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I seriously can’t believe that Thanksgiving is in 3 days! I am so not ready, not even close. The post-it note hanging from my monitor that I creatively titled “Thanksgiving” has one item written on it – Turkey. Yep, according to my list, all I need is a turkey.
If I am being honest, cooking on Thanksgiving sort of annoys me. Sure it’s great to hang out with the family and eat until we all slip into a tryptophan-induced coma, but seriously have you ever actually analyzed the process? Let me break it down for you.
Here is how my prep goes:
Wednesday Morning: Make pie and pumpkin roll. (2 hours)
Wednesday Afternoon: Head to grocery store for all the fixings – after I finish my list. (1.5 hours)
Pick up the turkey that I ordered thanks to the aforementioned post-it note (30 minutes)
Wednesday Evening: Head to “stuffing night” with Brittani’s family (3 hours)
Wednesday Night: Brine Turkey (1 hour)
Thursday Morning: Start cooking and continue cooking all whilst making an insane mess and chasing off my father who will inevitably be trying to pluck turkey skin from a piping hot bird. (5 hours)
Thursday Evening: Eat dinner (10 minutes)
Thursday Evening: Clean the kitchen while everyone else suffers from the aforementioned turkey coma. (Eleventy billion hours)
So let’s see – 14 hours of prep and an endless line of dishes afterwards for 10 minutes of eating pleasure? Yeah – can ya tell why it kind of irks me?
If your Thanksgiving schedule looks anything like mine, you may be in search of a quick, delicious dessert that can be prepped and assembled in minutes. I’m coming to your rescue (and my own) with these simple Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles. They start with a base of crushed Biscoff cookies followed by a velvety layer of pumpkin cheesecake filling and are finished with a swirl of whipped topping. In a small glass, these elegant trifles are sure to be a hit at any Thanksgiving table. And as a bonus, those little trifle glasses are dishwasher safe!
I hope your Thanksgiving week is off to a delicious start!
[pinit]
Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles
Ingredients
- 12 Biscoff Cookies crushed into crumbs
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 12 ounces frozen whipped topping thawed, divided
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine Biscoff Cookie crumbs and butter. Divide the crumbs into the bottoms of your trifle glasses. Gently press crumbs to form an even layer of crust.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth.
- Add pumpkin, vanilla, sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Beat until well combined and creamy.
- Use a spatula to fold in half of the whipped topping. Gently combine ingredients until no streaks remain.
- To Assemble the Trifles: Pipe or spoon a layer of pumpkin cheesecake onto the Biscoff crust followed by a layer of whipped topping. Repeat layers until your trifle reaches the top of your glass or jar.
- Store trifles in the refrigerator until ready to serve. If desired, garnish with Biscoff cookie crumbs.
Notes
- The glasses and spoons seen in the photos are from Ikea.
- The layering proportions will vary depending on what size container you use.
These trifles look amazing and I would like to try to make these for a party that I am hosting. Two questions, how did you get the cool whip evenly ridged on the top and the how did you make the layers look so uniform….any tricks?
Has anyone used regular graham crackers rather then biscoff cookies??
I haven’t, but I would like to use ginger snap crumbs.. I’ve made a pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust, and it’s an excellent flavor combination!
I made these tonight, and they were delish! Will make these again, especially during the holiday season. BTW, I posted your link to my blog… http://pintheredidthat.blogspot.com/2012/09/pumpkin-cheesecake-triffle.html
Vera-
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for coming back and letting me know how the recipe worked for you!
-Jamie
Wow! I was craving pumpkin and decided to try this. Yum! I made it as a pie instead of individual servings because I didn’t have small dishes and I wasn’t making it for a crowd-just me and my sister!
I made a homemade graham cracker crust -I would love to make a ginger cookie one!- and it is sooooo good! Thanks!
Lisa-
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for coming back to us about your experience with the recipe!
-Jamie
Well, Thanksgiving is my favourite time of year and I love to cook for family. Honestly, sweater weather with all the fixings, sigh…. lovely. And none of the nasty commercialism of Christmas. I live in Canada and I have never seen these cookies where I live. Are they buttery, gingery…. any nice descriptive words so I can find a replacement? And I would definitely use real whip cream, super yum! Great idea. You are so imaginative. I love pumpkin and not pumpkin pie so this is perfect!
Alex-
Hi! Biscoff cookies have a caramely-buttery flavor and a crisp texture. You could certainly sub in a great gingersnap as well. I hope this helps. Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by.
-Jamie
I’m in Canada too and you can get cookies at Safeway or Save-on-foods! I’m making today!
Okay, trifle looks amazingly delicious.
I’m with you on Thanksgiving being over the top amount of work, and I have another gripe. It seems like it is not enough to keep the women in the kitchen, but the men often have activities Thursday morning. There are Turkey Bowls, and don’t forget turkey trots. My goodness, I can’t just stay home and cook, and I have to stay home and cook and keep track of the kids while he gets to play. As you can tell, I’m not bitter at all!
This looks scrumptious! I can hardly wait to make this.
I have one question: instead of me having to buy those cookies, do you think this dessert would still be okay if I crushed graham crackers in its place?
I will definitly be making this in my new trifle bowl..I have been looking for recipes to make and this one is a-mazing. Thanks for sharing!
These pumpkin trifles are making my mouth water! Must try!
thanks for sharing
This recipe is unbelievable! I made a modified version for our Passover seder, using Passover cookie crumbles and real whipped cream. It will now become one of our family traditions. Next time, I think I’ll leave out the cookie part because the “pudding” is awesome all by itself. Thank you!