Make sure that you’ve made the caramel sauce start to finish and are in the process of cooling the caramel. Then make the vanilla wafers.

First, preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Measure out all ingredients.

Whisk the vegan butter, sugar, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla extract together in a medium bowl. Add in the flour, baking powder, and sea salt, and use a rubber spatula to fold the dry into the wet.

Use a 1 tbsp cookie dough scoop and scoop a cookie dough ball. Roll it between your palms and lightly press it into almost a patty shape. Repeat for the remaining dough. You should make 18-20 cookies.

Place the baking sheet into the oven to bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the vanilla wafers are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool while you make the pudding.

Reserve ¼ cup of the soy milk and set aside. In a large pot, and NOT heated right now, whisk together the remaining soy milk, sugar, vanilla extract and bean paste, and sea salt. SIFT in the cornstarch and chickpea flour to the ¼ cup of soy milk, and whisk until the cornstarch is dissolved into the soy milk. Then pour the slurry into the main pot, and whisk until combined. Turn the heat onto medium heat, and continue to whisk the mixture until it starts to bubble and thicken. It won’t boil, but once it starts to gently bubble, reduce the heat to low, and continue whisking until it’s noticeably thickened.

Remove the pudding from the heat and stir in the butter. It will melt and integrate into the vegan vanilla pudding. Place a piece of parchment paper over the top of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming while you gather the banana pudding ingredients for assemble. Set the pudding aside.

You can either make this into banana pudding cups (about 4-5 individual cups) or make as one large classic style vegan banana pudding in an 8×8 casserole dish (NOT a brownie pan). First slice the banana. Then add a layer of the vanilla pudding to the casserole dish or individual cups, followed by the caramel, sliced banana, and vanilla wafers (either whole or crumbled up). Repeat for a second layer.

Finish with any extra vanilla wafers and banana coins. Place the casserole dish or individual cups into the fridge to set for 1-2 hours, until the pudding has cooled.

When ready to serve, finish with whipped cream and cookie crumbles. Serve and enjoy!