No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Parfaits

Layers of sweetened graham crackers, luscious creamy vanilla bean no-bake cheesecake, and the best fresh blueberry sauce make up this heavenly dessert. All the flavor without the fuss of a traditional cheesecake!

Over the past month, I must have purchased at least 6 pounds or so of fresh blueberries. My local Sam’s club had these huge packages of them on sale and I just could not pass them up.

I swear for 3 weeks straight we were making blueberry pancakes every single day as those are one of Mr. Fantabulous’s favorite breakfast dishes.

However, he got pancaked out and wanted a break from them. That’s all fine and dandy but I still had a bunch left in the fridge that I wanted to use up.

That’s when it dawned on me – cheesecake. Specifically no-bake cheesecake. They are SUPER EASY to make and such a family-favorite.

Ingredients needed to make these no-bake cheesecake parfaits

All of these ingredients are pretty much pantry or fridge staples.

• Blueberries – Fresh strawberries, not frozen but fresh
• Sugar – white granulated and confectioners’
• Lemon Juice – The lemon juice helps round out the tang of the blueberries and adds a bit of brightness to the cheesecake
• Rodelle Vanilla Bean Paste
• Cream Cheese & Sour Cream – Full-fat is what I use but you could try low fat if you wanted
  
• Graham Crackers – I use one full package of 9 graham cracker “sheets” to make my own crumbs
• Heavy Whipping Cream – this is needed to help thin out the cheesecake just a bit
• Butter – This helps bind the graham cracker crumbs and sugar together

Let’s make the Fresh Blueberry Filling

The process could not be any easier. All you need are fresh blueberries, lemon juice, some granulated sugar and a little bit of butter.

1. In a saucepan, add the blueberries, lemon juice, and sugar, and bring to a boil.
2. Once it starts to bubble around the edges reduce the temp to low and continue cooking until it starts to bubble and foam up.
3. When the foam starts to form, add in a little bit of butter and stir.
4. The whole process takes about 15-20 minutes or so. Stir frequently until the mixture thickens and you have about a cup or so of blueberry filling in the pan.
5. Remove from the heat and transfer to another container. 
6. Allow the mixture to come to room temperature or put it in the fridge to chill it faster.

Chef’s Tip about reducing fresh fruit

Pectin

When making a quick refrigerator jam or reduction sauce, fruit creates its own natural pectin thus negating the need for some type of stabilizer or preservative like Sure-Jel.

The only time you really need items like that is when you’re canning it for long-term storage.

Butter

Just like making pie filling or jams, fruits will produce a foam when reducing. The butter helps curb the foam. It’s not necessary as you could spoon off the foam but I’ve always done it.

Make the No-Bake Cheesecake Filling

The biggest tip when making this is to ensure that the cream cheese is at room temperature. This will help it cream up silky smooth.

1. Place the softened cream cheese and sour cream in a bowl. You can use either a stand mixer with the whisk or a hand mixer. Mix until completely creamy and no lumps remain.
2. Add in the confectioners’ sugar and SLOWLY turn the mixer back on. Mix until combined, stopping to scrape down the sides.
3. Add in the heavy cream and Rodelle Vanilla Bean Paste and whip until combined, stopping to scrape down the sides.

Assembling the Blueberry Cheesecake Parfaits

While I was assembling this, Mr. Fantabulous stood on the side watching me like a hawk. Of course, he had to throw in his two cents of “that’s not even” or “that has more than the other” and would scoop out a bit and eat it. I swear, I married a 4 year old at times! lol

1. In each parfait cup, add a few tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture. It’ll be crumbly so use the back of a spoon or measuring cup to help press it down. It doesn’t have to be compacted tightly as you’re not making a pie crust that you cut.

2. To each parfait glass spread a few tablespoons of the cheesecake mixture. Try to smooth it out into an even layer. If it’s not, don’t fret. It’s just dessert!
3. Next, spoon some of the chilled blueberry filling. You want to spread it out to the edges of the glass.

Can we take a minute to look at how amazing that blueberry filling looks?! It’s honestly so delicious!

Other uses for this blueberry filling

• I made a second batch of this filling just so I could put it on top of some Liege Waffles.
• It’s amazing in hand pies.
• In a grilled cheese made with brie
• Crostini topped with camembert and fresh thyme

At this point, you could completely stop and make another set of dessert parfaits OR you can go full-on double-layer decadent!

It’s totally your call here!

4. Repeat the layers by adding a few more tablespoons of the graham cracker crumbs. You can gently press them down to make them a little more compressed.
5. Follow that by another layer of cheesecake filling and then finish off with some blueberry filling.
6. Lastly, cover these with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a few hours.

Keto-Friendly and Gluten-Free Substitutions

This recipe makes 4-6 double-layered parfaits which are hearty.

Mr. Fantabulous and I split one for our desserts. However, you could easily make these as a single-layered dessert thus giving you 8-12 containers. Thus it would be half of the calories.

Full fat vs Low Fat

When I make cheesecake I use full-fat cream cheese however you can use low-fat if you’re looking to cut calories. I would not use fat-free thought.

Sour Cream vs Greek Yogurt

In the 9 million times I’ve made this I’ve used both sour cream and vanilla Greek yogurt interchangeably.

Keto-Graham Crackers

You can substitute keto-graham crackers in place of the regular ones.

No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Parfaits

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Layers of sweetened graham crackers, luscious creamy vanilla bean no-bake cheesecake, and the best fresh blueberry sauce make up this heavenly dessert. All the flavor without the fuss of a traditional cheesecake!

• Author: TKWAdmin
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Category: Cheesecake
• Method: No Bake
• Cuisine: Dessert

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Layer

• 1 sleeve graham crackers (9 full graham crackers) or 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 6 tablespoon melted, unsalted butter

Cheesecake Filling

• 8 ounces cream cheese, full fat and room temperature
• 1/2 cup full fat sour cream or vanilla greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoon heavy cream
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Blueberry Filling

• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon butter, unsalted

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Instructions

Blueberry Reduction

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add the blueberries, lemon juice, and granulated sugar. Give it a gentle stir. When the mixture starts to bubble around the edges, turn the heat to low, stirring often. The mixture will start to bubble more and foam up. When it starts to foam, add in the 1/2 teaspoon of butter and stir in.
2. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the mixture is thickened. You should end up with about a 1 cup of cup of blueberry filling.
3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow it to cool completely. *To speed up the process, add the bowl to the fridge for about 30 minutes or so.

Graham Cracker Layer

1. In a bowl add the crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Mix with a rubber spatula until the mixture is thick, coarse, and sandy. You want it to just slightly make crumbles.

Cheesecake Filling

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip together the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth and creamy.
2. Shut off the mixer and add in the confectioners’ sugar then slowly turn the mixer on gradually mixing until it is mixed in.
3. Shut the mixer off and scrape down the sides. Turn the mixer back on to medium and slowly add in the cream and vanilla.
4. Whip until light and creamy.

Assembly

1. Fill 4-6 * eight-ounce decorative glasses with 4-5 tablespoons of graham cracker filling.  With the back of a spoon or spatula, gently push the filling down. At this point, you can keep it loose and crumbly or pack it down firmly. Add a layer of cheesecake (about 3 tablespoons), a layer of blueberry filling (~2 tablespoons).
2. Evenly divide the rest of the graham cracker crumbs gently pressing down. Add the cheesecake filling and then the blueberry filling.
3. Loosely cover and chill for at least 3 hours prior to serving.

Notes

These are DOUBLE layer parfaits. To cut calories you could just do a single layer and make 8-12 single parfaits.

Total time does not include the chilling of the blueberry reduction or the cheesecake

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