Banana Pudding

We opted for half-and-half instead of milk in our Banana Pudding recipe. If we were going to go to the trouble of making this recipe, we wanted it to be rich and creamy. Roasting the bananas intensified their flavor and helped break them down so we could incorporate them more easily into the pudding. Adding a squeeze of lemon juice to the roasted bananas prevented them from browning in the refrigerator. When building the pudding, we used whole cookies, as crushed cookies disintegrated in the finished dessert. We waited until the pudding cooled a little before layering the cookies. Otherwise, the cookies became sodden and pasty.