I love pumpkins. Even after the holidays are long gone, they are still on my mind and in my heart. The internet is usually flooded with bloggers posting all of their favorite pumpkin recipes, so I waited until just outside of the holidays to share one of my favorites with you. This recipe only takes a few short minutes to make, is relatively healthy and is so incredibly delicious. I picked up all of my ingredients listed below at my local Whole Foods Market, but you can pick up most of them (other than the Engine 2 product) in your local grocer.
Before I dive into the materials for this masterpiece, can I first say how much I love the word “parfait!?” What a great word. Not only does it sound good when you say it…it FEELS good too. It sounds like a delicious dessert that I want to eat. I even looked up the definition. It is basically layers of delicious dessert goodness, typically a combination of ice cream and fruit. If I were to do the ice cream version it would have to be with organic fruit and coconut ice cream, but for this parfait we are going to use my favorite aforementioned friend…pumpkin.
To get started you have to find some pumpkin. You could get a pumpkin and scrape it out and make it yourself, but I don’t have time for that, so I get in in a can with BPA-Free lining and call it a day! In fact, I don’t even get just plain pumpkin…I get the pumpkin pie filling in a can. It is a bit darker because it already has added sweetener in it so there is even less for me to do when I am in a hurry to make a slightly healthy, sweet treat for my family.
The next ingredient is a discovery I made not too long ago. I think that this past holiday season, So Delicious came out with a coco-whip product. You can find it in the freezer section in most stores next to the dairy cool whip. Folks, when I tell you that this stuff is good, I am not exaggerating. I could eat the entire thing in one sitting with a spoon! For this recipe, if you do store it in the freezer, you might want to leave it out for a few minutes so that it is able to scoop out easily. It only takes a few minutes as it does thaw fast.
The final ingredient is simple. Rip Esselstyn and the Engine 2 Diet brand have some incredible products that I fully endorse. One of the products that I know, love and eat everyday is the Rip’s Big Bowl cereal that is available exclusively at Whole Foods. It is a combination of whole oats, raisins and other goodies all mixed together so all you have to do is pour and add whatever you want to it. In the morning I add almond or coconut milk and a sliced banana and eat it for breakfast. For this recipe, I pour a bit into a bowl and add some maple syrup (the fourth and final ingredient).
Once you have all your ingredients, all you have to do is find a tall, skinny glass to serve them in and combine the products. I start with a layer of Rip’s cereal and maple syrup and then add a layer of pumpkin pie filling and then finally the coco-whip. Repeat those steps one more time and you’ve got yourself a pumpkin creme parfait that will make you the talk of the town! Happy dessert-ing!
