3 words: pumpkin. mousse. cheesecake.

 

Thanksgiving was awesome, and not just because we got to see a ton of family. In the morning, hubs and I ran a 5K, and my brother-in-law came along for good measure (but totally smoked our time by like 13 minutes. ouch). he and his wife came back to my in-laws, where we picked up stenni and headed home to cook. for dinner, my folks, my sister and my in-laws came by, then later on my grandparents and hubs' cousin and his wife came by for a bit. it was a nice, steady crowd of people all day, and even though i completely forgot about the cranberry sauce and neglected to put out the napkins until we were halfway through our meal, it was really, really perfect.
but like most things in life, the best part was dessert. ok, maybe dessert was the second best part. the best part was hubs carving a turkey in his lederhosen apron with his beer stein oven mitts. for serious. don't  believe me? see for yourself:



At any rate, what I want to talk about right now is dessert. I wanted to add an extra dessert to the menu just in case we had extra people show up, and I'm pretty glad I did. But it had to be something ridiculously easy, because I had enough on my plate that day (so punny, right?). I wanted something pumpkin. But I also thought people might riot if there was no cheesecake of any type on the table. (My family is a riotous bunch.) Hubs said, "so why don't you make a pumpkin cheesecake?" and I almost made out with him on the spot because of his brilliance. after looking through a million cookbooks and websites, I found this one at skinnytaste and altered it very slightly to fit my needs and use what I already had in the kitchen so I didn't have to go out food shopping 100 more times. And it was awesome. oh, did i mention i had dieters coming over and that a slice is only 6 weight watchers points plus points? because it is, and that rocks. here you go, friends:

Pumpkin Mousse Cheesecake

• 1 8-oz tub reduced-fat whipped cream cheese or neufchatal
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (a little more is just fine if you want more pumpkin flavor, but don't go crazy because it'll make it heavier and more pie-like than fluffy)
• 1 tsp really good vanilla (or, if you really want, skip the vanilla and add about 1 Tbsp. of dark rum. it ups the spice factor but probably the WW points as well. but since I don't count points, I also don't care and I really like rum)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves, if you're too cheap to shell out $6 for like an ounce of pumpkin pie spice, like I am)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
  
• 8 oz-tub of fat free whipped topping, thawed
  
• 9-inch reduced fat Graham Cracker Crust

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, whip together cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and brown sugar for a 4-5 minutes, until super fluffy. Add whipped topping and whip until smooth. Spoon mixture into pie crust and chill for a few hours until firm.

Original Recipe: Pumpkin Spice No-Bake Cheesecake @ Gina's Skinny Recipes

What was your favorite recipe this Thanksgiving? Didja try anything new? Tell me tell me tell me!