Pumpkin Pizza

Makes 1 pumpkin pizza

Matt

ingredients

Crust

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
some chopped nuts, pecans are good, optional for sprinkling on top

Cheese Layer

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
12 oz. package of whipped topping, divided—save 4 oz. for topping

Sauce (Pumpkin) Layer

1 cup cold milk
2 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup sugar
16 oz. can pumpkin
2 tsp. cinnamon
Whisk pudding into milk. Mixture will be very thick. Stir in pumpkin, sugar and cinnamon. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

directions

Crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla; mix until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, and baking powder. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend well on low speed. Remove and knead briefly into a smooth ball. Place the dough on a pizza pan and pat out gently to the edges. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until the crust is golden brown on the edges. Let cool before topping.

Cheese Layer

Unwrap cream cheese, place in microwave safe bowl and heat in microwave on high for 20 to 30 seconds. Mix sugar, cinnamon and vanilla into cheese. Fold in about 2/3 of the whipped topping. Refrigerate until ready to assemble pizza.

Assembling the Pizza

Spread cheese layer over the prepared crust. Top with the pumpkin mixture. Then spread the remaining 4 oz. of whipped topping on top. If desired, sprinkle a few chopped nuts over the top.

Source: The Pumpkin Chef