It’s Friday! Let’s go for the donut, treat ourselves to a manicure, and dig our spoons into Pumpkin Parfaits with Coconut Whipped Cream.
On Friday, we’ve spent five consecutive days battling the traffic/printer/guy who microwaves his tuna melt at lunch and lived to see another weekend. Maybe we’ve fed our toddlers/hungry teens/spouses/ravaging canines three square meals a day for-approximately-ever. Whatever your reason to celebrate, today is Friday, and you deserve a pumpkin parfait party!
As I shared on Monday via Curried Carrot, Apple, and Peanut Soup, September is all about the layers, and pumpkin parfaits offer a little something special in each of theirs.
About these Delightful Healthy Pumpkin Parfaits
The pumpkin layer is lightly spiced, airy, and mousse-like in texture, and spiked with a celebratory dash of dark rum. The rum isn’t overpowering and adds the vavoom I feel is sometimes missing in pumpkin desserts.
Speaking of vavoom: coconut whipped cream. Where has this wondrous cloud of coconut bliss been all my life? It’s fluffy. It’s ultra creamy. It’s destined to be layered on my parfaits, scooped over my crisps, and shoveled directly into my mouth forevermore.
For those of you with dietary restrictions, coconut whipped cream is also completely dairy free! To make it, whip the solid portion of full-fat coconut milk into a tizzy, add a touch of sweeter and optional vanilla extract, and that’s it! It has a subtle coconut flavor that I adore paired with the pumpkin. If you prefer less coconut taste, simply increase the amount of vanilla extract.
The final pumpkin parfait layer: crushed gingersnap cookies. Their crunchy texture and spicy zip are oh-so-right with the creamy pumpkin.

Pumpkin Parfait Storage Tips
- To Store. Refrigerate leftover pumpkin parfaits for up to 3 days.
- The cookies will become a little soft, but the flavors will still be delicious.
More Pumpkin Favorites
Pumpkin + coconut + ginger cookie crunch. We are ready to party, parfait-style!
In addition to the joys of Friday and pumpkin parfaits, I have two important reasons to celebrate:
- Our bedroom furniture arrived. Never mind that the mattress won’t be here for another eight weeks, and we are sleeping in the guest bedroom. We have a lovely set of matching nightstands! And a headboard! This calls for extra coconut whipped cream.
- Ben is a real lawyer. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that we traveled back to Madison yesterday, where Ben was sworn in to the Wisconsin Bar at the state Supreme Court. We toasted both the events with brandy old fashioneds and fried cheese curds—so good they should be illegal (I’m sorry).
Pumpkin Parfaits with Coconut Whipped Cream
Ingredients
Pumpkin Pie Filling:
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 2 teaspoons 1 packet unflavored gelatin powder
- 3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
- 1/4 cup Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 cup Dixie Crystals Light Brown Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Whipped Coconut Cream:
- 2 cans full-fat coconut milk refrigerated overnight
- 3 tablespoons Dixie Crystals Confectioners Powdered Sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Garnish:
- Crushed gingersnap cookies about 20
Notes
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Gah! These parfaits look INCREDIBLE! Oh I just want to grab my spoon and dig right in. Gorgeous layers!
Congrats to your hubby! And oh man, these look amazing!! Love the coconut whipped cream!
Thank you so much Stephanie (and I am hooked on that fluffy stuff!)
These pumpkin parfaits are gorgeous (I want to reach right into my screen and take a bite!) and I love me some coconut whipped cream! :) Followed you on Insta!
Thanks so much Ceara, and coconut whipped cream FOR LIFE.
Congrats to you and your husband! But does this mean you’ll no longer be the law student’s wife?! Anyway, these sound amazing. I have yet to try coconut cream still, but I’m loving how easy to make these seem!
Yum! I’d like to eat these every night of the week (I deserve it mid-way through the week too, right?). Congrats to you and Ben!
You DEFINITELY do Sarah! Thank you so much.
These look so amazing! I love the addition of gingersnaps and congrats (a little late) to BOTH of you! Seriously supporting a man who works like crazy is a full time job both with the menial home tasks and emotional support!
I’m planning on including a photo of this recipe and a link in a round-up on Lifehack if that’s okay! :)
Thank you so, so much Amanda! It’s exciting to be at a new chapter. I hope you love the parfaits, and I would be delighted for them to be included in your round up, thank you
Here it is: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/15-heavenly-tasty-pumpkin-recipes-you-cant-miss.html
And they changed my title so that’s kind of weird, but it turned out great otherwise! :)
Thanks so much Amanda!!!
This recipe looks great! Where did you purchase those cute jars?
Thanks Kathy! They are from World Market, where I tend to get into trouble with the cute food props :)