To be honest, I’d almost rather this than normal pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving! If you’re wondering about the name….we try to use extremely kid-friendly words and names, and avoid any words that we don’t want to have to explain to our little ones just yet. So in our home, instead of what most people use when ‘better than….’ we use Disneyland. That’s one of our absolute favorite things, so if something’s better than Disneyland, you know it has to be fantastic! (at the moment, I’m wishing I were at Disneyland, though!)

Ingredients

• 1 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup Walnuts or Pecans, chopped
• 8 oz. Cream cheese
• 1 cup Powdered sugar
• 3 cups Whipped topping, divided
• 2 1/2 cups Milk
• 2 pkgs. Vanilla instant pudding mix, 5 1/4 oz. size (Thank you Ann for pointing this out!)
• 2 cups Pumpkin, canned
• 2 tsp. Pumpkin spice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, butter and 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans together. Press into a sprayed 8×8 cake pan. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool.   
2. Blend cream cheese and powdered sugar, then add 1 cup of the whipped topping. Spread over cooled crust. 
3. Mix milk, pudding mix, canned pumpkin, pumpkin spice and 1 cup whipped topping until smooth. Spread over the cream cheese layer. Top with remaining 1 cup of whipped topping and 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans. 
4. Chill for 3 hours or until set.

Notes: Instead of just spraying the pan, I lined it with aluminum foil so I could remove it and keep the edges nice. We tried this both refrigerated and frozen, but all of us preferred the creamy refrigerated version.

What Thanksgiving dessert will YOU be making?

I wasn’t too fond of the taste of cinnamon when I was younger – not sure why, but it just wasn’t a big hit with me. I remember one day when I was in college my roommate sprinkled some on a smoothie and convinced me to give it a chance, and I totally loved it! I don’t know what changed, but now I really enjoy the flavor of cinnamon and what it adds to so many great recipes! If you’re like me and like cinnamon – here’s a list of Delicious Cinnamon Desserts to try!

Everything from cheesecakes to cinnamon rolls (of course), even truffles and muffins! There’s plenty of variety, so pick your favorite and give it a whirl – it may end up being your absolute favorite cinnamon dessert recipe yet 🙂

1. Cinnamon Apple Icebox Cake – Inside Bru Crew Life

2. Cinnamon Toast Bars – Barefeet In the Kitchen

3. Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake – Tastes of Lizzy T

4. White Chocolate Cinnamon Truffles – Lolly Jane

5. Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Mug Cake – Bitz N Giggles

6. No Bake Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cheesecake Bites – Shared Appetite

7. Cinnamon Roll Crumb Cake – Love Bakes Good Cakes

8. Cinnabons Cinnamon Rolls – Jo Cooks

9. Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread – I Heart Naptime

10. Cereal Milk Cinnamon Rolls – Studio DIY

11. Easy Peach Cobbler Cinnamon Coffee Cake – The Frugal Navy Wife

12. Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Cake – Kitchen Nostalgia

13. Semi-Homemade Skillet Cinnamon Rolls – A Cultivated Nest

14. Cinnamon Sugar Cheesecake Bars – Princess Pinky Girl

15. Chocolate Chip Muffins With Cinnamon and Nutmeg – Homemade Hooplah

Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely LOVE the holidays. From the family feasts and gatherings, to getting gifts for my loved ones, to all the beautiful lights and fun music – it’s all fabulous and puts me in such great spirits! Another reason I enjoy them so much is all the delicious food (I can imagine practically all of you nodding in agreement here). While trying new recipes before deciding what to take to Thanksgiving dinner this year, I tried this Chocolate Pumpkin Mini Pies. Oh. My. Goodness! These turned out so tasty and full of great pumpkin (and chocolate) flavor – they’re sure to be a big hit with the whole gathering at your next holiday get-together!

One important thing to know about these is that they’re a FROZEN dessert recipe – but they thaw quickly to become a super creamy, amazing treat in every bite. Since you need to put them in the freezer at least 5 hours total, be sure to plan ahead so it fits into your serving schedule 🙂

Another perk of these chocolate pumpkin mini pies is that they’re smaller (thus the MINI), being made in muffin tins – and you can adjust the size really easy, depending on how you want to serve it! This makes no cutting slices necessary, just take out each muffin cup and pass it out – particularly convenient for serving the kiddos their dessert!

Ingredients

Crust

• 5 Graham Cracker Sheets
• 3 tbsp. Butter, melted
• 1 tbsp. Brown Sugar
• Dash of Ground Cinnamon

Pumpkin Pie Filling

• 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• 8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 cup Pumpkin Puree
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2-1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1/4 tsp. Salt

Chocolate Drizzle

• 4 oz. Semisweet Chocolate Chips or Chunks
• 1/2 cup Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee Creamer

Topping Options: nuts, chocolate chips, etc.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray or line a 12-cup muffin tin, set aside.
2. In a blender, blend the 3 crust ingredients until well-ground. Divide into the 12 muffins cups, then press down so it’s flat. Bake for 5-7 minutes, or until starting to turn golden brown. Set aside to cool.
3. Whip the cream cheese and pumpkin puree until smooth. Mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt until well-mixed and creamy. Set aside.
4. Whip the heavy cream until firm peaks form. Gently fold into the pumpkin filling mix until combined. Scoop into 12 muffin cups over cooled crust. Smooth tops. Place in freezer for about 1 hour.
5. Put the semisweet chocolate and coffee creamer into a microwave-safe bowl and heat at 50% power, stirring at 30 second intervals until fully melted and smooth. Remove and allow to partially cool, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t get too firm. Spread or drizzle over pumpkin filled cups. Sprinkle tops with nuts or chocolate chips, as desired. Place back in freezer at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Be sure to serve these almost immediately after removing from the freezer, as they’ll start to soften very quickly and then can be a bit messy (especially with kids!). These were an absolute HIT with the whole crew – from my pumpkin-obsessed hubby who isn’t too fond of chocolate, to my kids who love almost any type of dessert. It’s like the best of all worlds!