Thanksgiving Desserts: Pumpkin Edition

We all live for Grandma’s mashed potatoes every fourth Thursday of November, but those taters are going to have to wait. You can’t possibly have a Thanksgiving without pumpkin and desserts. VALLEY is here to make your Thanksgiving dessert menu the best it has ever been. Give these pumpkin desserts a try during this Thursday!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

What You’ll Need:

• ¾ cup gingersnap crumbs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
• 16 ounces softened cream cheese
• 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 2/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• Cinnamon sugar and cool whip

What You’ll Do:

1. Spray 6″ sprayform pan with cooking spray. Cover bottom of pan with parchment paper
2. Fill 5-6 quart slow cooker with half inch hot water. Set three 1-inch balls of tinfoil in the center of the slow cooker
3. Wrap slow cooker lid tightly with a kitchen towel, gathering ends at the top to absorb condensation
4. For the crust, combine & mix gingersnaps, butter, and sugar together in a bowl. Press mixture evenly on the bottom of the pan and one inch up the sides of the pan
5. For filling, pulse cream cheese, sugar, flour, and vanilla in food processor until smooth
6. Add eggs, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice and process them into mixture until smooth.
7. Pour cheesecake filling into pan
8. Set pan on top of tinfoil balls in the slow cooker … cover and cook on high for about 1 ½ to 2 hours until set and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the middle reads 155 degrees Fahrenheit—DO NOT COOK CHEESECAKE ON LOW
9. Turn off slow cooker and let cake sit, covered for an hour
10. Transfer pan to a wire rack to finish cooling … refrigerate for 4 hours until chilled
11. Remove outer ring from pan and transfer cake to a plate
12. Garnish with cool whip and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top

Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

What You’ll Need:

• ½ cup canned pumpkin purée
• ½ cup vegan sugar
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pinch of salt (optional)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

Icing:

• 1 cup organic powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

What You’ll Do:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Combine the pumpkin, sugar, oil, applesauce and vanilla in a bowl and mix with electric beater
3. In separate bowl, combine & mix the rest of the ingredients except for chocolate chips
4. Mix dry and wet ingredients
5. Stir in chocolate chips
6. Tip: let dough sit 5-10 minutes
7. The baking powder helps the batter rise and allows the finished cookies to be smoother
8. Drop tablespoon sized cookie batter onto a lined cookie sheet
9. Bake 10-12 minutes depending on size of cookies
10. You want edges of cookies to have a golden brown tint to them
11. Cookies will have a cake-like texture
12. For icing combine in bowl and transfer to plastic bag
13. After refrigerating for 20 minutes, take out and cut a corner off the plastic bag so you can pipe onto cookies

*This recipe can also be made non-vegan by using regular sugar and chocolate chips.

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

What You’ll Need:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups pumpkin
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil

Frosting

• 1 8 oz. cream cheese
• ½ cup butter softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt
3. Combine eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and oil in mixing bowl
4. Add dry ingredients and mix well
5. Spread batter into non-greased 9″ x 12″ baking pan
6. Bake 25 to 30 minutes
7. Let cake sit and cool before frosting it
8. For frosting; beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy
9. Gradually blend in sugar and beat until smooth

Have a favorite pumpkin dessert? Tweet @ValleyMag and let us know!