Lightly spray a 9-inch pie dish with non-stick spray and set aside.

To the bowl of a food processor add the vanilla wafer cookies and granulated sugar. Pulse for 45 seconds to 1 minute or until fine crumbs form.

Remove the cap to the pour spout, with the food processor running, slowly pour the melted butter into the cookie crumbs. Process just until the mixture resembles wet sand.

Transfer the crust mixture into the prepared pie dish, firmly pressing onto the bottom and up the sides in an even layer.

Place the crust into the freezer for 30 minutes to set before adding the banana pudding layer.

Add the thinly sliced banana rounds to the bottom of the chilled pie crust. The bananas should be slightly overlapping but still in a single layer. This will help keep the layers level and will make slicing easier.

In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium speed, cream together the cream cheese and granulated sugar until completely smooth. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the instant vanilla pudding mix and whole milk for 2-3 minutes or until soft set. Let stand 4-5 minutes until thickened but still spreadable.

Once the pudding has thickened, transfer to the bowl with the cream cheese mixture and mix on low speed just until fully combined and no lumps of cream cheese remain.

Fold in ¾ cup of the thawed whipped topping until no white streaks remain.

Transfer the pudding mixture to the pie dish and gently spread into an even layer, being careful not to disturb the banana layer too much.

Top the pudding layer with the remaining whipped topping, being sure to cover the entire pudding layer.

Refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours or up to overnight.

When ready to serve, add a garnish of crushed vanilla wafers and thinly sliced bananas if desired. Do not add banana slices until ready to serve as they will brown as they sit exposed to air.