The banana and chocolate triangles are vegan snacks that I made almost at the beginning of my blog, following a recipe from the Weight Watchers site, but then I forgot them in the drafts of my recipes. And I made them again a few times hoping to take better shots, but nothing… So today I propose them as they are, a bit over-golden but still delicious! Of course, I used my beloved phyllo dough to make them…
Phyllo dough is typically vegan, made primarily with flour and water, without yeast, and then rolled out into ultra-thin sheets. Used with light ingredients, it is perfect for a diet as it is very versatile, suitable for sweet and savory preparations, and its caloric intake is very low. In practice, it is used like puff pastry, so you can also fold it into bundles, triangles, or whatever you prefer.
Here I used two simple and genuine ingredients: chocolate and banana! The banana is zero Weight Watchers points, and I don’t skip chocolate even on a diet; otherwise, I get really depressed. Just use dark chocolate, with less sugar, and voilà! Let’s see how I made them because I’m starting to digress…
You can find some other recipes with phyllo dough here:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 10 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven, Air frying
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 3 bananas (small or 2 large)
- 5 sheets phyllo dough (thawed, about 8×9.5 inches. It's about 110g in total)
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 oz dark chocolate (vegan)
- Points for 1 triangle = 2 WW points
Tools
- Small bowl
- Knife
- Parchment paper
- Baking tray
- Air fryer parchment paper
- Air fryer
- Brush
- Cooling rack
Steps
First, prepare all the ingredients…
Peel the bananas and cut them into small pieces, dividing them into 10 equal portions. Also, chop the chocolate into pieces, or grate it, and divide it into 10 equal portions.
Phyllo dough tends to dry out a lot and should be brushed with butter before being cooked. To avoid too many calories, I discovered that using just a little oil and extending it with hot water works very well. The effect is the same, but the calories or WW points are thus decimated. So, put 2 teaspoons of oil in a small bowl and add a little water to double its volume. You can also use light melted vegetable margarine, always mixed with a little water. Mix oil and water well: this liquid will be used to moisten the phyllo dough.
Open the phyllo dough package and take the first sheet. While working on one sheet, cover the rest of the phyllo dough with cling film or a cloth to prevent it from drying out. Brush the entire sheet well with the water and oil or margarine mix and cut it in half lengthwise with a sharp knife to obtain 2 rectangles.
For each rectangle, place the prepared portion of bananas and dark chocolate on one end. Then, as shown in the photo, fold it into a triangle. Finally, brush again with a little of the oil and water mix. Repeat this process and form all the triangles.
Place the triangles on the baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a silicone sheet, as in my case. With the remaining water and oil mix, gently brush the edges of all the triangles.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (slightly less if the oven is ventilated) and bake for about 10 minutes in the center of the oven.
When they are nicely golden, but not too much like I did
, remove the triangles from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes on a cooling rack.
You can also cook them in an air fryer, always placing them on suitable parchment paper, at 320°F for about 7-8 minutes, checking often that they are not too golden and turning them halfway through cooking. When they are golden, remove the triangles from the air fryer and let them cool for a few minutes on a cooling rack.
And now our banana and chocolate triangles are ready to be enjoyed! Can we manage to let them cool?
If you like, you can also sprinkle them with a couple of teaspoons of powdered sugar without changing the WW points. I must say they were very much appreciated here, even though I always leave them a few minutes too long in the oven every time I make them. In fact, my son, seeing that I am writing the recipe, said to me: when will you make them again? Well, I need to do it soon! Let me know if you liked them by leaving a comment below…
Enjoy!
by Giovanna Buono
Storage
You can prepare this dessert in advance as phyllo dough, unlike puff pastry, tends to stay crispy longer. I know for sure that if prepared the day before, they remain crispy the next day, stored at room temperature (I usually leave them on a plate in the oven). They haven’t lasted longer than that for me!
FAQ
Where can I find phyllo dough?
Phyllo dough is sold in various sizes. In this recipe, I indicated the size of the sheets that I normally find frozen here in the Netherlands, but if you find it larger, it’s very simple to reduce it to smaller rectangles, or if you find it smaller, you can combine several pieces together by overlapping them by a few millimeters: in the end, you need to get 10 fairly long rectangles! If you can’t find phyllo dough, you can also try looking for brick dough in ethnic stores.
Can I use other fruits?
Honestly, I think fruits that release too much water might not be suitable, which is why I used bananas. But I think a pear that is not too ripe could definitely work… maybe with well-drained ricotta instead of chocolate and a nice sprinkle of cinnamon! If you try it, let me know.
