The Best Vegan Banana Split Parfait Recipe
Today we are making The Best Vegan Banana Split Parfait Recipe! A Banana Split consists of three scoops of ice cream (vanilla, chocolate and strawberry – the basics), with whipped cream, peanuts and cherries on top. All of this is sitting on top of a banana sliced lengthwise. An easy dessert and a delicious combination!
This classic summer dessert is available at almost every ice cream parlor, or was available when I was growing up. I remember going to family shops that had been around for years! These were days I’d be out with my parents to a beach, or driving around in nearby towns for sightseeing. There are still a few of those parlors surviving in my hometown, but nowadays there are more chain stores where I live, where banana splits aren’t one of the most popular desserts.
Growing up, I loved making healthy recipes by swapping in substitutes to recipes I would find online, such as using unsweetened applesauce to replace vegetable oil, coconut sugar instead of white sugar or brown sugar, almond flour instead of all purpose flour or whole wheat flour or flax eggs as an egg replacer in a vegan recipe.
Bananas were the base of so many recipes I experimented with too – peanut butter banana cake, chocolate chips banana muffins, or a plain and delicious banana bread. So to bring back the memories of these sweet treats with banana, we’ll be making a vegan banana split in a cup (so it’s a parfait, named rightly so). This is a great way to use up extra bananas!
Assembling a Banana Split …
I wasn’t able to get my banana to not fall over when I tried to make this in a bowl, and my ice cream was starting to melt the longer I took. I was using a flat plate too, not a curved bowl. Don’t ask me why that didn’t occur to me at the time, but I just dumped it all in a cup, which is way easier when you’re assembling it at home … and voila! It made a parfait instead!
Why You’ll Love The Best Vegan Banana Split Parfait Recipe
Raw, No Sugar Ice Cream: This healthy dessert is all raw, as well as being dairy-free. It’s based on simple ingredients, including a bunch of bananas (also known as nice cream), raw cacao powder and frozen strawberries to make the different banana ice cream flavors. A healthy treat with no added sugars – it’s perfect for the whole family!
You can swap out the splash of vegan milk (such as almond milk) for water instead, or allow your fruits to thaw a little longer at room temperature before blending (so no liquid is needed). Omit the additional whip on top as well, to keep it all natural sugars.
Layers + Assembling Banana Split
The layers of this parfait are very simple. Frozen, overripe bananas in the base – no add-ins for the vanilla flavor. Cocoa powder into the chocolate section. Frozen strawberries into the strawberry section. There you have three ice cream flavors! One normal (not frozen) banana in between each layer or at the bottom.
Then you’ll need roasted peanuts, fresh or frozen cherries (or maraschino cherries if that’s your thing!), vegan whipped cream (I use the Gay Lea brand of coconut whip, and I’ve seen it in all the grocery stores where I live in Ontario, Canada), and possibly hot chocolate sauce or caramel sauce if you like it even more decadent (I made caramel sauce for a caramel macchiato recipe before, so you can take just the caramel portion of this recipe and use it as a caramel sauce topping).
Ice Cream: To make the ice cream, you will need three small blender cups (if you have a set) or you can use the same blender cup. Just rinse it out before making the next ice cream flavor in it.
Substitutions: Bananas
Making this ice cream is the best way to make good use of all those bananas that are getting too ripe on the counter! You can even make different flavors with your favorite add-ins, such as different fruits, nuts, seeds or nut butters.
Frozen Bananas: Do not substitute these with any other fruit. For best results, pick bananas that are beginning to get spotty. Bananas do have a lot of natural sweetness. The more brown spots they have on them before freezing, the sweeter they will be.
Peel and chop them, then place in a freezer-safe airtight container or a freezer bag in the freezer overnight. They will be ready to use the next day.
For an even creamier ice cream, use some frozen full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream when blending the banana layers. There will be a coconut undertone, but if you enjoy a coconut-based dessert it will be extra-creamy!
Substitutions: Topping
Cherries: Maraschino cherries are used in ice cream sundaes and banana splits. These are regular cherries, but they are bleached, preserved and sweetened. I used frozen dark red cherries instead of using maraschino, to keep it natural.
Coconut Whip: I used a vegan coconut whip on top of the recipe (Gay Lea brand). This can be found in grocery stores next to the regular cool whip. Omit it to keep the recipe raw.
Peanuts: To keep it raw, use unroasted and unsalted peanuts. For a non-raw recipe, roasted peanuts would work best.
Substitutions: Other
Cacao Powder: This is the raw, unprocessed form of cocoa powder. Cocoa powder is what we commonly use in brownie mixes or chocolate cake. Cacao powder can be found in the natural foods aisle or at a health food store. You can also use cocoa instead of the raw cacao, because the taste is pretty much the same in the recipe.
Frozen Strawberries: Do not use fresh strawberries. They will add too much liquid into the recipe, making it more of a smoothie than an ice cream! Do not substitute for any other berries either, because the strawberry flavor makes up one key component of a banana split.
Liquid Sweetener: Use extra liquid sweetener, such as 100% pure maple syrup, if desired. However, the recipe would not be fully raw in this case.
The Best Vegan Banana Split Parfait Recipe Notes
- Total time shown: It says 1 day and 30 minutes as the total time, because I left 1 day as the prep time. This is because I usually leave my bananas in the freezer overnight so they are fully frozen to use.
- If you’re lazy like me, throw the bananas into the freezer, peel and all. Once frozen, you can run the bananas under hot water for a few seconds until they’re softer, they peel and chop them using a sharp knife. It’s way easier to pre-peel and chop them before freezing though.
- Note that chopping the bananas smaller, before freezing, makes them way easier to blend. This is important if your blender is not very high-speed.
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The Best Vegan Banana Split Parfait Recipe
Equipment
- High-speed blender or food processor
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Ice Cream
- 1 frozen banana peeled and chopped
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- Splash plant based milk
- liquid sweetener, if desired
For the Chocolate Ice Cream
- 1 frozen banana peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp cacao powder
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- splash plant based milk
- liquid sweetener, if desired
For the Strawberry Ice Cream
- 1 frozen banana peeled and chopped
- ⅓ cup frozen strawberries
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- Splash plant based milk
- liquid sweetener, if desired
For the Assembly
- 1 ripe banana, not frozen, cut into medium-size slices not overly ripe to the point where it has dark spots though
- 1-2 fresh cherries
- vegan whipped cream I use Gay Lea brand of coconut whip
- 1 tbsp roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Blend together the ingredients for each of the ice cream layers separately – the vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.
- As you blend each layer, place it in a bowl in the freezer so it doesn't melt as you blend the next layer. You'll need to rinse out the blender cup in between flavors if you're using the same one for all of them.
- Once all the flavors are blended, layer them into a cup, alternating with slices of banana in between each layer, or you can place the bananas at the bottom and add the flavors on top.
- Top with roasted peanuts, vegan whipped cream and a cherry.
- Enjoy!
If you make this Gluten Free Latke Recipe, then leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!
