Banana Split Parfait

“Your turn,” my friend said to me. He held out a half-empty container of chopped-up Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

I nodded, grabbed it from him, and headed to the back of the store toward the walk-in refrigerator.  Inside the darkness of the chilled room, I knelt down and scooped out the Reese’s candy from the five-gallon plastic bucket on the floor.  It was a tedious process to fill the small container because most of it ended up in my mouth.

Light suddenly consumed the space as the door swung open at a speed that sought to expose.  I was a mouse looking for a hiding place, but I froze with chocolate on my face.  I looked up.  I had been inside too long that my eyes squinted at the presence of danger.  Staring back at me, my manager’s face was an angry red.  His mouth hung open, but he didn’t say a word.  I was the third teenager caught that day with his hand in the cookie jar.

Ever since that year I worked at Dairy Queen – eating candy out of a five gallon bucket - I have gradually lived a healthier lifestyle.  Less sugar.  Less processed foods.  Less buckets.

But I still crave my favorite DQ treat - the Banana Split.

For a natural, healthier version of the banana split, I first whipped up some sugarless vanilla cream, then added it to a jar with layers of fresh strawberries and bananas, and crushed walnuts.  Finally, I topped it off with homemade chocolate sauce made from cocoa powder, vanilla paste, milk, and a just a bit of powdered sugar.

Banana Split Parfait (Low Sugar) recipe by Season with Spice
Makes 3 servings

Ingredients:
Whipped cream:
   One cup heavy whipping cream (36%-40% milk fat content)
   1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp of vanilla extract)
   1/2 tsp corn flour
Chocolate Sauce:
   3 tsp cocoa powder
   4 tsp milk
   2 tsp powdered sugar
   Just a little bit of vanilla paste or vanilla extract
Layers:
   One cup of sliced strawberries
   One cup of sliced bananas
   1/2 cup of crushed walnuts

Process:
1. Whip up sugarless vanilla cream and refrigerate until using (click here for instructions)
2. In a small bowl, add cocoa powder and milk. Mix well with a spoon, until smooth. Add in vanilla paste and powdered sugar, and mix again until smooth.
3. Layer jar with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, walnuts, strawberries, bananas, and whatever other ingredients you would like to add. To re-create the Dairy Queen banana split, add pineapple too.

Notes:
- Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce - aka Hershey’s Corn Syrup Sauce - is more sugar than chocolate, so I highly recommend making a healthier, homemade version.
- This parfait would be delicious with vanilla ice cream too, but I chose whipped cream in order to cut the unnecessary sugar out. And since whipped cream has a lot more air whipped into it than ice cream, you will naturally eat more fruit and nuts than the fatty cream.