Po'e Recipe: Polynesian Banana Pudding

Try this po’e recipe, a recreation of one of my favorite food discoveries from our honeymoon in Easter Island. Po'e, a Polynesian banana pudding, is a lightly sweetened, dense and fruity dessert, often served with coconut cream. Made with less than five ingredients and super easy to whip up with pantry ingredients!

I think I need a vacation. I know what you're thinking. Are you not off work for Thanksgiving? And were you not in Yellowstone just three months ago? Yes, I know. The wanderlust bug has bit me hard.

Since our next trip is a good 6 months away, I'm making do by reminiscing on past travels, recreating some of our favorite recipes from past trips, including this simple po'e recipe, a Polynesian banana pudding we enjoyed on our honeymoon in Easter Island.

Scott surprised me (and our wedding guests) with the honeymoon destination at our wedding reception. If I didn't already know I had a winner on my hands, I was absolutely positive when he planned two weeks in Chile, including an excursion to the top place in the world I wanted to see, Easter Island! If you've unfamiliar with Easter Island, it's the world's most isolated, inhabited island, 1,100 miles from the nearest inhabited island and 2,300 miles (and an 8 hour plane ride) from the coast of Chile. The big draw, besides the gorgeous volcanic scenery, are the almost 1,000 moai, giant carved figures scattered across the island.

Our second day in Easter Island, we spend the morning horseback riding to the highest point on the island. It was definitely an outing my husband planned solely for my benefit, as I was a horse girl growing up, and my husband had only ridden a horse once before and I’m fairly certain it was a pony at a fair or something like that. Anyway, I had a blast, galloping up the mountain. But Scott somehow was paired with the most OOC horse, which we nicknamed Ricardo Roberto (aka Ricky Bobby) for it’s desperate need to be in front of all the other horses, often putting my poor husband with zero riding skills, right at the front of the pack.

By the time we got back to town, we were starving. Only one restaurant was still open, and thankfully the food was amazing! We enjoyed much needed cold beers, a plate of scallop carpacchio, and tuna ceviche served with po'e, and this lightly sweetened Polynesian banana budding that we fell in love with.

Vegan Po’e Recipe: Polynesian Banana Pudding

I was desperate to find a good po’e recipe when I got back home, and I was really excited to stumble across this one from Polynesian Kitchen, and to realize it was a lot easier than I thought! Usually it is made with bananas, but there are also versions made with mango and papaya. With only four ingredients, it couldn't be any simpler. Right out of the oven, it's a little fluffier and lighter, but the way we had it was room temperature. I loved the idea of serving this po’e recipe dessert style along with whipped coconut cream.

I adapted the po’e recipe slightly to use regular all-purpose flour instead of arrowroot flour, since it’s what I had on hand. But if you have arrowroot, or can’t eat gluten, try that instead.

While I serve this recipe as a dessert, we originally had it as a side dish for ceviche, so feel free to serve it along with savory dishes as well!

This po’e recipe has been updated to give you the best possible content.

Polynesian Banana Pudding - Po'e

Ingredients:

4 cups mashed bananas, from about 6-8 bananas
1/2 cup honey or brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
Coconut oil
Coconut milk or cream, for serving

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Blend together bananas, honey, flour, vanilla and salt in a food processor until pureed.
Spread a little coconut oil in a medium-large baking dish. Pour in batter. Bake 35-40 minutes until firm. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve warm, or chill in the refrigerator. Slice or cube then drizzle with coconut cream or milk before serving.