Banana & Coconut Cream Parfait.
I go through phases with bananas. I’ll go weeks without eating one at all and then I’ll have two in my smoothie every morning for a year. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables but I’m always craving certain ones more than others.
Well, I’m on a banana thing lately so here’s my creation: banana chocolate coconut cream parfait.
My brother & his girlfriend gave me a HUGE bar of super special dark chocolate or “a chefs tablet” as the Mast Brothers so eloquently put it. Huge. Like 24 ounces huge. I’ve been using it for random things; I melted some down and coated pomegranates and blueberries and also chopped some up and put it in my banana bread. I used it today for my creamy parfait too. Can’t go wrong with chocolate & bananas!
So to prep for this, you’ll have to freeze some overripe, brown and spotty bananas. Peel them, slice them and put them in a freezer bag overnight. I stress the importance of overripe and brown bananas because if you don’t wait long enough, they won’t be sweet enough. The browner, the better.
Also, you’ll have to stick a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight. If you don’t want to use coconut milk you can always top your parfait with rice milk whipped cream which I’ve seen ready made in most grocery stores but I personally prefer to make my own whipped coconut cream.
I loooove bananas and walnuts so I chose to make some layers of walnuts, hemp seeds and a tiny bit of coconut sugar.
I chopped 1/2 c raw walnuts and mixed them with 2 tablespoons hemp seeds and 2 teaspoons coconut sugar.
My banana chocolate layer consists of 2 frozen bananas, 1/3 c almond milk and 1-2 tablespoons of rough chopped dark chocolate. Blend the bananas and milk alone in a high powered blender until smooth and creamy. Add more milk if needed. I like to keep mine thick so I start with as little milk as possible. The vitamix works really well at blending the frozen bananas to an ice cream consistency. After you have your bananas as smooth as possible, hand mix in the chocolate but don’t blend it. Set your mix in the freezer until all your layers are ready.
To make the coconut whipped cream, take your can of cold coconut milk out of the fridge carefully. Don’t tip it over or shake it. All the thick cream will have risen to the top and the thinner coconut milk will be on the bottom. Scoop out the cream into a small, non-reactive mixing bowl (a chilled bowl is best but it works fine without chilling) without disturbing the thin milk on the bottom. Using a hand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip your cream on high speed until you get it to form peaks. Shouldn’t take longer than 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon maple syrup or whatever liquid sweetener you like and whip it in as well. Taste and make sure it’s sweet enough for your liking!
Make as many layers of each as you want, until you run out. I like to top it all with a little fresh or frozen fruit, for contrast as well as some tartness! Raspberries, strawberries or pomegranate work great. I put a layer of blueberries in the middle there too.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Eat More Plants. 
2 Responses to “Banana & Coconut Cream Parfait.”
This sounds so yummy!
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