Lemon berry yogurt parfait recipe

One thing I love about my friends: they're easy to impress. And they all know that I'm not much of a dessert maker. This lemon berry yogurt parfait, a no-cook dessert for the hottest days of summer, never fails to impress. It's a master recipe with infinite variations: flavor the yogurt with lavender or herbs de Provence, swap raspberries or blueberries for the blackberries, change out the lemon cookies with ginger or chocolate wafers. It's all good. You can make these hours ahead and store them in the refrigerator until ready to serve; if you're going on a picnic, make the parfaits in sterilized canning jars, screw on the lids, and pack them into a cooler with lots of ice.

Lemon berry yogurt parfait

From the pantry, you'll need: plain low-fat yogurt, agave nectar or honey, lemon, vanilla extract, kosher salt.

 

Makes one parfait.

Ingredients

1 cup plain yogurt (I use low-fat)
1 tsp agave nectar or honey
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt
4 large whole blackberries
10 lemon wafer-type cookies

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, agave or honey, lemon zest, vanilla extract and salt. Whisk everything together until smooth. Remove half of the mixture to another bowl, and in that bowl, crush up one of the blackberries and stir it into the yogurt. Set both bowls aside.

On a board or plate, crush the lemon cookies roughly with a rolling pin or potato masher.

Assemble your parfait: In a small glass or glass jar, place the remaining 3 whole blackberries. Spoon on the blackberry-yogurt mixture. Sprinkle half of the cookie crumbs on the blackberry yogurt. Add the remaining lemon yogurt, and a final layer of cookie crumbs on top.

Parfaits can be assembled a few hours ahead, though the longer they sit, the more the layers will settle. If you're making and serving these at home, you can set up the bottom layers of yogurt and cookie crumbs, and finish assembly of the top layer right before serving. Serve cold.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Lemon walnut yogurt dessert
Lemon waffles
Yogurt coffee cake with pecan filling
Roasted vegetables with yogurt and fresh tomato sauce
Tzatziki

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Crispy yogurt chicken, from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Strawberry frozen yogurt, from Simply Recipes
Yogurt marinated pork chops, from Dinner with the Bickfords
Curried chicken on the grill with cilantro chutney, from Kalyn's Kitchen
Murgh makhani (Indian butter chicken), from Wandering Chopsticks

Lemon berry yogurt parfait

From the pantry, you'll need: plain low-fat yogurt, agave nectar or honey, lemon, vanilla extract, kosher salt.

 

Makes one parfait.

Ingredients

1 cup plain yogurt (I use low-fat)
1 tsp agave nectar or honey
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt
4 large whole blackberries
10 lemon wafer-type cookies

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, agave or honey, lemon zest, vanilla extract and salt. Whisk everything together until smooth. Remove half of the mixture to another bowl, and in that bowl, crush up one of the blackberries and stir it into the yogurt. Set both bowls aside.

On a board or plate, crush the lemon cookies roughly with a rolling pin or potato masher.

Assemble your parfait: In a small glass or glass jar, place the remaining 3 whole blackberries. Spoon on the blackberry-yogurt mixture. Sprinkle half of the cookie crumbs on the blackberry yogurt. Add the remaining lemon yogurt, and a final layer of cookie crumbs on top.

Parfaits can be assembled a few hours ahead, though the longer they sit, the more the layers will settle. If you're making and serving these at home, you can set up the bottom layers of yogurt and cookie crumbs, and finish assembly of the top layer right before serving. Serve cold.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Lemon walnut yogurt dessert
Lemon waffles
Yogurt coffee cake with pecan filling
Roasted vegetables with yogurt and fresh tomato sauce
Tzatziki

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Crispy yogurt chicken, from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Strawberry frozen yogurt, from Simply Recipes
Yogurt marinated pork chops, from Dinner with the Bickfords
Curried chicken on the grill with cilantro chutney, from Kalyn's Kitchen
Murgh makhani (Indian butter chicken), from Wandering Chopsticks

Comments

Love the new blog design! These are great to make in the hot summer days when we really don't want to turn on the oven but desire delicious dessert!

Layered, cold, sweet and tart, and with some cookie crunch ... all of that says delish to me, Lydia! I'm sure every item you make is a winner in your friends' books. :-)

forget about dessert-I am thinking breakfast!!!

LUV this idea!

Maris, thanks (I love the new header, too). There is no day in summer when I want to turn the oven on, so this kind of dessert is perfect for me.

Shirley, not true; I cook often with my friends, and they're also the first to let me know when something isn't good enough to share on the blog.

Carol, I like the way you think.

Alanna, thanks -- I love all the lemon in it.

I love the idea of making these in mason jars and bringing them on a picnic! Endless combination possibilities

Berry nice... (sorry, could not resist... :-)

Loved the idea of mason jars for these parfaits, such a nice presentation!

This is just right for the summer months. It is a plus that it is pretty.

Lydia - I love the idea of flavoring the yogurt with lavender, and layering this parfait with crushed cookies, a nice summery dessert (or breakfast ;))!