At our house, you can usually find us after the Thanksgiving meal digging into a slice of pumpkin pie with enough whip cream to double our blood sugar but…everything in moderation, right? These are the five holiday desserts to make this holiday season for your family get togethers – all from a certified pie critic (I’m self-certified).

 Mini Pumpkin Pies:

I used this recipe for my daughter’s first birthday and everyone loved it! It’s so creamy and delicious! Pro tip: Add a layer of whip cream. Stop when you hit the ceiling.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• Mini pie crusts from Walmart
• 1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Mix eggs and sugar first, then add the evaporated milk, whipping cream, puree and finally the salt and pumpkin pie spice.
3. Bake for 35 minutes or until they are done in the middle
4. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Cover and keep stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Pumpkin Roll:

Yes, both of the first 2 desserts have the word pumpkin in them. Keep reading, I promise there is light at the end of the pumpkin tunnel. This recipe is for experienced bakers. If you are more of the eat the cookie dough kind of person or have never turned on the oven, then this recipe is not for you. However, if you like people beating down your door for the recipe and family members demanding that you make the GREATEST DESSERT OF ALL TIME. Then, yes. This is right up your alley. Here is my pumpkin roll recipe:

Bread ingredients:

• 1 can of pumpkin
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ cup flour
• 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon salt

Filling ingredients:

• 2 blocks of cream cheese
• 1 stick of butter
• 3 cups powered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

Pro tip: put the chopped pecans in with the cream cheese icing in step 6.

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 °F
2. Mix the sugar, eggs and pumpkin first, then add the flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice
3. You’ll want a 10″ x 15″ pan – line it with parchment paper and then add the bread on top of that.
4. Bake for 15 minutes at 375°F or until the middle is firm.
5. Remove from oven and let cool COMPLETELY. <–Very Important – Do not skip this!
6. Mix up the filling ingredients while the bread is cooling. (I like to add nuts to the filling because it adds crunch and they don’t fall out of the roll like they do with other recipes that have you sprinkle them on top of the roll.)
7. Put the filling mixture in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
8. Once the bread is cool, sprinkle some powdered sugar all over the top and roll it up using the parchment paper (like you would a yoga mat) – Some recipes say to use a towel and powered sugar but that is crazy messy and you might as well throw away the towel.
9. Put the roll in the freezer for a minimum of 6 hours- I like to do this the night before and just let stayed rolled all night.
10. Unroll it slowly and spread on the filling. Roll it back up. Slice and enjoy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake:

I swear, not all these recipes are pumpkin flavored! This one is practically cheesecake, so it doesn’t count. This is my personal favorite and last year, when I was breastfeeding my new born and thought I was immune to calories, I ate an ENTIRE pie. It was over the course of 3 days but I did it. Am I proud of it? No. Would I do it again? Probably. This is dangerously delicious, and you should not be left unsupervised with this pie. All hopes of your bikini bod will be dashed. It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it. I vote that it is. Here is my pumpkin cheesecake recipe.

Pro tip: Cream cheese needs to be at room temperature to mix well with the batter.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 packages cream cheese (8 oz. each), room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• I use store bought crust or you can make your own

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°F
2. Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl until smooth.
3. Mix in the pumpkin and eggs; pour batter into pan that has crust.
4. Bake 10 minutes at 400°F, then reduce oven temperature to 250°F for an additional 60 minutes – or until the cheesecake is almost set
5. Remove from oven to wire rack to cool. I make this the night before so it’s nice and chilled.

Pumpkin Butter Cake:

Okay so this post should have been titled “Nothing but Pumpkin” at this point. What can I say? I like pumpkin.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups vanilla cake mix
• 2 sticks of butter
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 1 block of cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F
2. Grease a 13”x 9” rectangle pan
3. In a bowl, add the cake mix, 1 egg and 1 stick of softened butter – Mix well and press this mixture into the bottom of the 13″ x 9″ pan
4. In a mixer, combine the 2 cups pumpkin, cream cheese, stick of butter, 3 eggs, vanilla, powdered sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg – Mix until smooth
5. Layer this pumpkin mixture on top of the cake batter in the 13″ x 9″ pan.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until firm in the middle.

Chocolate tart with peppermint sprinkles:

You’re going to want to start with a can of pumpkin for this one….kidding. 😊 We can’t have a post about dessert and not include something chocolate. It’s against the law. Or it should be anyway. If you have a potluck at work and need to whip up something fast, this is for you, my fellow procrastinators. It only has 5 ingredients!

Ingredients:

• Vanilla Creme Sandwich Cookies (Or you can use regular Oreo cookies if you prefer a chocolate crust)
• 1 Stick of Butter (melted) – Start with half a stick, add more if needed.
• 1 Cup – Heavy whipping Cream
• 1.5 Cups – Chocolate Chips
• Candy cane (crushed)

 Instructions:

1. Crush up the cookies in a food processor and add butter until the crumbs are able to stick together  -Start small with the butter and work your way up.
2. Press cookie crumb & butter mixture firmly into a 9 inch tart pan.
3. Warm the chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat.
4. Once the chocolate chips have melted, add heavy whipping cream and wait at least 1 minute before you stir.
5. After you have stirred it you can add it to your tart shell and place it in the refrigerator- Make this the night before so it’s chilled.
6. Top with crushed candy cane pieces.

There is a little something here for everyone. All of these deserts wind up being a hit whenever I bring them to parties during the holiday season. Hopefully, they will be for you as well! Happy baking!