Tone It Up is at it again. #FriskyFall is in full force (we are halfway through week 3) and there is no shortage of the #basic pumpkin spice recipes. [Apparently I am not immune to the pumpkin lovin’.] But the Pumpkin Spice Parfait takes the cake. Hell, it even kinda tastes like cake…or pie, if you will. 😉

The Pumpkin Spice Parfait is a high fiber and high protein treat that is a great meal for breakfast, brunch, or lunch…eaten in smaller amounts, it is even a healthy snack or sweet tooth replacement. Of course it has the delicious pumpkin pie taste of fall, but it even kind of masks itself as a trifle-like dessert. And that makes my mouth and tummy happy when I am eating it for M1 at 5am at work. Since it is easy to layer in a mason jar, it is great to take on the go…hence why I have breakfast at my desk. But lets be real, the layers of greek yogurt, pumpkin, bananas, and granola make the parfait amazingly filling without ruining your intake for the day or breaking the TIU Nutrition Plan. I ended up having some of the pumpkin mixture left over in the food processor, so I mixed it with some plain Greek yogurt for the husband [move over Chobani!!]…since I clearly wasn’t going to share the actual parfait.

A satisfying fall-flavored breakfast with staying power #TIUMeals bit.ly/TIU-PumpkinPar… http://t.co/v4Tu7MPNgU—
Tone It Up (@ToneItUp) September 24, 2014

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The Tone It Up© Pumpkin Spice Parfait:.

yield: 2-4 servings
[NOTE: The original recipe makes 1 regular-sized mason jar. I doubled and tweaked some items along the way, so the recipe below makes 2 mason jars worth–that is technically 2 full meal servings. I only eat half a jar per sitting, so here is the nutrition values for my 1/2 jar serving.]
1/2 jar nutrition: ~250 calories | 2g fat | 50g carbs | 11g protein | 8g fiber | 32g sugar

ingredients

• 16 oz can 100% pumpkin puree
• 8 dates (pitted)
• ~1/2 cup of almond milk (used in splashes as needed)
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• shakes of pumpkin spice to taste (or nutmeg and ginger)
• 12 oz plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup granola of choice (I used KIND Healthy Grains gluten free)

directions

1. Pit and soak dates in warm water for a few minutes to soften.
2. Next, add soft dates to a food processor or blender and pulse into a paste. Add splashes of almond milk as needed to help it blend if it’s too thick (I had to twice).
3. Once smooth, add pumpkin purée, most of cinnamon and a shake or two of pumpkin spices and blend again. Add more splashes of almond milk as needed.
4. In a separate bowl, mix yogurt, rest of cinnamon, more pumpkin spice, and honey until well incorporated.
5. Slice bananas and sprinkle them with cinnamon for fun.
6. Assemble parfait–alternate layers of pumpkin mixture, granola, banana, and then yogurt mixture in an airtight container or mason jar.

[NOTE: Prep and make ahead and store for the week! And if you want to add some plant-based protein for an extra boost, add it to the pumpkin puree mixture and add as much almond milk as needed to thin out along the way.]

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