Every Thanksgiving I find myself making a pumpkin cheese ball and my guests love it! I will be honest and say I’m not a fan of pumpkin but this is different, it’s delicious and dangerous! I have two things pumpkin that I love and this is my favorite. I will be posting my other pumpkin favorite soon which is pumpkin spiced cupcakes so stay tuned for that. Now let’s focus on this pumpkin cheese ball! It has a combination of pumpkin (of course), cream cheese, sugars and pumpkin spice. Awwwww is your mouth watering yet? Now get this ball rolling!
With a mixer blend the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and brown sugar and blend well. Add the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice until combined.
Spoon mixture onto plastic wrap in a ball shape. The mixture is wet so it won’t quite be a ball but do your best to make a ball. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Wrap mixture tightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 4 hours or until firm.
While the ball is freezing make the gingersnap crumbs. Use a food processor to crumble the gingersnaps or if you don’t have a food processor put the gingersnaps in a gallon size bag and roll over with a rolling pin.
Remove the ball from the freezer and unwrap the ball. Let it sit out for about 5 minutes. It will not look perfect but will look fine once the crumbs are on it. This will allow the gingersnap crumbs to stick better to the ball. Place gingersnap crumbs on a large plate or platter. Roll the ball in the crumbs, pressing the crumbs into the ball. Wrap ball in clean piece of plastic wrap and store in the freezer until serving.
Remove from freezer about an hour before serving. Serve with graham crackers, apple slices, or gingersnap cookies. Make sure you try the pumpkin cheese ball with everything cause each bite is different! ENJOY!!!!
Pumpkin Cheese Ball
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS
- 2 8 ounce packages cream cheese slightly softened
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice see notes for substitute
- 1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies
- graham crackers
- apples
- gingersnap cookies additional for dipping
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS
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With a mixer blend the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and brown sugar and blend well. Add the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice until combined.
-
Spoon mixture onto plastic wrap in a ball shape. The mixture is wet so it won't quite be a ball but do your best to make a ball or pumpkin shape. It won't be perfect. Wrap mixture tightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 4 hours or until firm. I like to tie a rubber band at the top to hold the plastic wrap tight but it's not necessary.
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While the ball is freezing make the gingersnap crumbs. Use a food processor to crumble the gingersnaps or if you don't have a food processor put the gingersnaps in a gallon size bag and roll over with a rolling pin.
-
Remove the ball from the freezer and unwrap the ball. Let it sit out for about 5 minutes. It will not look perfect but will look fine once the crumbs are on it. This will allow the gingersnap crumbs to stick better to the ball. Place gingersnap crumbs on a large plate or platter. Roll the ball in the crumbs, pressing the crumbs into the ball. Wrap ball in clean piece of plastic wrap and store in the freezer until serving.
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To serve: Remove from the freezer about a half hour before serving. The ball can also be stored in the refrigerator for a day or two and will be in a softer state. Any longer than that, it should be stored in the freezer.
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Cut into wedges and serve with graham crackers, apple slices, or gingersnap cookies.
Recipe Notes
Notes:
If you don't have Pumpkin Pie Spice you can make your own. The substitute for 1 Tablespoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice is: 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon allspice.
If you want to make a smaller batch cut the recipe in half. It's just as good and better for a smaller group.
