One of our missions here at Our Best Bites has always been to show that you can feed your family great tasting food and still lead a healthy lifestyle. Being “healthy” to us, doesn’t mean cancelling out certain food groups and it certainly doesn’t mean depriving yourself. We’ve learned over the years that the right combination of real (even sometimes decadent) ingredients, in the right proportions and prepared in the right way, can be a delicious part of a healthy lifestyle. It was the driving principal behind our popular healthy cook book , “400 Calories or Less” and this recipe for Chocolate Shortcakes, layered with fresh bananas, and even caramel sauce, is a great example of that as well. It’s not “diet food” but it’s also not horrible for you, and it won’t ruin all those healthy New Year’s aspirations.
So many of you have expressed your interest in more ideas to help feed your families (and especially your kids) healthier meals and teach them these same principals. If you fall into that camp, we’ve got something really great coming up verrrry soon! SO many of you are loving our Meal Plan Service. If you haven’t heard about it, or jumped on the wagon yet, you can read all about it here. It’s received loads and loads of glowing reviews and improved the lives of so many families around the country. We are so thrilled you guys are loving it! We have a little bonus that’s going to be launching in the next week or so and it’s our FIT & FAST plan! If you’re already a meal plan member, this will go right along with it, and if you’re not, we think you’ll really love this new plan geared toward healthier meals, and including nutrition information. You’ll even find some yummy treats in there, like this one! So keep your eye out for more info- it’s coming soon! If you’d like to be the first to know and get the best deal, you can sign up for email notifications right here.
Okay so let’s make these chocolate shortcakes. A quick combo of pantry ingredients are whisked together: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, and salt.
and gently pull the dough together with a fork. It’s really important to not overwork a batter like this or it will lose its tenderness.
Pat the dough into a circle and then cut (but not all the way through) it into 8 wedges.
The shortcakes bake up into a beautiful rich chocolate color and you can slice them up gently.
As that’s cooling a bit, prepare the last part of the filling. You’ll whisk just a tiny bit of cocoa powder into some whipped topping, which is a really simple way to really elevate the flavor.
Layer a dollop of that whipped fluff with some fresh banana slices and a caramel drizzle. The original recipe from Cooking Light includes a homemade caramel, which is amazing, but we found that jarred caramel is just as tasty when it’s all together, and we could shave off a few more calories. When it’s done you have a dessert that won’t break the caloric bank and would even be fitting for guests!
Fat:8
WW Points: 6
Chocolate Shortcakes with Bananas and Caramel
- Yield: 8
Description
Tender chocolate shortcakes are layered with fresh bananas, fluffy whipped topping and caramel, for a decadent dessert that isn’t too bad for you!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup fat-free buttermilk
FILLING:
- Fat free caramel topping
- 1 cup frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed
- 1/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 medium bananas, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 2 cups)
Instructions
Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack. Place shortcake on a cutting board or work surface; cut along score lines with a serrated knife to form 8 wedges.
Notes
Make sure not to overwork the dough or overbake, and cut gently to avoid breaking these tender cakes.
This recipe is very slightly adapted from the original in Cooking Light, January 2007 issue.
Questions & Reviews
That looks absolutely good! Thanks for sharing
You could probably add unflavored protein powder to the mix to boost the protein. I wonder if that would change the consistency of the shortcake.
Wow…! these looks sooo yummy & delicious and beautiful photography as well, i love chocolate and this is one of my favorite recipe, i can’t wait make this chocolate shortcakes. Thanks for sharing and keep shared your new amazing recipes…….!
I’m thinking strawberries would be delicious as a substitute for bananas! Maybe some chocolate sauce instead of caramel. Oh yum!!
It looks to me like this will only serve 4, not 8. If you’re only making one dough circle, then cutting that into 8 sections and using two sections per serving, then it’s only 4 servings. Unless I missed something here. Sorry, but that’s important stuff in a family of 5!!
You slice each wedge in half horizonally, like a sandwich and fill the center! So 1 wedge per person 🙂
No recipe for the easiest ever caramel sauce to go along with this?!
Haha, sorry I forgot I decided to replace that with jarred caramel sauce because it shaved off some calories! If you want to make your own, Combine 1/4 cup sugar with 2 tablespoons water. bring it to a simmer and cook without stirring until it’s a golden caramel color. Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon real butter and 2 tablespoons cream and whisk until smooth 🙂
This looks amazing! I know what we’re having for family night dessert tonight!
I just stumbled on this…is chocolate shortcake code for chocolate scone, meaning I can justify eating it for breakfast?!?!?!
Umm… YUM!!!!!! To me, carmel sauce is way better than chocolate sauce, and these look absolutely heavenly!
I have got to make this tonight… the problem is I don’t have any caramel topping. I think I am going to use the syrup from your Chunky Monkey Pancake recipe as the topping… Doesn’t that sound yummy!
Salivating right now. Yum!
Oh. My. I absolutely love chocolate and bananas together!! This recipe will be made in the very near future!!
Wow! Looks absolutely incredible! I’m dying to try it! Problem is banana’s are about $6 each after all the natural disasters here in Australia & I don’t fancy paying that!
My husband LOVES the whipped topping they use in the grocery stores to ‘ice’ their cakes instead of actual “Cool Whip” brand. It is very yummy.
My favorite, too! You can actually buy a boxed mix at Michael’s (probably Hobby Lobby too) in the cake decorating section. Tastes just the same as the grocery store kind. 🙂
looks so yummy!
This looks and sounds so good!
That looks absolutely divine! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Oooooo….so yummy! I love bananas and chocolate together!!!!
Britney–no WAY! I contemplated going to Sonic today, but then I realized that my 4-year-old was with me and I would have to share…
I think I’m going to make these tonight — after my kids are in bed. Is that bad?! 🙂
Sweet! I have some buttermilk that I need to use up and this looks way better than the bran muffins I was going to make! Thanks Kate my love!
Too late! I am already thinking about the other ones waiting to be eaten!
Oh no, I’m in trouble. I happen to have all the ingredients on hand and these look sooo yummmy!!
That looks incredible!
Uh… YUM!! I want to eat these RIGHT NOW!!!