You guys, seriously, this is one of the best desserts I have ever made! And I know I haven’t made too many desserts, but I know a good one when I taste one, and I have tasted a lot!
Now that summer is slowly coming to and end, I’m realizing that I have like a zillion summer recipes that I haven’t made yet. I haven’t taken advantage of all the amazing fruit that is out there right now and I haven’t used nearly enough cherry tomatoes and summer squash. Excuse me for a minute while I gorge myself on cherry tomatoes!
Isn’t it crazy how your brain, or whatever part of you it is that craves things, really starts to crave the foods of the season?! I’m not sure if it is because when we think of the winter and fall season we think of the holidays, which brings foods like cranberries, pumpkin pie, and Brussels sprouts, or when it is summer time and it is 300 degrees outside all we want to eat are salads and popsicles. Maybe our bodies are just programmed to want to eat seasonally and that is why we crave the produce of the season.
Either way, I find myself not wanting to eat anything else but salads in the summer and then craving warm comfort foods like sweet potatoes in the winter time (although, if you follow my blog, you probably know that I crave sweet potatoes pretty much every day of the year!) On a side not, I’ve been having to write the word “rotates” a lot for work lately (kinda random I know, haha) and every time I try to spell it I write “rotatoes” I guess I just have potatoes on the brain! It must be the fall weather that is hopefully in my near future.
Now that I’ve gotten completely off track, back to summer and desserts! When it comes to summer desserts I want something refreshing and green! Ok, it doesn’t always have to be green, but it does make it more fun to eat. The bright green color happens to be my favorite thing about this dessert for two reasons: 1. because green food is just cool 2. there is a secret ingredient in these parfaits that makes them so green and it is definitely not food coloring! Actually, you could call it nature’s food coloring. Can anyone guess what it is?! When I first thought of the idea to make these parfaits, I had an image in my mind of a bright green lime flavored dessert and then I realized that just using limes would not give me that bright color I was looking for, so I took a tip from my awesome friend Allison at Clean Wellness and added a big handful of spinach!
It worked like a charm and it added a healthy kick to this dessert! And, I’m so happy to report that my husband also loved this dessert. When he came home from work I forced him to take a big bite and tell me what he thought of it. He seemed a little skeptical, but like the dutiful husband he is, he obeyed. I totally felt like my friend Annie over at Maebells when she tricked her husband into eating corn muffins that had three whole squash in them! After he told me he liked them, I almost squealed when I told him that there has a cup and a half of spinach in them and they didn’t contain any dairy!! I hope you squeal with joy when eat these too š
Print
Lime Cheesecake Parfaits with Coconut Whipped Cream {gluten free, vegan}
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups raw, unsalted cashews, soaked in water overnight
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice, about 3 limes
- 2/3 cup almond milk, or other non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon lime zest, 2 – 3 limes
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cup packed spinach leaves
- 1 pinch of salt
- A 5–6 ounce package of graham crackers or your favorite cookie, gluten free or regular
Coconut Whipped Cream:
- 2 cans of coconut cream, chilled overnight
- pure maple syrup, to taste
- coconut or brown sugar, to taste
Instructions
- In a food processor (or blender), fitted with a metal blade, add the soaked cashews, lime juice and almond milk. Mix for 1 – 2 minutes and then add in the lime zest, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and salt. Mix for about 1 more minute and then finally add in the spinach leaves. Mix for 2 – 3 minutes until everything is mixed together and you have a creamy mixture. Scoop mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour (optional, but will firm it up a little bit).
- Take the cans of coconut cream out of the refrigerator and turn them upside down. Open the cans and pour out the liquid. Scoop the remaining creamy mixture into a large bowl. Whip mixture, using an electric mixer, for about 1 minute until it resembles whipped cream with stiff peaks. Add maple syrup and sugar to taste and then mix for another 30 seconds.
- Place graham crackers into a medium sized bowl and crush them using the bottom of a cup.
