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These parfaits are made with vanilla pudding serving as the base. The hubby’s favorite is banana cream, the son likes plain vanilla and I adore coconut cream.

A vanilla wafer is the base for all three parfaits. Bananas are layered into the banana cream parfait with a sprinkle of vanilla wafer crumbs on top.  Flaked sweeten coconut was mixed into some of the vanilla pudding for the coconut cream and layered over the cookie with a pinch of coconut sprinkled on top. For the plain parfait, vanilla pudding was layered over the cookie and cookie crumbs were sprinkled on top.

These are the favorites at my house. You can easily layer in your favorite ingredients into these parfaits. I picked up some plastic cups at the local party store and made a mixture of half cup and third cup servings.

Please see the recipe card below for exact amounts and directions.

Ingredient Round Up

  • Prepare vanilla pudding. Recipe is here.
  • Vanilla wafers. They come in a reduced fat version if you can find them.
  • Flaked coconut
  • Reddi-wip or some time of whipped topping

Making the Parfaits

  • Make a batch of homemade vanilla pudding. If you prefer, you can use a pudding mix. I cannot eat the Jello sugar free mixes. The sweetner in them is a migraine trigger for me. I have tried the Simply Delish that used erythritol. It is OK but making pudding from scratch is really superior.
  • Remove the pudding from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap.

  • The homemade pudding will be fairly stiff. Use a spoon and give it a good stir. It will initially look lumpy but it really isn’t. It will smooth right out.

  • Place a vanilla wafer on the bottom of a glass or other vessel you will make your parfaits in.

  • Spoon some pudding over the cookie and smooth it out. Layer some banana slices on top of the pudding.

  • Spoon another layer of pudding over the banana slices and smooth it out. Set the cup aside and move on to building the next parfait.
  • To make the coconut cream parfaits, put some of the vanilla pudding into a smaller bowl and add some flaked sweeten coconut and mix it into the pudding.

  • Place a vanilla wafer on the bottom of a glass and spoon the coconut pudding over it. Set the parfait aside and build the next one.
  • Move on to building the vanilla parfaits by placing a cookie on the bottom of the glass and layering the vanilla pudding over it.
  • When you are done building your parfaits, sprinkle crushed vanilla wafers over the top of the banana cream and vanilla parfaits and sprinkle coconut over the top of the coconut cream parfaits.

  • Top each parfait with Reddi-wip or some other type of whipped topping and serve.

Serving Ideas

  • These parfaits are easy to customize.
  • Use your favorite ingredients to build them. Instead of bananas or coconut you can use strawberries or blueberries or perhaps peaches.
  • You can build larger parfaits or smaller ones.
  • They can be prepared in simple plastic glasses or in crystal stemware making them suitable for home meals or holiday or special celebrations.

WW – banana cream or vanilla cream parfait – 1/3 c serving is 2 pt; 1/2 c serving is 3 pt

WW – coconut cream parfait – 1/3 c serving is 4 pt

Parfaits 3 Ways: Banana Cream, Coconut Cream, Vanilla Cream

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Prep Time: 20 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 7 1/2 c servings
Calories: 103.7kcal

Equipment

  • Rolling Pin

Ingredients  

Prepared Recipe of Vanilla Pudding

  • 1 small banana
  • vanilla wafers, 1 per parfait
  • 5 vanilla wafers crushed for crumbs
  • 1 tbsp coconut, this is enough to make 2 servings
  • 1 tsp coconut to sprinkle on top

Instructions

Vanilla Wafer Crumbs

  • Put 4-5 vanilla wafers in a small plastic bag. Use a rolling pin to crush them to make crumbs. I used 5 cookies and topped 6 parfaits and had a lot of crumbs left. Set aside.

Banana Parfaits

  • Put a vanilla wafer in the bottom of the glass. Put ¼ cup of pudding over the cookie.
  • Put 2-3 slices of banana on top of the pudding.
  • Cover the banana slices with another ¼ c of pudding. Smooth out the top. Sprinkle some cookie crumbs on the top of the pudding.

Vanilla Parfaits

  • Put a vanilla wafer in the bottom of the glass. Put ½ cup of pudding over the cookie.
  • Smooth out the top. Sprinkle some cookie crumbs on the top of the pudding.

Coconut Parfaits

  • Put ⅔ c of vanilla pudding in a small bowl and mix in the coconut.
  • Put a vanilla wafer in the bottom of the glass. Put ⅓ cup of coconut pudding over the cookie.
  • Smooth out the top. Sprinkle some coconut on the top of the pudding.
  • Top all of the parfaits with a dollop of Reddi-wip or other whipped topping of your choice and serve.
  • Refrigerate left over pudding and parfaits.

Notes

My vanilla pudding recipe posted earlier makes 7 - 1/2 c servings or 10 - 1/3 c servings. The 1/2 c serving is 2 pt and the 1/3 c serving is 1 pt.
 
You will need a vanilla wafer for each parfait and you will need to crush several for crumbs to sprinkle on the top.
 
Nutrition at the very bottom is for the banana cream parfait.
 
Nutrition for 1/2 c serving of vanilla cream parfait is below.
Calories 92.7 kcal; Carbohydrates 15 g; Protein 4.4 g
Fat 0.9 g; Saturated Fat 0.4 g; Sodium 158 mg
 
Nutrition for 1/3 c serving of coconut cream parfait is below.
Calories 120.3 kcal; Carbohydrates 17.1 g; protein 3.9 g
Fat 3.6 g; Saturated Fat 2.7 g; Sodium 137.6 mg

Nutrition

Calories: 103.7kcal | Carbohydrates: 17.9g | Protein: 4.4g | Fat: 0.9g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 158mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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