Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Banana Pudding Poke Cake is made using a yellow cake mix, banana pudding, Cool Whip, and a few other ingredients to create this easy cake recipe that is incredibly moist, and delicious any time of year.

The ingredients used are simple and commonly on hand, so this can be a dessert recipe that you can turn to when you need something to make in a pinch. (Just make sure to allow at least 3 hours of resting time to allow the pudding to absorb in to the cake.)

 

My old fashioned banana pudding recipe is a favorite in our house, so when this banana pudding poke cake made an appearance, I knew it would be a hit. It adds a whole new texture to a banana pudding recipe, and when served cooled, it’s an incredible summer recipe too.

These banana pudding brownies, and this banana pudding dip are two other recipes that tend to show up in the summertime!

Banana Pudding Poke Cake Ingredients

You’ll see below which ingredients are used to make this easy banana cake recipe but I’ll provide notes below on some of the key ingredients.

• Cake Mix – I use a yellow cake mix for this recipe and it’s recommended. However I’m sure a different flavor, such as white, would work well too.
• Pudding – This recipe calls for the 5.1 ounce box. If you can’t find it, you can use 2 of the 3.4 ounce packages with the amount of milk needed to make the pudding on the back of the packages. Make sure your pudding layer on top isn’t too thick though because you’ll want it thin enough to drip down inside of the holes. So once it gets to your desired thickness, stop pouring and enjoy the rest of the pudding as is.
• Bananas – You can omit the bananas. They add a beautiful touch to the cake, but after a few hours the bananas start to brown and it’s not so pretty anymore. Have extra bananas? Consider this banana bread pudding or this banana cream pie.
• Milk – This recipe works with whole milk, skim milk, and oat milk.

How to Make Banana Pudding Poke Cake

It’s very easy to make this poke cake! I’ll walk you through how to put this together!

1. Preheat your oven to 350℉ and grease your baking dish.
2. Make the cake by stirring together the cake mix, 3 eggs, vegetable oil, and water until there are no clumps and it’s smooth.
3. Pour the cake mixture into your dish and bake for about 30 minutes, test with a toothpick to make sure it’s done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. You can either allow it to cool some, or totally before moving forward. Some prefer a warmer cake to add the pudding mixture to (next couple of steps) as a warm cake may allow the pudding to soak in more.
4. While the cake is cooling, make the pudding by whisking together the pudding mix and milk until smooth and letting sit for about 5 minutes to start thickening, then fold in 1 (8 ounce) container of cool whip.
5. Poke small holes in the cake with a fork or bottom of a spoon. (A wooden spoon works great too!) The holes should be as large or small as you want, around ¼” to ½” should be good, but make sure they’re not too close or too far away. About 1 inch apart is great.

6. Pour the pudding mixture onto the top of the cake. There will be plenty on top, that is fine as long as it gets into the holes in the cake. Then allow it to chill in the fridge for 1+ hours.
7. Top with the other Cool Whip and let chill for 2+ hours.
8. Top with vanilla wafers and bananas (if desired – and not concerned about brownies) before serving, and enjoy!

Banana Pudding Poke Cake Tips

• Browning Bananas: If worried about the bananas browning, you can omit those, or even slice them right before serving the cake, and put banana slices on individual slices.
• Additional Topping Ideas: Serve this cake alone or with vanilla ice cream, or even strawberries and chocolate syrup for a banana split flavor. Just keep in mind it’s best to serve strawberries on individual servings, so they don’t “run” and cause red streaks on the top of the whole cake.

How to Store Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Remove the sliced bananas if used, cover the baking dish with plastic wrap, and store in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. Or place the slices of cake in an airtight container and store in the fridge.

More Poke Cake Recipes

Love poke cakes? I do too. Here are some of our favorites:

Recipe