Delicious Layered Pumpkin Dessert
A Delicious Pumpkin Dessert Recipe that is
perfect for Thanksgiving Dinner!
Let me just say that I am not a huge “sweet” eater, I’d much rather have salty. That being said, I LOVE making desserts. Weird, huh? Maybe it’s because I know I will just eat a piece or two and then will be done with it. If I make a dip or something, I can devour the whole.dang.thing…
I try to eat healthy and “clean” most of the time, but then, real life comes along and you have to bring a dessert to a function, so sometimes all the clean living goes right out the window. Everything in moderation. I made this for a function and sent the rest with my husband to work.
I love trying new recipes and “changing up” existing ones. We’ve all had the yummy layered dessert with the crust, cream cheese/whipped topping, instant pudding mixture yada yada.
The first time I had this was at a friend’s house the first Thanksgiving I was teaching, and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. My friend’s mom used chocolate and butterscotch pudding, which I believe is the “original” version. It is an awesome basic recipe and can be changed up however you wish.

Delicious Layered Pumpkin Desert perfect for the Holidays
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 1 1/3 cup crushed gingersnaps
- 2/3 cup walnuts
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 6 oz. cool whipped topping
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 6 oz. whipped topping such as Cool Whip
- 1 can pumpkin
- 2 small boxes of instant pudding, one pumpkin spice and one french vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
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Put the gingersnaps in the food processor, crumbled up, then add the melted butter and mix. Add whole nuts and pulsed a few times so they are chopped but not pureed. Take this mixture out and place in a sprayed 9x13 pan. Bake 350 degrees for 17 minutes, take out and let cool.
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Blend cream cheese, powdered sugar and whipped topping together and spread over cooled crust.
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Mix well for 2 minutes, spread over cream cheese layer.
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Top with 6 oz. of whipped topping and sprinkle with some chopped nuts. Chill until served.
Canned pumpkin was on sale (tis the season,) so I bought 3. I wanted to make something besides pumpkin pie, so I came up with a new version of this yummy dessert. Let me say here that I always use Neufchatel in place of cream cheese, and I also always use light whipped topping and skim or 1% milk in all my recipes. Not that it will make this recipe healthy or anything, but it might help a little bit.
Layered Pumpkin Dessert
Recipe
1 stick of butter, melted
1 1/3 cup crushed gingersnaps
2/3 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans)
I put the gingersnaps in the food processor, crumbled up, then added the melted butter and mixed. I then added the whole nuts and pulsed a few times so they were chopped but not pureed. Take this mixture out and place in a sprayed 9×13 pan. Bake 350 degrees for 17 minutes, take out and let cool.
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
6 oz. whipped topping (such as Cool Whip)
Blend all together and spread over cooled crust.
Mix together –
1 can pumpkin
2 small boxes of instant pudding (vanilla, pumpkin spice, butterscotch…whatever sounds good to you. I used one pumpkin spice and one french vanilla)
2 1/2 C milk
1/2 tsp each cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice
Mix well for 2 minutes, spread over cream cheese layer.
Top with 6 oz. of whipped topping and sprinkle with some chopped nuts. Chill until served.
Try my Delicious Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – a Weight Watchers Treat