if you can. Measuring it by volume is the most common reason these turn out dry, and a dry wafer stays dry in the pudding instead of going tender.
For the pudding: 6oz (170g) of Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Neufchatel and 1½ cups (340g) of FAGE Total 0% plain Greek yogurt, both at room temperature. Room temperature is not optional in this sugar-free banana pudding, because cold dairy sets around the gelatin before you can beat it smooth.
Two thirds of a cup (55g) of powdered allulose sweetens the pudding. Allulose is a rare sugar, and the FDA allows it to be left out of the total sugars and added sugars declarations on the Nutrition Facts label. It behaves like sugar here, which is what keeps the texture creamy rather than icy.
Gelatin does the setting: 1½ tsp bloomed in 2 tablespoons of cold water, then warmed gently until it dissolves. Do not boil it.
I check every gram weight on the site against the USDA FoodData Central database, which is where the 340g of yogurt and the 70g of banana come from.
How to Make Sugar-Free Banana Pudding
- Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Line the 18×13-inch baking sheet with parchment.
- Beat the softened butter and 20g of the powdered allulose until creamy. Mix in the egg and ½ tsp of vanilla.
- Stir in the almond flour and oat fiber until evenly combined. Rest the dough 5 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 16 small rounds on the parchment. Flatten with a lightly moistened spoon into thin discs about 1½ inches wide.
- Bake 10–14 minutes until lightly golden and set. Cool completely.
The wafers cool completely before any pudding touches them, and that is what the layers in this sugar-free banana pudding depend on. A warm wafer against cold pudding is a soggy wafer.
- Beat the softened Neufchatel and the 55g of powdered allulose until smooth. Mix in the yogurt, the mashed banana and the 1 tsp of vanilla on low.
- Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water. Bloom 5 minutes, then warm gently until completely dissolved. Do not boil.
- Stir 2–3 tbsp of the pudding into the dissolved gelatin until smooth. Immediately beat this into the remaining pudding on low.
- Place one wafer in each glass, breaking if needed to fit. Divide half the pudding among the glasses. Add a second wafer, then finish with the remaining pudding.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours until softly set. Serve chilled.
Step 8 is the one that catches people. The gelatin goes into a couple of tablespoons of pudding first, and that thin mixture goes back into the bowl, so the whole batch stays smooth instead of turning grainy halfway through.
Success Tips for Sugar-Free Banana Pudding
Five details decide whether this sugar-free banana pudding comes out creamy, and all five come from the method rather than the shopping list.
- Weigh the oat fiber. Too much of it dries the wafers out, and a dry wafer will not soften in the pudding.
- Bring the dairy to room temperature before the gelatin goes in. Cold yogurt seizes the gelatin before it can blend.
- Expect a pale cream color and a mild banana flavor, not a strong one. Half a banana is all this recipe asks for.
- The wafers soften into tender cookie layers as the pudding chills, so judge them raw and pale, not by how they look out of the oven.
- Keep the glasses refrigerated until serving.
Storage
Keep this sugar-free banana pudding refrigerated until serving. That is the instruction the recipe gives, and there is a reason for it: the chilling is what finishes the wafers, turning them from brittle little discs into soft cookie layers.
Make the pudding and the wafers ahead if you like, then cover the glasses and let them sit until you are ready to eat. That is the whole storage story for a sugar-free banana pudding like this one. The at-least-4-hours set in step 10 is the part that has to happen, because the gelatin needs the full time to firm up the whole glass.
FAQ
Why only half a banana?
Because half a banana, 70g of peeled weight across 8 servings, is enough to make this sugar-free banana pudding taste like banana. The structure comes from the Neufchatel, the yogurt and the gelatin, so nothing is missing by using half, and the carbohydrate load stays at about 4g net carbs a serving.
Can I use store-bought sugar-free wafers?
This recipe does not call for them. The vanilla wafers are baked from almond flour, oat fiber, butter, egg, powdered allulose and vanilla in steps 2 to 5, and they are what gives this sugar-free banana pudding its texture during the chill.
How long does it need to chill?
At least 4 hours, which is what step 10 of this sugar-free banana pudding asks for, until the pudding is softly set. Serve it chilled.
Why is the pudding so pale?
That is the expected result. The success notes for this sugar-free banana pudding call for a pale cream color and a mild banana flavor, which is exactly what Neufchatel, 0% yogurt and 70g of banana give you.
What are the nutrition numbers?
Per serving, across 8 servings: about 158 calories, 4g net carbs, 9g protein, 10g fat, 2g fiber and 6g total carbs. Those are estimates.
More Desserts Like This One
The wafer layer is the same idea as the baked cookie crumb in the sugar-free caramel chocolate cheesecake trifle, just without the cocoa and the caramel. And if you would rather bake your dessert than chill it, the sugar-free caramel pear pudding sets in the oven instead. Either way, the layering is what makes a sugar-free banana pudding look like more work than it was.
Sugar-Free Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat oven to 325°F (165°C). Line the baking sheet with parchment.
- Beat butter and 20g powdered allulose until creamy. Mix in egg and ½ tsp vanilla.
- Stir in almond flour and oat fiber until evenly combined. Rest 5 minutes.
- Divide into 16 small rounds on the parchment. Flatten with a lightly moistened spoon into thin discs about 1½ inches wide.
- Bake 10–14 minutes until lightly golden and set. Cool completely.
- Beat softened Neufchatel and 55g powdered allulose until smooth. Mix in yogurt, mashed banana, and 1 tsp vanilla on low.
- Sprinkle gelatin over cold water. Bloom 5 minutes, then warm gently until completely dissolved. Do not boil.
- Stir 2–3 tbsp pudding into the dissolved gelatin until smooth. Immediately beat this into the remaining pudding on low.
- Place one wafer in each glass, breaking if needed to fit. Divide half the pudding among the glasses. Add a second wafer, then finish with the remaining pudding.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours until softly set. Serve chilled.
Notes
- Weigh oat fiber; too much can dry the wafers.
- Keep dairy at room temperature before adding gelatin.
- The wafers soften into tender cookie layers as the pudding chills.
- Expect a pale cream color and mild banana flavor.
- Keep refrigerated until serving.