Your family is sure to smile when you serve them these yummy cherry cheesecake parfaits!

Cheesecake With A Crunch

Who doesn’t love a little crunch with something sweet?

There’s a layer of crunchy sweet oat crumble in between in this parfait. I could say that the dessert is no-bake–and it could be with a simple substitution.

However, if you have no granola on hand, then some baking is required to make this crunchy oat filling. In fact, this oat crumble is so good, you just may want to make double or triple the recipe! It’s a great and wholesome snack, but it can also double as a breakfast cereal.

Low Fat/Low Calorie? We Have You Covered

I tend to use full-fat products because that’s what I have on hand due to the fact that low/no-fat dairy products cannot be used in some recipes to get the best results. This recipe isn’t one of those that require the “regular” product so you can easily substitute low-fat dairy products in this without any real loss of flavor or richness. The only thing I’d caution about is the amount of sugar. Since fat tempers sugar you may need less sugar than what is called for in the recipe. As this cheesecake mixture contains no eggs or flour, you can add sugar to your taste.

The recipe also calls for cream, but evaporated milk can be easily substituted. I’ve also seen reduced sugar or sugar-free pie fillings and the use of those would save considerable calories.

One last word is be a bit wary of no-fat sour cream and cream cheese. I have to say that to me they taste terrible and they are nothing like the real thing–not even in texture. The lower-fat cream cheese and sour cream taste pretty much like the real deal, so it’s best to stick to those.

Cherry Or Any Flavor

If cherries aren’t your dish of tea feel free to substitute any other fruit flavored pie filling you do like! Raspberry or strawberry would be excellent choices that keep the colorful red accents that make this parfait so visually appealing.

The Recipe

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Cherry Cheesecake Crunch Parfait

Your family is sure to smile when you serve them a yummy cherry cheesecake parfait with a bit of crunch!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake parfait, cherry cheesecake, parfait recipe

Servings: 4

Calories: 706kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 21 oz cherry pie filling or any flavor you like

Oatmeal Crumble (see notes)

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3 tbs butter melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• Mix all the oatmeal crumble ingredients together and spread on prepared sheet.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes or until it just begins to get golden; cool completely.
• Beat cream cheese and sour cream together until smooth. Mix in the cream and confectioner’s sugar.
• You will need 4 “old-fashioned” glasses or parfait glasses. You will make 2 layers in each glass of cheesecake mixture, oatmeal crumble and cherry pie filling. See photos for a guide.
• Substitutions may be made for the cream cheese and sour cream for lower fat products. You may substitute evaporated milk for the cream.

Notes

Plain granola may be substituted for the oatmeal crumble

Nutrition

Serving: 1parfait | Calories: 706kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 319mg | Potassium: 378mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 1730IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 138mg | Iron: 2mg

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Cherry Glazed Country Ribs (served with fruited quinoa)

Did I ever mention my love for pork?  Many times?  Here it is again.  I love the stuff.  Roasted, grilled, any which way and especially with fruit, cherries in particular.  In honor of February being National Cherry Month, here’s my entry.  Wonderfully glazed with a cherry/orange/balsamic combo.

Recently, my store had country-style ribs on special.  I’m not sure if these are called the same thing in every part of the US, and I know cuts we have here have different names abroad, but described, “country-style ribs” are really just very thick rib chops with part of the fatty outer end hacked off.  They are from the rib-end of the loin.  They look to me like thick rib chops where part was sheared off diagonally down.

You can probably substitute belly ribs or even baby back ribs for this dish too.

Two amazing flavors

Recently, I’ve become a huge fan of quinoa as well.  The quinoa in this recipe is fragrant with orange, dried fruit (mainly dried cherries) and toasted almonds.  If you want to substitute cous cous for the quinoa, go ahead. It’d work as well, maybe even better!  But since I have tons of quinoa, that’s what I’m doing here.

I’m on a recipe development roll.  So far everything has been successful and no disasters.  Maybe soon and I’ll post that too for laughs!

Cherry Glazed Country Ribs
(with fruited quinoa)

• 4 lbs country-style pork ribs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp summer savory (substitute thyme if you don’t have savory)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 
  
• 1/2 cup cherry preserves
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 
  
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup toasted almonds

Prepare dry rub by mixing together the salt, pepper, garlic powder, savory and brown sugar.  Sprinkle over ribs and rub in.  Place ribs in a zipper-seal bag and refrigerate overnight.


Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Place ribs on a rack and roast at 325 for 1 hour.  


While ribs are baking, prepare glaze by mixing together the cherry preserves, orange zest and the balsamic vinegar.


In the last 10 minutes of roasting, brush ribs with part of the glaze, reserving some glaze to coat before serving.


Prepare quinoa as directed on package (I use a rice cooker), except in place of the water, use 1 cup water and 1 cup orange juice.  When quinoa has absorbed all liquid, add the dried cherries.  Reserve 2 tbs. of the toasted almonds for garnish and add the rest to the quinoa.  Stir.


Remove quinoa to serving platter.  Brush ribs with more glaze and place on top of the quinoa.  Sprinkle with reserved almonds.


Serves 4

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