Thanksgiving Desserts

J. ~ I found a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Dip in my Southern Living mag years ago that everyone, young and old, enjoys every year.

1 8oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 15oz. can pumpkin pie filling
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. groung ginger

Beat cream cheese and sugar at med. speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and beat well. Cover and chill 8 hrs. or overnight. Serve with gingersnaps and apple or pear slices. Yum!!

It looks like you've got some great contributions so far-- some I will probably try myself! --but I'm going to throw in my $.02 anyway...

I know you said you were doing a pumpkin pie-- my fave pumpkin pie recipe is a double-decker beauty made with vanilla pudding, cream cheese, whipped topping and canned pumpkin. Super-easy and it goes fast, so more than one might be a good idea. :)

Thankfully, I found a link for the complete recipe:

http://www.seasonalrecipes.com/rec/recipe10.doubledeckerp...

(We're having a pot-luck Thanksgiving @ the office today, and I have to say, I'm looking forward to the brownies, myself.)

Have fun!

You can search www.myrecipes.com. It's a website that catalogs all the Southern Living, Cooking Light and Oxmoore House recipes. It's very user friendly and you can read reviews and ratings. One of my favorite desserts to feed a large group is Turtle Trifle. It uses a pecan pie for the base, so it's festive for Thanksgiving. Good luck and happy Thanksgiving!

Ingredients
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, softened*
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (2-lb.) frozen pecan pie, thawed and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/3 cup chocolate fudge topping
1/3 cup caramel topping
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Preparation
1. Beat mascarpone cheese, whipping cream, and vanilla extract in a large bowl at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth and firm.

2. Place half of pie cubes in bottom of a 4-qt. trifle dish or tall, clear 4-qt. glass bowl. Spread half of whipped cream mixture over pie cubes. Drizzle with half each of chocolate fudge topping and caramel topping. Sprinkle with half of chopped pecans. Repeat layers.

3. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.

*1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese may be substituted.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Edwards Georgia Pecan Pie, Smucker's Chocolate Fudge Topping, and Smucker's Caramel Flavored Topping.

J.. I've got a bread pudding that is super easy and people love it. It comes with a bourbon sauce so if you or others are concerned with the alcohol this may not be for you. Really the alcohol burns out of it when you make the sauce, but some people are anti alcohol all around. Here it is anyway.

12 oz French bread, cut in 1/2 in chunks (about 6 cups)
3 C milk
3 eggs
1 C sugar
2 teas. vanilla extract
1/2 teas cinnamon
1/2 teas nutmeg
1/8 teas salt
2/3 C raisins
2 T melted butter

Sauce
1/2 C butter
1 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 C bourbon

Place bread chunks in a large bowl, pour milk over. Stir a little to break pieces up, let stand until all milk is absorbed. In another bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinammon, nutmeg, and salt together. Stir into the bread mixture. Gently stir the raisins into the mixture. Pour into a buttered baking pan or casserole Drizzle with melted butter.

Bake at 350 for 60 min. Cool and cut into squares.

To make sauce, in a saucepan, add sugar and egg, whisking to blend well. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Whisk in bourbon. Remove from heat and chill thoroughly. Whisk before serving.

My family loves this dessert and it is super easy to make.

Here is a link to the best cookies ever also.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Big-Soft-Ginger-Cookies/Deta...

As you can tell, I love cinammon and the like. Perfect for this time of year. Hope it all turns out well!!! Enjoy!

Strawberry Pretzel Desert (This is my family's favorite)

LAYER #1:

2 c. crushed pretzels (grate in food processor)
3/4 c. butter, melted
3 tbsp. sugar

Mix above ingredients into 9 x 13 inch pan. Press flat onto bottom of pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Let cool.

LAYER #2:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip

Mix together until smooth. Spoon over pretzel layer.

LAYER #3:

2 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry Jello
2 c. boiling water
2 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries

Mix strawberry Jello and boiling water together. Add sliced strawberries. Refrigerate for about 1 hour until slightly jelled. Pour carefully over cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate.

ALSO ...
Mom's Apple Crisp Recipe (from Pampered Chef)

Printable copy: http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/recipesearch/rec...

I've tried to cut back on sugar & carbs in our family, so I now use the following mixture instead of cake mix: 1/2 c white flour, 1/2 c whole wheat flour, 3/4 c oatmeal, 1/4 cup raw sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. you can even just add oatmeal to the cake mix for texture if you want.

It's a tried and true recipe and when I was a Pampered Chef consultant, it was the HIT of every demonstration I did for 3 years!!

I'm a firm believer that good food doesn't have to be complicated.

:)

Buen provecho,

C.

This recipe is SOOOO yummy! It has been in the family for years & we make it twice a year & enjoy it every time. It is one of those recipes that once you start eating it...you want to eat the entire pan!!

Frosted Pumpkin Bars

Mix following ingredients in a bowl:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin

Sift the following ingredients and then add to pumpkin mixture

2 cup flour 2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp nutmeg

1. Mix well, our in greased and floured pans (cake pan, square pans, pie pans). Bake at 350 degrees for 35-30 minutes. Cool completely.

