Banana Eclair Cake has layers of vanilla pudding, cinnamon graham crackers and fresh banana. Topped with a sweet cinnamon glaze, this no bake dessert is a huge summer hit!
Some of the best desserts aren’t made in the oven. This No Bake Lemon Cheesecake and these No Bake Churro Bars are two more recipes you’ll love for summertime and beyond.
Why this Recipe Works
Our classic eclair cake is simply delightful. But sometimes you need to shake things up!
Today’s banana eclair cake reminds me of bananas fosters, with the caramelized banana glaze!
Served chilled, Banana Eclair Cake is sweet, refreshing and packed with the sweetness of fresh banana slices. No imitation flavor in this banana dessert!
- Creamy vanilla filling. Just like a cream puff!
- Made with real banana for best fresh flavor.
- Cinnamon glaze provides the perfect finishing touch.
- Easy recipe that won’t heat up your kitchen.
Love today’s version? You’ve got to try our strawberry eclair cake next.
Ingredient Notes
- Cool whip gives the filling a light, fluffy consistency. The stabilizers in thawed whipped topping help the filling firm up a bit when chilled, so the cake is easy to slice. Try our homemade cool whip if you prefer!
- Bananas– fresh bananas give delicious flavor to today’s cake.
- Instant French vanilla pudding mix adds rich vanilla flavor and perfect creaminess to the filling in this Banana Eclair Cake. If you can’t find French Vanilla, go ahead and use regular vanilla pudding mix.
- Cinnamon graham crackers enhance the taste of the bananas and add a delightful crunchy element to the otherwise smooth cake.
Tips and Tricks
- When layering the graham cracker on top of the bananas, place them upside down so that the cinnamon sugar side of the cracker is touching the banana. As the cake chills out in the fridge, the cinnamon sugar caramelizes on the bananas. I found this out by accident. A very happy accident.
- Give your cake plenty of time to chill. I suggest a minimum of 4 hours. The goal is to allow the grahams to soften. They taste better, and they CUT better once soft. You can even make this the night before!
- When cutting, use a serrated knife. It helps cut through the grahams a little better. Don’t expect each piece to be served in a beautiful presentation. They will slide, and fall, and it’s OKAY.
So now that you have the perfect Father’s Day dessert…or 4th of July potluck recipe…good luck not eating it all yourself!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can use real whipped cream if you prefer. I found that the filling doesn’t get quite as firm because of the absence of stabilizers that Cool Whip has.
For more banana flavor, try this recipe with banana pudding mix instead! Regular vanilla pudding works well here too.
This cake should be stored in the fridge whenever you aren’t eating or serving it. Ideally, leave it at room temperature no longer than 20 or 30 minutes.
No Bake Banana Eclair Cake is best enjoyed within 3 days.
More Easy Cake Recipes
- Applesauce Cake
- Coconut Cake
- Pistachio Eclair Cake: Such a fun twist with pistachio pudding!!
- Peanut Butter Eclair Cake: made with chocolate grahams, peanut butter, and Reeses. This should solve all cravings!
- Banana Pudding Poke Cake
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Banana Eclair Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 box cinnamon graham crackers (whole) 14.4 ounce
- 2 boxes instant french vanilla pudding ** 3.4 ounce each
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 12 ounce Cool Whip thawed
- 6 fresh bananas sliced thin
For the glaze:
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the instant pudding with the milk. Whisk together for several minutes until smooth. Allow to thicken, about 5 minutes. Fold in the Cool Whip and set aside.
- In the bottom of a 13×9 baking dish, place a single layer of cinnamon crackers (cinnamon side UP). You may have to break some of the crackers to fit, don’t worry if they overlap.
- Pour half of the pudding mixture over the crackers. Top with half of the sliced bananas.
- Place the next layer of crackers over the bananas, cinnamon side DOWN. Top with the remaining pudding mixture and remaining bananas.
- Place the final layer of crackers over the bananas, cinnamon side DOWN.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth. Pour slowly over the top layer of crackers. Refrigerate cake for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Slice and serve. Store remaining cake in refrigerator for up to 3 days. ENJOY.
Notes
- **If you can’t find the instant french vanilla pudding mix, just use the instant vanilla instead.
I love this idea! My husband is nuts for banana anything, so this is perfect . I accidentally bought the cinnamon grahams this summer and they were fantastic. It added a really great flavor to what I was making. I feel weird talking about depth of flavor with a boxed graham cracker, but it’s real, lol.
It’s so real, LOL 🙂
omg this would be my mom’s DREEEAM-she’s also a big cinn grahams fan and always all about banana desserts!! love it!
I think next time you need something from mom, you butter her up with this cake 🙂
OOoohhh, looks so yummy!!! 🙂
This looks DELICIOUS!!!
Man, I love this idea! Banana is one of my favorite dessert flavors, how did you know?! 😉 Gotta love genius readers, right?!
Haha, wish we could enjoy this together 🙂
Looks so yummy!!!! Will try it.
In your notes the first one said, (when layered the cake, place the grahams on top of the bananas upside down. So that the cinnamon sugar side of the cracker is touching the graham.) Do you mean cracker touching the banana??? I kept reading and that is the way I think you mean.
Cracker touching banana. Yes.
I love the idea of these banana eclairs along with the cinnamon graham crackers (and I´m sure your hubby didn´t mind too much since he get to taste this *smile*). I also love the idea of pairing it with peanut butter. YUM!
I loved cinnamon graham crackers as a kid too. I could just sit and eat those babies all day long. This eclair cake looks delicious and my hubby would love so love this. I totally take a fork with me to the fridge for just “one” bite. hehe.
This looks so refreshing! I love the cool banana and chocolate combo 🙂
Your elcair cakes are my favorite! Love this banana version inspired by your reader 🙂 The cinnamon graham crackers are such a delicious idea too!
I am kiiiiiinda loving this cake!!
What a fun way to incorporate a reader idea with your awesome baking skills. Well no bake skills really 🙂 I love the banana and cinnamon layers going on here!!! Perfect picnic food right there!
I would never guessed that this cake is no bake, there are no excuses noy to make it in this case, love the flavor and how creamy it is!
That cinnamon glaze does it for me. Wow.
Readers DO have the best ideas, and it’s great when they share. You adapted her idea really nicely. And next time, you can try the PB/banana!
I love this. The filling looks so incredible! 🙂
OOOh! I totally need this eclair cake in my life! Thanks for sharing it looks amazing!
That eclair filling looks amazing! Such a simple dessert that is perfect for summer!
I loved those Cinnamon Graham Crackers as a kid too, Michael has good taste 🙂 Loving everything about this summer dessert!
Aimee this looks amazing! Pinned and this is going in the must make file! Thanks for sharing.