You can look at me and tell I’m an Elvis fan. Here’s why I wear big-collared shirts, rings on every finger, and my sunglasses indoors. I whipped this dish up in hishonor. I make the pudding from scratch, but here’s a shortcut variation for my city girls.
recipe 
yields
Makes 8 to 10 servings
2 (3.4-ounce) boxes of instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups half-and-half
18 (2 sleeves) large graham crackers, as needed
2 cups Better Than Whipped Cream or thawed frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip
1/4 cup Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey, as needed
16 Nutter Butter Cookies (half of a 16-ounce package)
2 large ripe bananas, sliced
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
8 large marshmallows
Scant 1 /3 cup whole milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
ingredients
for the chocolate icing
steps
- Make the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk to dissolve the pudding mix into the half-and-half (it’ll be rich ’n’ thick, like Randy Houser. Yummy). Set aside to thicken, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Arrange half of the graham crackers in the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, breaking as needed to fit.
- Fold the whipped cream or Cool Whip into the pudding. Spread half of the pudding over the graham crackers. Pour the whiskey into a plate or piedish. One at a time, quickly dip each side of the peanut butter cookies into the whiskey (do not soak them), shake off the excess, and arrange over the pudding. Top the cookies with the banana slices, then the remaining pudding. Top with the remaining graham crackers, breaking to fit as before.
- Make the icing: In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter and marshmallows. Whisk in the milk to combine. Remove from the heat. In a separate bowl, sift the powdered sugar and cocoa together. Whisk this powdered sugar mixture into the saucepan until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Pour and spread the icing over the graham crackers. Refrigerate, uncovered, until set, at least 4 hours or overnight. Serve chilled. After the topping is set, the cake can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Date Published: 06.01.26
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Taken from Stand By Your Pan by Hannah Dasher. Copyright © 2026 Photographs by Reactor Media. Used by permission of Harper Celebrate.