- In a mason jar, or a bowl, layer the lime cashew mixture with the crushed cookies and whipped coconut cream. You can layer in any order that you want and you can make the layers as big as you like. Enjoy!
- Category: Dessert, Gluten Free, Vegan
OH gosh Yes!! this is one amazing jar of dessert.. I wish I could grab a spoon and dig in right now š
Thanks Arpita!
HUGE fan of vegan cheesecake, oh good grief. This looks so good and such a great end of summer post Izzy!! Coconut whipped cream…there’s a can of coconut milk in my fridge right now just waiting to be turned into whipped cream.
I am now a huge fan of it too, Jessica! Isn’t coconut whipped cream the best?! I always try to have a can or two chilling in the fridge so that I can have it anytime I want it!
Ooh yum! So healthy, Isadora! I love that you’ve added the cookies on top, though. We wouldn’t want a dessert to be TOO healthy now, would we? š
Can’t believe it’s the first day of Autumn tomorrow. As I’m in Australia though it’s actually the first day of spring for me! š
Haha, we definitely don’t want it to be too healthy! Oh wow, that is so crazy to think it is already spring for you! Spring feels so far away right now to me! I hope you enjoy this dessert with your nice spring weather š
It’s the best when a healthy dessert actually taste healthy, right?! These look SO good!
Thanks Nicole! I don’t always trust my husband when he doesn’t like something, but I do trust him when he love something, haha and he loved these!
I am like you I crave sweet potatoes every time too! Love it š
This dessert looks divine! Love the green in here and also the cashew creamy! It is awesome! And your pictures are stunning!!!
Sweet potatoes are the best š Thank you so much, Olivia!
I love the color of these parfaits. That green is so beautiful! These look just delicious and creamy. I’d love one of these for dessert! Pinning
Thanks Cindy! I think the color is my favorite part! It is exactly what I was imagining! Thanks for pinning š
These look amazing, Izzy! Love the lime cheesecake, so summery!
Thanks Jess! I’m trying to hold onto summer as much as I can š
IZZY. Good grief girl, could these awesome parfaits get any more gorgeous?! Cheesecake is basically my favorite thing in the world and I love that you combined it with super-fluffy coconut whipped cream and lotsa’ lime! The COLOR of these are just drool-worthy and your photos are postitively stunning! These have “weekend” written all over ’em! Pinned. š
Thank you Sarah!! Cheesecakes are one of my all time favorite desserts too! Although these don’t taste exactly like cheesecakes, they still taste pretty darn good and you can feel a little bit better about yourself after you overeat them, haha! I think the color might be my favorite part š Have an awesome long weekend!
Totally with you, this summer flew by so fast that I didn’t get a chance to make a lot of summery dishes I wanted to either. I love these cheesecake parfaits, they look incredible! The layers are so pretty and I love the coconut whipped cream, lime and spinach in here. So tasty and healthy at the same time – <3 it š
Thank you, Kelly! I love healthy desserts because I think that means that I can eat all of these in one sitting! Summer really did fly by! I’m looking forward to pumpkin desserts though!
Wow Izzy, that is one gorgeous and healthy dessert! I love that you used spinach to make it green too.
I’m with you on feeling like there are so many summer recipes I have yet to make. It’s gone by so quickly! Oh well, I guess we’ll have to put up with pumpkin and rotatoes instead. š
Hahahaha! That totally made me laugh, a lot! Rotatoes! I guess there is always next summer! And, honestly, I will happily trade in all the cherry tomatoes and corn for some cooler weather š
This looks awesome! Love the shots in the processor š
Thanks Medha!!
