Cottage Cheese and Berry Parfait with blueberries, raspberries, or any kind of berry. A sprinkling of cinnamon sugar and a drizzle of honey makes it parfait … I mean perfect.
Couldn’t be easier: layer, and refrigerate.
Ingredients
Fresh, in-season berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries
Cinnamon sugar
Small-curd cottage cheese
Honey
Directions
- Find a glass jar with a tight fitting lid, that will hold a single serving of parfait. Spoon berries into the jar until you’ve filled it by about half. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, to taste (generously). Top with cottage cheese, until the container is all but filled. Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar, about the same as the previous amount. Top with a drizzle of honey. Screw the lid onto the container and keep refrigerated.
This recipe seems too simple to post on my blog, but it’s such a useful recipe, that I make all the time. It’s great to take to work with your lunch, or as a mid-day snack. Plus, Google turned up nearly a million results for this recipe in about a half-second, so I’m clearly not the only one. Now, what makes mine different from all those others?
- This is not a “breakfast” parfait. I give you permission to eat it any time of day or night.
- I didn’t not try to healthy this one up with nuts and seeds. Anyone who had a mother or grandmother who dieted in the late 20th century knows that cottage chesse is the very foundation of “good for you,” all by itself. In fact, I believe that by putting cottage cheese onto any other food, that food becomes healthy and low-cal, automatically. Serve this parfait in an iceburg lettuce leaf cup, and I think it melts the fat right off you faster than liposuction.
- Unlike many, many other parfait recipes, I put the fruit on the bottom, not on the top. You need the cheese to drip into the fruit, not the fruit to drip into the cheese. Ack!
Here are some interesting ideas: Food.com suggests that you mix the cottage cheese with some vanilla yogurt and almond extract before layering the parfait. Ripped Recipes recommends whipping the parfait ingredients together.
Cinnamon sugar can be whatever you want it to be: anywhere from 1 teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon cinnamon to a quarter-cup of sugar. I prefer the latter, which is a 1:4 ratio.
Cottage Cheese and Berry Parfait
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor.
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A simple yet fantastic seasonal dessert!
angiesrecipes recently posted…Chive Blossom Salt
Thanks, Angie!
My cottage cheese has big curds. Did I miss the place where you say “blend the cottage cheese?” Yours looks smooth. Great idea; I love cottage cheese.
No, I bought small curd cottage cheese! I thought you could get that everywhere. Is it a regional thing? How interesting, because you’re not the first to mention it. It’s not quite smooth, but the curds are very, very small. I grew up always seeing both types in the grocery store. They taste the same, but the different texture are good for different purposes.
I’m with you, I could eat this anytime of the day. I like the idea of putting the fruit on the bottom with a little sugar and cinnamon. Let it rest for a while and I assume you’ll have some juice from the berries. I love cottage cheese, so that make this parfait even better for me.
mjskitchen recently posted…Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm
Yes, that’s exactly why I do it!
I love this recipe because I really like cottage cheese, and I’m currently picking fresh berries from the garden. I wouldn’t have thought of the cinnamon sugar, but it sounds perfect. I’m pretty sure this will be today’s lunch. Thank you!
Well, glad I could turn you on to the idea. I feel like the cinnamon sugar make it just a little bit special.
I do the same 1:4 ratio of cinnamon : sugar, too, Jeff! I knew we were friends for a reason. Well, that, and this recipe sounds pretty fantastic. I bet some of those wild berries near your summer house would be pretty tasty in this one!
David @ Spiced recently posted…Cherry Almond Cake
Hey David! Summer’s been especially gorgeous around here this year. Haven’t had time for foraging, but the markets have been full of fantastic local berries.
Yup cottage cheese does make anything healthier. For the ultimate healthy lunch, the combo of cottage cheese and canned peaches in a salad is the ticket. 🙂 (Remember that combo? Used to be big.) Anyway, this looks good. And easy, which certainly has its appeal. Thanks!
John+/+Kitchen+Riffs recently posted…Philadelphia Fish House Punch
Yes, I do love cottage cheese and peaches! Hope you’re having a great summer, John!
Jeff, your presentation is very appealing. This sounds perfect for hot summer weather. My dad used to always eat something like this in the summer when it was really hot and humid and in those days we had no air conditioning!!
Judee recently posted…Radicchio Salad with Pea Shoots and Fresh Mint
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Yup, cottage cheese + fresh fruit and berries (or even a spoon of jam) is an excellent combination! Basically eat this every morning minus the layering part 🙂
Nice!
Such a great idea to use cottage cheese in a parfait! This would be the perfect meal or snack throughout the day. Delicious, filling, and beautifully presented Jeff!
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I love your whole approach to this recipe Jeff, but I’m wondering if you have more interesting cottage cheese than we do.I’m not sure what small curd cottage cheese is. Anyhow , thanks for the reminder about the health benefits of cottage cheese, I must buy some again and make this even if the cold weather means all I want are hot, self saucing puddings. Now they are not that healthy.
Where I live, it’s common to encounter cottage cheese with large curds, or small curds – meaning that the little clumps of cheese in the liquidly mixture are either larger, like maybe the size of small beans or large capers, or smaller, like … I don’t know … the size of seeds. That said, no two cottage cheeses are alike. Some are much tastier than others.
As you say, it’s a classic for breakfast or not.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks, Mae!
i don’t often buy or use cottage cheese but this sounds tasty jeff. We can buy it either weirdly watery or weirdly lumpy 🙂 Strange stuff …
sherry recently posted…Red Pesto And Eggplant Sandwich
That’s interesting! I guess it really differs from place to place.
Lovely recipe, a wonderful blog
Thanks so much!