Banana Cream Pie Bars #SundaySupper

Hi Everyone,

You are soooooooo going to think I lost my marbles today, but what can I say I probably did!  For today’s #SundaySupper assignment we have to make something that was inspired by a song or music.  After asking my Husband what songs are related to food?  He said Strawberry Fields by the Beetles or Peaches by Presidents of the United States.  I thought nah, but the Peaches song inspired me to go peach picking!  🙂  So on our way home from picking peaches, I asked him, what song has banana’s in it?  He said the Banana Split Song.  OMG!  I knew what he was talking about.  I loved that show as a child.  I used to get up at 5:30am to watch it.  Oh the Banana Splits.  Do you remember them?  Here is a memory refresher.

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Ha ha!  That show seemed kind of silly, don’t you think.  Ahhh, to be young and innocent and watch tv shows like that.  They don’t make them like that anymore!  That’s probably a good thing.  Hope the song doesn’t get stuck in your head for the rest of the day.  It’s kind of hard to write a post when all your thinking is Tra La La.  Anyway, so what recipe did the song inspire me to make?  Not a banana split, but banana cream bars.  Actually the recipe isn’t my idea, it’s my friend Cori at work.  We had a company BBQ and she made the most wonderful Banana Cream Pie Bars, they were so rich, creamy and sweet.  Everyone loved them!   She told me she got the recipe from Paula Deen.  She’s a Food Network freak like me!  🙂  Cori asked me if I could make the recipe healthier or fewer calories.  I took the challenge on and came up with these bars.

At work we decided to have a taste off, ok it wasn’t a competition.  We just wanted to see how a fewer calorie bar would taste against the full fat bar.  So Cori made her banana bars the way we all remember them.  This is what her banana cream bar looked like.  Don’t mind the pictures, I took it with my cell phone.

Cori’s Banana Cream Pie Bars are made the same basic way as mine, which included,  1 1/2 bananas, 8 oz full fat cream cheese, 1 tub regular Cool Whip, one package of Pepperidge Farm Chesseman Cookies and  Jello Banana Cream Pudding.  The calorie per bar came out to:  221,  Fat:  9.9,  Cholesterol:  34,  Sodium:  239,  Carbs:  30.6,  Fiber:  1.1,  Sugar:  14,  Protein:  2.9

I used 1 1/2 banana’s, 8 oz 1/3 fat cream cheese, 1 tub fat free Cool Whip, Trader Joe’s Toasted Coconut Thin Cookies and Jello Sugar Free Fat Free Banana Cream instant pudding.  The calorie per bar for mine are: 123,  Fat:  3.8,  Cholesterol:  11,  Sodium:  197,  Carbs:  17,  Fiber:  .04,  Sugar:  7,  Protein:  3.2

Big difference in calories, mine is almost half.  But what’s the difference in taste?  Actually the bars taste the same.  The flavor is the same, but the difference is the texture.   Cori’s bars came out thicker, creamer and has more of a rich taste.  Mine is more light, airy and whipped.  If you like heavier desserts or a cream base, Cori’s recipe is perfect for you.  If you like things more on the light side, kind of like mousse, then mine is the dessert for you.  My friend, Andrea, said if you ate one, you wouldn’t notice the difference but because we ate a bite of one, then the other, you notice the difference but only in texture, not taste.

No matter what way you make this dessert, the outcome is wonderful.  I am glad I got to make a dessert that tastes wonderful and my husband enjoys and it’s guilt-free.  Speaking of guilt-free.  I did make this dessert last week, using fat-free cream cheese.  The texture was horrible.  The flavor was good but the texture not good.  However my Husband said the first day the pie wasn’t that great, but the second day, he said it tasted wonderful, he ate the whole pan.  As for the recipe I am sharing with you today, my Husband said it tasted great the first day and second day.  It didn’t make it past the second day.  🙂

Banana Cream Pie Bars

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

A low calorie, creamy dessert with a coconut cookie crust that is filled with banana flavored cream and sliced bananas.

Serves: 12 Slices

Ingredients

• 3 cups Cool Whip Fat Free, thawed (one whole container)
• 8 oz cream cheese, ⅓ fat, room temperature
• 1 pkg. Jello Instant Banana Pudding, fat free, sugar free (4ozpkg.)
• 1½ large bananas, sliced
• 16 Toasted Coconut Thin Cookies from Trader Joe's or vanilla wafers, or Pepperidge Farms Chessman Cookies, divided
• 12 maraschino cherries (optional)

Instructions

1. Line a 8 x 8 pan with 12 cookies; set a side. (If all the cookies don't fit, just break them into large pieces)
2. In a bowl beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in pudding, until combined. Beat in half the whip cream, until combined. Fold in whip cream.
3. Add half the cream cheese mixture over cookies in the baking pan. Top with sliced bananas and top with remaining cream cheese mixture.
4. In a mini food processor, add 4 cookies and process until crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs over cream cheese mixture and top with maraschino cherries if desired (The cherries really give it a nice pop). Refrigerate until ready to eat. The longer it sits in the refrigerator the softer the cookies get.

Notes

Calories per slice: 123, Fat: 3.8, Cholesterol: 11, Sodium: 197, Carbs: 17, Fiber: .04, Sugar: 7, Protein: 3.2

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1 Slice

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I really had fun with this today.  It’s nice to compare desserts and see what people think.  In all actuality they were both a hit at work and we both came home with empty containers!  🙂  Well I took one home to my Husband, I wanted him to taste Cori’s and taste mine.  He said they tasted the same, except Cori’s had more cookie.  So whether you go full fat or lower calorie, it will be a win, win.

Well time for me to go!  Now be sure to check out what the other members of #SundaySupper made today.  I wonder what songs they chose and what recipe was inspired by it.

Have a great day!

Toodles,

Jennifer

P.S.

Tra la la, la la la la.
Tra la la, la la la la.
Tra la la, la la la la.
Tra la la, la la la la.

One banana, two banana, three banana, four.
Four bananas make a bunch and so do many more.
Over hill and highway the banana buggies go
Comin’ on to bring you The Banana Splits Show.

Makin up a mess of fun
Makin up a mess of fun
Lot’s of fun for everyone.

Tra la la, la la la la.
Tra la la, la la la la.
Tra la la, la la la la.
Tra la la, la la la la.

Four banana, three banana, two banana, one.
All bananas playing in the bright warm sun.
Flippin like a pancake, poppin like a cork
Fleagle, Bingo, Drooper and Snork.

Tra la la, la la la la.
Tra la la, la la la la.
Tra la la, la la la la.
Tra la la, la la la la.

he he he he

Prelude (Beverages):

Overture (Appetizers):

Intermezzo (Entrees & Sides):

Finale (Desserts):