Caramel Apple Frosty™ Parfait

We have a Wendy's restaurant within walking distance from our house.  It's tempting but I've been pretty good about not visiting over the last several months.  In my previous life (ha!), we would be there almost once a week, sometimes more often.  Dan still stops here on a sort of regular basis, about once a week, and today was one of those days.  He swung by the drive through on his way home from work this afternoon.  I withheld from partaking but will admit that I stole a few fries.

His bounty from Wendy's included  a spicy chicken sandwich, large french fry, large original Frosty, large chili, and a new Caramel Apple Frosty Parfait.  When he first arrived through the door, he mentioned this parfait as just "caramel apple parfait" and I assumed that it was yogurt (similar to what McDonald's offers).  Dan offered it to me and I passed (he also offered me the chili and I think he keeps forgetting that I'm still refraining from consuming beef).  I then put together my own fruit and yogurt snack for lunch.

Mixed Berry Yogurt with Honey

Mixed Berry Yogurt with Honey

• 1 cup fat-free, reduced sugar vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup raspberries
• 1/4 cup blackberries
• 1 tsp honey

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well.  Feel free to adjust berry measurements to your liking.  (I just added the berries that I had on hand but this is also wonderful with other fruits as well.  I also enjoy strawberries in mine!).  Total calories on this are about 220-250 with no fat, but could vary depending on the type of yogurt and fruits you use.  You can also skip the honey to save about 50 calories.


As I enjoyed my homemade lunch/snack, I did some research on what my husband was ingesting just at the other end of the couch.  He wouldn't let me tell him the total calorie count.  It is astonishing and I'll just leave it at: It was over 10 times the amount of calories in my berry yogurt lunch

Here's the kicker for me... The Caramel Apple Frosty Parfait.

I didn't realize it was a 'Frosty' parfait until I got to the company's nutritional information and was unable to find it under the categories I had assumed it would be located (sides or value menu).  So I checked the Frosty category and low and behold... it's a frosty with apples, granola and caramel sauce.   Of course, my first thought was that Wendy's appears to be trying to make their sugary milk-shake type treat into something more 'healthy'.  Blasphemy.  I browsed around the web to see if there was any info about this product yet.  I didn't find too much except a couple reviews about the taste (of this as well as the other flavors available.. Berry and Oreo).  Then I went back to the Wendy's website and found their own description of the product:  "It’s our creamy, classic Frosty swirled with brown sugar granola, fresh red and green apple slices, and real caramel. It’s a tasty, feel-good treat."  And there it was... the two words that I was looking to find.  I couldn't imagine that a fast-food chain could add fruit to something full of sugar and chemicals without trying to make it sound like something that is good for you.  It's BS, honestly.  BS.  Wendy's must think we are idiots and sadly, maybe they are right.

I did try a bite of this product.  The granola was tasty and the apples crisp.  The frosty (vanilla flavored) was soupy and messy and for this being Ghirardelli Caramel, I wasn't impressed.  These pack 400 calories, 9 grams of fat and a whopping 57 grams of sugar.  Interestingly, the Oreo option has the same amount of calories with one less gram of sugar and one more gram of fat.  Amazing!  If you HAVE to get one of these, I would opt for the Berry option (320 calories, 48 sugars and 7 fat), but really it would be best if you skipped this all together.