Pumpkin Cheesecake for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is here again. This has to be my hubby's favorite holiday, he gorges himself so much, he falls asleep for at least 12 hours, no joke. There is one thing he always looks forward to above all else, well, except for the turkey. That is the Pumpkin cheesecake that I've made for him every year.

I have two versions, one is no bake, the other is a traditional cheesecake, pumpkin style. I alternate which I make, and this year in the no bake. Which suits me just fine, less work! I am doing 95% of the cooking, so doing the no bake this year was actually a tiny blessing. Anyway, on to the food!

All you need to make this super easy, super yummy treat is a graham cracker crust, 1 package of cream cheese (room temperature), 1 cup of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix), half a small tub of whipped topping, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1/2 a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. I also add a little bit of extra cinnamon and clove.

You combine your pumpkin, cream cheese, and sugar/spice mixture in a mixing bowl.

Then you beat it with a mixer on medium to high speed, until all of the lumps are gone, and it has a creamy texture. I usually do this for about 5 minutes with my hand mixer, it may take less depending on the mixer and how thawed the cream cheese is.

After you have blended the mixture to it's desired creaminess, you add in about half the tub of whipped topping, which is around 2 cups...but you can most certainly just eyeball it. You can even reduce it if you want, or even add more. The more whipped topping you add, the more the pumpkin flavor is diluted. I've found that around half is a good balance. It makes it creamy and fluffy, and the pumpkin flavor is still strong, but not over powering.

When the whipped topping is blended in to it's desired consistency, it's ready to be spooned into the crust!

And that's all there is to it!

You can top with whatever you like, or go topless! See what I did there....

I top mine with a mixture of graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Just a little sprinkle to give it something extra and to garnish it a bit.

And there you have it, a very simple, 5 minute dessert that is worthy of kings! Ok maybe not kings, but at least for a hubby with a very particular palette. I even had time to make a second to drop off at his work for his coworkers that didn't have the day off!