Strawberries and Cream Parfaits
These light, creamy parfaits layered with fresh strawberries are perfect for a summertime breakfast or dessert. They're like a cross between cheesecake and strawberry tart, in parfait form!
- Yield: 2 parfaits 1x
Ingredients
Scale
Strawberry Layer:
- 5 ounces (1 cup) chopped strawberries
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Cream Layer:
- 5 ounces (5/8 cup) nonfat greek yogurt (I used Chobani)
- 2 ounces cream cheese*
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream**
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Graham Cracker Layer:
- 1 1/8 ounces (5 tablespoons) graham cracker crumbs
Garnish:
- 2 whole strawberries
- graham cracker crumbs
Instructions
Strawberry Layer:
- Place the strawberries in a small bowl and sprinkle on the sugar. Toss gently together. Let sit for about 30 minutes to macerate so that the juices are drawn out from the strawberries. Meanwhile, prepare cream and graham cracker layers.
Cream Layer:
- Combine the yogurt, cream cheese, heavy cream, vanilla bean seeds, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a bowl and beat together with a whisk until smooth.
Graham Cracker Layer:
- Divide graham cracker crumbs between two serving glasses of choice, shaking the glasses lightly to level out the crumbs on the bottoms.
Assembly and Garnish:
- Strain juices from strawberries and reserve for other use.*** Place a layer of yogurt over graham cracker crumbs in each glass, followed by a layer of strawberries, then yogurt, strawberries,and finally one more layer of yogurt. Divide as evenly as possible to keep layers consistent. Top each parfait with graham cracker crumbs and a fresh strawberry. Serve immediately.
Notes
*You can use reduced-fat cream cheese to make this even lighter and healthier, although I've never used it, so I can't promise that it will taste quite the same.
**You can also sub the heavy cream for regular whipping cream. Half-and-half should work, too.
***Don't throw away the strawberry juices!! Add it to sparkling water, use them in a smoothie, or mix them with some plain yogurt; just don't throw it away!