Pumpkin Pie Redux

Thursday I had lunch with some friends from Sunday school. I sat next to Gail and she mentioned that she still wanted my recipe for the pumpkin pie I made at Thanksgiving, and then again at Christmas. I first tried the pie at my friend, Jill's house and it was so delicious I had to make it for the holidays. Our family ate the entire pie the first night! So, Gail, this recipe is for you. Hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we did.

TURTLE PUMPKIN PIE

Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used cinnamon grahams)
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup light brown sugar

Filling

1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1 cup cold milk
2 pkg. (4 serving size) Jello vanilla instant pudding
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
8 oz tub Cool Whip, divided

Topping
2 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping
2 tablespoons pecan pieces

1) Mix graham cracker crust ingredients together. Press firmly onto bottom and up sides of pie pan of desired size. If in a silver pan, bake 8-10 minutes at 350, and if in dark pan bake 8-10 minutes at 300. Bake til just lightly browned.

2) While crust is baking, beat milk, dry pudding mixes, pumpkin and spices until blended. Fold in 1 1/2 cups Cool Whip (half the container).

3) When crust is slightly cool, pour 1/4 cup caramel topping into crust and sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans.

4) Add filling to pie. Refrigerate at least one hour. Top with remaining whipped topping (I like to pipe on from the snipped off tip of a ziplock style bag) and drizzle with caramel. Then sprinkle with remaining pecans.

5) Store in fridge.

Note: The last time I made this pie, rather than using the remaining 1/2 container of Cool Whip for topping, I made my own whipped cream, piped it on and then followed with caramel topping and pecans as noted above. See whipped cream recipe below.

Maple Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Using mixer (preferably with whisk attachment and chilled bowl) beat together whipped cream and confectioners sugar until peaks form. Add maple syrup and beat. You want it thick enough that it holds its shape well but don't beat it so long that it turns into butter.

Happy Birthday Josh!

I don't usually do a lot of special cooking for Josh; he prefers eating out to home cooking. But, he did like it last year (I think) when I made him a dessert he loves to get at The Cheesecake Factory -- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake. Well ... things didn't go as planned today. I woke up this morning, pulled the cream cheese from the garage fridge and then noticed our Internet was down. The recipe I used was adapted from one at Recipezaar.com. Both Internet and TV were down all day, going back on just as I was heading out the door to pick Matt up from college. I'm still hoping to make this for him tomorrow. I guess better late than never.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH CHEESECAKE

Crust
1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie (Oreo) crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Cookie Dough
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
1 cup (Nestle) chocolate chips

Filling
3 packages (Philadelphia) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs

Topping (Optional)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Crust: Mix cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter and press firmly into bottom of 9" springform pan.
3) Cookie dough: Cream butter and sugars together til creamy (several minutes). Add vanilla and salt. Then add flour and mix just til combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
4) Filling: Mix together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla til creamy. Add one egg at a time.
5) Pour filling into prepared crust and drop 1 teaspoon portions of cookie dough into filling, pressing down.
6) Bake 45 minutes or until set.
7) Cool. If using topping, mix together sour cream and confectioner's sugar and pour on top of cooled cheesecake. Refrigerate at least 3 to 4 hours or overnight.