Thanksgiving is here! One of my favorite times of the year. It’s a time where all your friends and family come together and give thanks to what you have and of course a chance to eat lots of yummy food. One of my very favorite Thanksgivings happened right after my husband and I got married. Our wedding was in Mid-October and between the wedding and the honeymoon we were too broke to travel to our families for Thanksgiving. We were pretty sad by it since it would be our first Thanksgiving that we weren’t with family. It also marked the first time that I was the only one that was going to be able to prepare dinner! That Thanksgiving officially marked the change of my love of cooking. I had never cooked a turkey in my life much less a whole Thanksgiving dinner. I called my mom for her sweet potato casserole, called my husband’s mom for her broccoli casserole (my husband’s very favorite…and personally, yuck!), and my grandmother for her biscuit recipe. I thought if we can’t be with family at least we can have the recipes that remind us of them. The one thing about this meal was that it made us realize how thankful we were not only to have such wonderful memories of Thanksgiving, but thankful that we were able to start our own traditions for Thanksgiving. I made it through the cooking and made my first turkey with no problems. No fires, no burning of anything, and no major mishaps. I like to think now that I’m an expert with cooking Thanksgiving dinner because now my family comes to us and joins in our traditions. I was even cooking when I was very pregnant with my twin girls. I was sitting at the kitchen table cutting vegetables preparing the turkey brine since I was really supposed to be on “bed rest”. Let’s just put it this way as much as it was hard being away from our family that first Thanksgiving we have now set a tradition that we would now be sad to leave.Our Thanksgiving doesn’t change much from year to year because everyone has a favorite dish. Like I said above my husband has to have broccoli casserole only if he is the only one who will eat it. For me I have to have Sweet Potato Casserole and biscuits. I was never a turkey girl but I have to say a brine turkey changed my thoughts on everything and I won’t do it any other way. But I possibly might change my mind on a fried turkey…yum! So with all that being said, one thing that does seem to change is the desserts. I always like to try new things when it comes to desserts. My husband is all about a pecan pie so we do tend to have that or something similar but the past few years everyone looks forward to the new dessert. This year I thought it would be fun to have a dessert that can fit both the adults and even the kids. This Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle is exactly that. You can make the traditional trifle using a larger trifle bowl or you can make smaller individual servings…or even both. The individual serving is great for kids. The dessert is really easy too and a lot of it can be prepared the day or night before.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Another tradition that my family has started is each year we write 10 things we are thankful for. I think putting it down on paper makes you really stop and think about the things that make you thankful. After dinner and as we are starting to dive into dessert we read out our list at the table so everyone can hear. It’s a sure way to bring a smile to everyone’s face and even your own.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

• 1 box brownie mix (or homemade brownies)
• 10 Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches, crushed into crumbs
• 1 loaf pumpkin spice bread
• 10 Gingersnap Cookies, crushed into crumbs
• 1 container Whip Cream

For Pumpkin Cheesecake:

• 8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup whip cream
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 Tablespoons pumpkin butter
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions:

Bake Brownies according to package instructions.

Bake your favorite pumpkin bread or pumpkin cake recipe.

Both the brownies and the pumpkin bread can be made up to 2 days before preparing trifle.

For Pumpkin Cheesecake:

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and whip cream until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, pumpkin butter, vanilla extract and maple syrup and mix until combine. Then add sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves and mix until smooth. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

To Assemble Trifle:

For Large Trifle:

In a large trifle bowl, break brownies up into small bite size pieces and layer at the bottom of the trifle bowl covering the bottom. Sprinkle half of the chocolate cookie crumbs on top of the brownie bites. Then place a layer of the Pumpkin Cheesecake mixer covering the brownies. Then take the pumpkin bread and cut into cubes and layer on top of the pumpkin cheesecake layer just until the cheesecake is covered. Take half of the ginger snap crumbs and sprinkle on top of the pumpkin bread. Layer cool whip on top of the pumpkin bread covering the bread. Repeat brownie layer and pumpkin cheesecake layer. Sprinkle the top of trifle with chocolate cookie crumbs and gingersnap cookies. Place in refrigerator until ready to serve. Trifle can be prepared 1 to 2 days before Thanksgiving.

For Individual Serving Trifles:

In a individual serving glass, break brownies up into small bite size pieces and layer at the bottom of the trifle bowl covering the bottom. Sprinkle half of the chocolate cookie crumbs on top of the brownie bites. Then place a layer of the Pumpkin Cheesecake mixer covering the brownies. Then take the pumpkin bread and cut into cubes and layer on top of the pumpkin cheesecake layer just until the cheesecake is covered. Take half of the ginger snap crumbs and sprinkle on top of the pumpkin bread. Layer cool whip on top of the pumpkin bread covering the bread. Add an additional layer of brownies and cookie crumbs.Place in refrigerator until ready to serve. Trifle can be prepared 1 to 2 days before Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Hope your Turkey Day is filled will all things sweet!