Holiday ready

Yesterday I made a new dessert that was very yummy and perfect fr the holidays. It was a ginger snap pumpkin dessert. It was quite good and pretty easy to make. The top crust wast crunchy and buttery while the center was soft and pumpkiny, almost like cheesecake. The bottom crust was cake-like and delicious. I love pumpkin and I love gingersnap, together it was awesome!
Here is the recipe from the website I got it from.

Gingersnap-Pumpkin Dessert Recipe

Photo by: Taste of Home

• Prep: 40 min. Bake: 70 min. + cooling

Ingredients

• 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix, divided
• 1 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 
  FILLING:
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can (29 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons Spice Islands®, All Natural, No Corn Syrup Added, Pure Vanilla Extract
• 
  TOPPING:
• 1/2 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• Additional gingersnap cookies, halved, optional

Directions

• Set aside 1 cup cake mix for topping. In a small bowl, combine gingersnap crumbs and remaining cake mix; stir in butter and egg. Press onto the bottom of a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish; set aside.
• For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs. Beat in the pumpkin, milk, cinnamon and vanilla and mix well. Pour over crust.
• For topping, in a small bowl, combine the gingersnap crumbs, sugar and reserved cake mix; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over filling.
• Bake at 325° for 70-75 minutes or until filling is set and a thermometer inserted near the center reads 160°. Cool on a wire rack for 1-1/2 hours. If desired, garnish each serving with a gingersnap half. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 15-18 servings.

Then after all the baking, while the dessert was cooling I decided to knock out another Christmas gift. I put together another pillow pet, this one for my niece Evelyn.

Here is the tutorial for the pillow pets...
12 Crafts til Christmas