Thursday, August 18, 2011

Frozen Treats Week #6: Banana Pudding Ice Cream Cupcakes

Those of you who've been following me for any length of time have probably heard me say that banana pudding is one of my favorite desserts. Banana pudding can be made all kinds of ways, but my all-time favorite recipe for banana pudding is Paula Deen's cool and creamy Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding. Paula's recipe is the ultimate and oh so delicious.  It is not, however, figure friendly!

When I saw this recipe for Banana Pudding Ice Cream Cupcakes while browsing through my Weight Watcher's books I jumped on it.  Now, I'll warn you.  This recipe contains store bought cookie wafers, Cool Whip Lite, and low-fat ice cream.  Some of you will not be able to overlook that.  However, some of you may feel like I do, which is to say that I can forgive these ingredients from time to time if it means I can indulge in one of my favorite desserts.

If you are bothered by the list of ingredients, you could certainly use a homemade cookie (shortbread or gingersnaps would be nice), real whipped cream, and/or regular or homemade ice cream.  Whichever route you chose, this recipe is fun and the cupcake portion helps to keep you in check so that you don't blow it.  The end result is a very creamy frozen version of banana pudding that is luscious and fulfilling.  I may even consider hiding them for myself as a mid-afternoon snack for the next several days.  Shhh!!
Banana Pudding Ice Cream Cupcakes
Adapted from Weight Watchers Annual Recipes 2005
WW Points+ 3
Serves 12

24 reduced-fat vanilla wafers, divided
2 ripe bananas
 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-3/4 cups low-fat vanilla ice cream
6 ounces of Cool Whip Lite, thawed

Place 1 vanilla wafer in the bottom of 12 foil-lined muffin cups.

Process bananas and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Add all of the ice cream; pulse 4-5 times or just until blended.  Add half of the Cool Whip (reserving half for garnish), as well as 6 vanilla wafers, and pulse 2-3 times or just until blended.

Divide ice cream mixture evenly among muffin cups; cover with plastic wrap and freeze.

Crush remaining 6 vanilla wafers to make coarse crumbs. Top each ice cream cup evenly with remaining Cool Whip; sprinkle with about a tablespoon of the coarse wafer crumbs.  Serve immediately, or freeze for later.
Note: Once the cupcakes set up in the freezer they will be frozen solid.  They do benefit from a quick thaw on the counter or a quick 5 second zap in the microwave. 

18 comments:

  1. Such refreshing little treats - I can't blame you for wanting to hide them! I haven't eaten nearly enough ice cream this summer and have a super craving now. These seem easily adaptable to using homemade ingredients and different flavors of ice cream.

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  2. I would love a bunch of these stocked in my freezer - what a perfect little snack!!

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  3. Now that is a super cool treat! No pun intended :)
    *kisses* HH

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  4. GREAT idea for a quick treat. I love the fact they can be pulled out one by one from the freezer!

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  5. OMG!! Kim, what a wonderful dessert! I would absolutely make them as posted. They really look delicious and what fun, low-fat treats. I want one. Now!

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  6. Banana pudding cupcakes combined with WW? Who knew? They look wonderfully indulgent!

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  7. Is anything Paula Deen makes figure friendly? And I can totally overlook the lowfat ingredients. I try to substitute low fat whenever I can (cream cheese for example). So long as there is no splenda-type sugars or unreal butter I am good to do!

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  8. Woo-hoo! That looks so good...when I opned your page it looked like a cover of Bon Appetit! Nice job of getting me all hungry and wanting a cupcake..I just surfed over after looking at Brenda's lemonade cheesecake pie so...my tummy is grumbling.

    It can be a real curse to have a sweet tooth!

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  9. Thanks for the last pic--I couldn't wrap my head around what these would be like inside. Could be because I'm trying to do about 5 things at once. Could also be because I'm dense like that.

    Also having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that this comes from WW. Cool!

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  10. Mmmm...these sound tasty!! I love the flavors of banana pudding, too- and this is the perfect summertime variation :D

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  11. This looks yummy and the fact that it is light on the calories is a good thing.
    Mimi

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  12. These are such interesting cupcakes - I've never heard of anything like this before! I am very into desserts, though, especially ones that are a little kinder to my waistline. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  13. looks like fun to make and light have a good weekend thanks for the kind support on the up coming arrival hugs

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  14. this looks like the perfect indulgence when the sweet tooth kicks in! i love that there are low-fat options out there! i can't wait to try this!

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  15. Love the idea of banana pudding ice creams! And single servings is great, although I can see myself sneaking back.. ☺

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  16. Wow! Great idea for a delicious recipe...and...low-fat :)

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  17. You are going to cry when I tell you this, but I've never had banana pudding! SO. SAD. I'm usually all about the homemade everything but I would totally make an exception for these. They just look so good!

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  18. These look fabulous and I am all about the individual portions too. What a fun little low-fat indulgence. ;-)

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