BRING the cream cheese to room temperature.

COMBINE the softened cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and instant pudding mix in a large bowl. Mix with an electric hand mixer.

FOLD in the whipped topping or homemade whipped cream.

SLICE the bananas. Sprinkle the sliced bananas with lemon juice (or Fruit-Fresh, a fruit preserving powder often found in the canning section of the grocery store). This is optional but will help prevent the bananas from browning.

LAYER the Chessmen cookies in a single layer on the bottom of a 9 X 13 glass pan or another square or rectangular pan.

STACK the banana slices on top of the cookies. I like to make a dense layer of slices close together since there will only be one layer of bananas.

SPREAD the pudding mixture on top of the bananas. Use the whole cream cheese combination. This is the primary part of the banana pudding recipe.

FINISH by layering the remaining cookies on the pudding. Make sure the cookies face the direction you want and that the imprint is face-up.

COVER the banana pudding with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but 4 is even better. You want the cream cheese to firm up for easy cutting.

FREEZE for 30 minutes before cutting, so the pudding is very firm.

CUT the cheesecake along the lines of the cookie. The first piece will be the hardest to get out.

REFRIGERATE leftovers for up to 4 days.