Frosting:

1 (6 oz) pkg cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 stick butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. can milk

Beat cheese, butter, vanilla and cream together until soft. Add sugar gradually, mix well. Frost bars (freezes well)

When we do potluck, we try to make things that people can pick up and things that can be cut into squares or shapes beforehand. Chocolate dipped pretzels. Rice krispie treats (you can decorate the top if you want). Brownies, cookies, etc.
Banana pudding is a southern favorite and goes well with pretty much everything.
Good luck and have fun!

After making this recipe, I'll never make pumpkin pie again. It is fabulous!!!
Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Bars
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pumpkin-goo...
Oh, and it's so rich that it makes more than 6-8 servings.

I'll second the strawberry pretzel salad that someone else posted. I don't know if it's exactly what my mom makes, but she makes it every holiday and I love it!

Good luck on your dinner. Have you heard of jello pie? So easy to make and i can;t keep in around here. Just in case here it is.i use cherry jello but you can try any kind. You need
small box black cherry jello--8oz cream cheese--graham pie crust--carton dream whip are can of the cheaper whip topping.
Jar cherrys--take one cup of the cherry juice heat to almost boiling to desolve the jello. Place this in frig. Untill it is almost set then add the cream cheese beat with mixer untill well mixed them add half carton of the whipped topping fold into mixture well mixed. Place in pie crust and place in frig. Over night before serveing you can if you like put the rest of the topping on the pie. Also i chop real fine a cup of the cherrys and add that when mixing. I get my jar of cherrys at the dollar store and use the whole jar of cherrys. Let me know if there is something you don;t understand i am not good at writing out something i made up.remember only use one cup of liquid not two like it say;s on jello box, use just the cup of cherry juice.

Try going to Kraft Food & Family website, most of these recepies are very simple and good! I subscribe to the magazine and love it! Good luck!

Hi,
The pumpkin pie from Sams club is awesome. It's only 6 or 7 dollars and it's huge. Another good dessert is banana pudding. Everyone loves it and it's really easy to make. You just slice bananas and line the bottom of a dish, cover them completely with vanilla pudding and cover the top with vanilla wafers. I always do a couple alternating layers of bananas and pudding. The only problem with this one is that you don't want to make it any earlier than the NIGHT before. I'd actually do it the morning of. The bananas can go brown, also make sure they are totally covered with pudding. Goood luck and enjoy!

better than sex cake:

1 baked devils-food cake
1/2 jar of fudge topping (I use Smucker's)
1/2 jar of caramel OR butterscotch topping (ditto on brand)
1/2 can Eagle brand-sweetened condensed milk
6 Heath candy bars
1 tub cool whip

Poke holes in the cake using a large fork or the handle of a wooden
spoon. Pour (one at a time) fudge, caramel or butterscotch and
condensed milk over the top of the cake. Let each flavor soak in
before adding the next. Crush 3 of the Heath bars and sprinkle on
top. Frost with whipped topping and then crush the other 3 Heath bars
and sprinkle over the top.

If you like pecan pie. I like the recipe on the Karo syrup bottle only pour into to frozen ready made 8in shallow pie crusts. It is one way to stretch a dollar.

Hi, J.! Ambrosia is always a safe dessert; it's a mixture of chopped fruit, marshmallows, shredded coconut (dried) and probably a little sugar as well. I don't know the recipe, but it should be available on line. You might also try hot apple pie with rich vanilla ice cream. A spice cake or applesauce cake is also a good harvest-theme dessert, especially with a little whipped cream.

Now I'm making myself hungry!

Have a wonderful time!
Peace,
Syl

JELLO PIES ARE FUN AND COLORFUL GRAMCRACKER CRUST MIX JELLOW WITH KOOL WHIP PUT IN CRUST CHILL CHECK JELLO FOR TRUE RECEIPT. sUGAR FREE PUMPKIN PUDDING MIXED WITH PUMPKIN, SEASONINGS PUT INTO CRUST GREAT FOR DIABETICS.ALSO CHECK THE CAKE MIX AISLE FOR IDEAS IN A BOX USUALLY REALLY EASY

It may not be a "traditional" Thanksgiving dessert, but everyone in my family loves it, and some of the more traditional desserts are not enjoyed by kids... my kids will not touch any kind of pie. Period. Also, it seems less "rich" so it can be enjoyed after a big meal.
It can be prepared 2 or 3 days ahead and if you don't cut it, you don't need to do anything except maybe put some foil over it loosely.

CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE

3 sticks of butter
3 c. sugar
3 c. flour, sifted (use a pastry cutter if you don't have a sifter)
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
6 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth (set it out in the mixing bowl an hour or so beforehand to soften). Add sugar; beat until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Combine flour and salt, and stir together with butter mixture. Spoon into tube cake pan (don't smooth it out, leave any air pockets) and bake at 325º for about 1 hour 25 minutes.
When it comes out of the oven, run a butter knife around the edges to help it separate from the pan, then turn it out on a plate/serving platter.

I usually slice some fresh strawberries and let people dish some strawberries and whipped cream onto their plate with it if they want.
My kids love it plain. In fact, my 7 yr old would rather have this than chocolate cake. It reminds me of the one my grandmother made when I was a kid.