Butterscotch Delight ... and Pumpkin Delight too!

Photo from Taste of Home

In every new season, I like to browse through my older issues of Taste of Home, Quick Cooking, and so on, for the particular season.  Right now, for example, I am sporadically looking through the August/September and September/October back issues of my collection.  I find that this gives me fresh inspiration in planning my menus.

This past weekend, I tried a couple of new recipes for the potluck lunch at church.  One was for the Apple-Feta Salad which I shared earlier.  The other was this one: Butterscotch Delight, a creamy layered pudding dessert.  I've made similar recipes many times and have even learned to make the crust gluten free, but (other than the pumpkin variation I've shared below) I have mostly used chocolate or lemon pudding.  Back in August I tried this variation: Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert and it also is very delicious.


But back to the butterscotch.  We really liked the butterscotch flavor for a change -- it seems like sort of a fall flavor.  And it went over really well at the potluck, with just a small amount left over.

With fall flavors in mind, I thought I would also share the layered pumpkin dessert that's become a tradition in our family.  Here it is!


PUMPKIN LAYERED DESSERT

Crust:
1 cup flour
2 T. sugar
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix together ingredients and pat into a 13x9-inch pan or dish. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool.

2nd Layer:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
half of a 12-oz. tub frozen whipped topping, thawed

Beat cream cheese and sugar well. Fold in whipped topping and spread on cooled crust.

3rd Layer:
16-oz. can of pumpkin
2 small (3.5 oz. I think) pkgs. vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup half & half cream (or use evaporated milk or even regular milk)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves

Beat these ingredients together and spread the pumpkin mixture over the cream cheese layer. Chill for 1 hour.

4th Layer:
remaining 6 ounces of whipped topping (from the 12-oz. tub mentioned above)
Chopped walnuts

Spread the remaining whipped topping over the pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This wonderful dessert has been a favorite at our Thanksgiving dinners for years! In 1995, my youngest daughter's best friend, Emily, spent the Thanksgiving break with us, and the two of them made this dessert together.  I believe it was originally from a Gooseberry Patch cookbook.  It was a new recipe to us then, but it quickly became a tradition. God took Emily home to heaven in the summer of 1996, so this tradition is doubly sweet to us as we remember her and the wonderful Thanksgiving we spent together.

I did want to add that during the fall in recent years, I've seen pumpkin instant pudding in the stores.  You could certainly use that rather than taking time to make up the pumpkin mixture, but the real pumpkin will be much, much nicer.  Enjoy, and happy fall!