Tasty Tuesdays - Pumpkin Dip

Every year on the first weekend of October, my parents would take my sister and me down to the French Market for a very special tradition. We would start with breakfast at Cafe du Monde because no trip to the French Quarter is complete without those delicious fried pillows of dough. After we were covered from head to toe in powdered sugar, we would parade ourselves over to the market where we would pick out our very own pumpkin. I loved all of the variety of the pumpkins and the gourds. They are each so unique, it's hard to find just the right one. At the end of the morning, we would walk back to the car, pumpkins in hand, and even if it was 85 degrees, I knew Fall had arrived.

With my attention turned to all things Fall, I found this recipe for Pumpkin Dip. We dipped Gala and Granny Smith apples as well as Biscoff cookies (the kind you get on Delta flights, but can also be found near specialty cookies in the snacks aisle). But seriously, you will want to dip everything you pick up into this tasty concoction!!

Pumpkin Dip
2 cups confectionery sugar

1 can (15 or 16 oz) pumpkin (Not pumpkin pie filling)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Mix ingredients together till smooth. Use one small pumpkin, cut off the top and clean out. Use a marker to decorate. Now pour dip into pumpkin and serve with ginger snap cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Happy Halloween!

Notes - I will say that I used lowfat cream cheese, and the dip was runny - stick to regular. My suggestion would be to blend the cream cheese and some of the powdered sugar together until you get a nice texture and the right level of sweetness. Stir the pumpkin in a bowl to make sure it is well blended (it's watery at the top of the can). Blend pumpkin into cream cheese in small amounts until you are happy with the texture and taste. I followed the recipe above and I wish I had followed this process instead. I think it will get you a better result. You might want to keep an extra log of cream cheese around too just in case you need to thicken it.

It's a super easy recipe and great to bring for all your fall festivals!