Lemon Berry Cheesecake Parfaits

Easy no-bake lemon cheesecake parfaits are the perfect anytime dessert when you need something sweet without a lot of effort.

Years ago, I worked at a bakery where we made these lemon cheesecake cups. The cheesecake filling was bright and lemony, and it was layered with housemade granola and fresh strawberries. They were one of the most popular things we sold and for good reason — they were delicious. Unlike a lot of rich, chocolate desserts, creamy lemon and fresh berries are the perfect endings to a meal when you want something sweet but not too heavy.

This is my version of those little cups. It’s been a while since I’ve had them, and I’ve made some changes, but these are just as good as I remember.

The filling is a simple no-bake cheesecake mix. To make it, you’ll blend up some cream cheese with l lemon and powdered sugar. The key to making this ultra-creamy is to let your cream cheese sit out until it’s room temperature and super soft. It will take several hours, and you shouldn’t try to cut corners by putting it in the microwave. I mean, that will work, but I’ve done it and it’s not as good. If there’s any chill at all to your cream cheese, you run the risk of having tiny granules of cream cheese. Trust me, I’ve done it. And once you beat it, you can’t get those out. So take your cream cheese out sooner rather than later.

I also swapped strawberries for a mix of blueberries and raspberries, but literally, any berry or combination will work. And instead of granola, I used toasted, salted pecans. There wasn’t any real thought behind that besides that’s what I had and, well, I really like pecans. But granola. any nuts or seeds, or even graham cracker crumbs will work if you want something more traditional.