I love the fact that this cheesecake has no dairy, but still look so creamy and delicious! I bet I could totally get away with the spinach in this one with my husband too š
The cashews really did make it so creamy! My husband was kinda scared of the color at first, but when he took a bite he was convinced š
I want to say this is a healthy dessert? Right? At least that’s where I’m going with it. The spinach addition is awesome, I confess, I don’t just like to eat plain spinach but adore sneaking into “desserts” like this. Coconut/lime is one of the best combos ever. This is truly a unique dessert. I haven’t seen anything else out there like it. What can’t you do with cashews….so impressive.
And I laughed out loud about the cherry tomatoes, I’m snacking on them at I write this…..but they’re healthy!
I would like to say that this is a healthy dessert, but I know that he cashews and coconut probably have quite a bit of fat in them, but it is definitely a much healthier fat than cream cheese and heavy cream! I used to really hate eating spinach raw too, it kinda has a bitter flavor, but you really can’t taste it at all in this dessert. Trust me, if you could, my husband wouldn’t have touched it! That is so true, you can pretty much do everything with cashews, haha! They are magical!
Haha, I just ate a bunch more cherry tomatoes today too! I think I will probably eat them all winter long as well, I just can’t stop š
Ha ha rotatoes, love it! That would totally be something that I would do, too! š These cheesecake parfaits look delicious, Izzy! I love that there is no dairy in here, and I’m sure you can’t even tell a difference! And the coconut whipped cream sounds so sweet! Love it!
Potatoes are definitely on the brain, haha! Either that or I just can’t spell! I was really surprised at how hard it was to tell they were actually vegan. And my husband loved them, which says a lot, lol, cause he is pretty picky! The coconut whipped cream is so amazing š
Wow, I love these! I have a hard time baking anything but dessert, so we have opposite habits!
I need to find those oatmeal grahams and make this for my husband. He’s GF, so we need recipes!
Thank you, Mir! Haha, we need to get together because I love eating dessert, I’m just not that great at making it all the time! The oatmeal grahams were so good, my husband kept asking if there were extra that he could eat š I found them at a healthfood store. I hope you can find them soon!
This is hilarious! hahaha! This is totally something I would do! I have said it before and I will say it again, spouses of food bloggers will someday need a support group! ha!
I am loving these parfaits, it is so clever that there is no dairy in them. I never would have guessed! My sister is supposed to avoid dairy, but doesn’t because…well, because she likes it ha! I should so make this for her!
haha, yes they should! I know my husband probably has a lot to get off his chest!
I don’t strictly eat non-dairy, but I do love to experiment with vegan desserts, it can be kinda exciting! I don’t blame your sister for not wanting to stay away from it though š
I want one of these for breakfast! Love that vibrant green…and the fact that these have VEGGIES. WIN.
That is a great idea to eat them for breakfast! And it has spinach so it is healthy, right?!
This does look like an awesome dessert. Sweet but still light for summer. Love the green color and the crunchy cookie layer!
Thanks Katie! I gotta get all the summer food in while I still can! The crunchy cookie layer is a must š
I crave sweet potatoes all year round too! I just cannot ever get enough! š
These look sooooo good. I love that you snuck some spinach in them too. And with coconut whipped cream … that stuff is soooo good.
And Cheeto. Amazing. That picture is hysterical.
I can’t get enough of them either! We will just call them an all season food! I’m obsessed with the coconut whipped cream! I had to stop myself from test tasting it to make sure I had enough for the parfaits!
Cheeto doesn’t like it when I am outside and he isn’t š
These look fantastic!! I love that you added spinach to enhance the green color – and what a beautiful color of green these cheesecakes are! š I am sure they taste delicious!
I am not ready to get rid of summer yet either – I want it to stay! (But I am not going to lie I am looking forward to pumpkin season!!).
And can I just say, your ring is GORGEOUS!
Have a great end of week!
Thank you, Ceara!! I just couldn’t imagine these lime desserts not bright green! And it is nice that the spinach doesn’t add any real flavor, it just gives it a nice color! I want all the yummy food to stay, but I’m also so looking forward to pumpkins and I really would love some cool weather right about now!