I can’t abstain from alliteration, it’s annihilating me! I’m powerless to prevent it! I’m helpless, I can’t hold off!
Okay, I’m done. Let’s make parfait.
I’ll be honest… I’m obsessed with Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Cream Cheese. It’s good on or in just about everything I eat. Tastes good with chocolate, tastes good with bread, tastes good with Bailey’s – all necessary bases covered.
This parfait is an easy dessert to throw together in a hurry, and it tastes even better if you make it a couple of days ahead of time. So if you’re throwing a little party or need to take something to a potluck, you can make this DAYS ahead of time and just pull it out of the fridge at the last minute. Voila! Miss Stewart if you’re nasty!
If you want to use graham crackers or some other kind of cookie for the layers in this parfait, knock yourself out. The sky’s the limit, folks! You could lighten the pudding texture (and stretch it out to some more jars) if you folded whipped cream into the pudding/cream cheese mixture. But I prefer desserts that slap me in the face with flavor and richness, so this is my personal preference.

Cook Time | 20 minutes |
Servings |
parfaits
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- 8 oz pumpkin cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 package vanilla instant pudding (5.1 oz)
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 3 cups milk whole
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup or to taste
- 6 oz butter cookies or similar
Ingredients
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- Mix first 6 ingredients for approximately 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides at least once.
- Add maple syrup to taste and mix thoroughly.
- Crush butter cookies into rough chunks.
- Layer butter cookies and pudding in a jar or glass, ending with a layer of pudding. Sprinkle top with a pinch of pudding pie spice.