No Bake Pumpkin Pie

Even though it isn't Fall, this is a delicious pumpkin pie! I love that it tastes a little lighter than the normal pumpkin pie. The cream cheese and whipped topping make it feel summery, even though the spices are traditionally used in the Fall! You can definitely go more or less on spices in this pie, and can dress it up as much as you like! I'll show you a simple recipe now, and eventually I will make it more fancy and show y'all what I come up with! 

What you'll need:
- 1 Can (or container) of Pumpkin. Not Pumpkin Pie filling... Make sure the only ingredient 
   is pumpkin
- 1 container of whipped topping, thawed
- 1/2 to 1 cup of powdered sugar (more to taste)
- 1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
- 1 graham cracker crust
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp nutmeg (you can increase or decrease the amount of spices to your taste)

You can make your own graham cracker crust... or you can buy it. No judgements here! My mom would tell me to make my own, but lets be real. More times than not I will be buying it pre-made. Although, she is right, homemade always tastes better (mom's know best!) Also, I love Truwhip! It's a healthier version of whipped topping (cool whip) and you can find it right next to the whipped topping in the freezer section. The taste is very similar too, and I can probably eat that whole container.

You'll want to start with a pretty decent sized bowl. It doesn't have to be too big, but something medium sized that will give you enough room to fold in the whipped topping. Or I'm weird and I like extra room with I fold ingredients in.... Anyway, add in about 1/2 to 1 cup powdered sugar. You can really put as much as you want. This will give the pie most of it's sweetness. 1/2 cup won't give it much sweetness (I didn't want it too sweet) and you can go up to 2+ cups if you wanted it really sweet. Your choice!

Next, add it a whole package of cream cheese. Make sure it is softened so it gets creamy and not lumpy. I wasn't too patient... so I just put it in not so softened and it created lumps. Lumps aren't bad, they just don't give an appearance of a smooth filling. Softened is key!

Cream together the powdered sugar and cream cheese until smooth.

Next you'll need to add in your spices. I added about 1 teaspoon of each, but like with the sugar you can add as much or as little as you like! 

Add in your spices and your pumpkin. 

Cream together. Make sure you take a spatula and scrape down the sides, and mix it again. (You'll notice mine is a bit lumpy from the not-so-soft cream cheese. Whoops! Again, make sure your cream cheese is soft :) )

Next, gently fold in your whipped topping. Make sure it is thawed. Frozen whipped topping won't work! You can use a spatula to do this, or I've seen people use a whisk. That's also an option!

After you've folded in the whipped topping, you're mixture will look like this.

Add the filling into your pie crust and chill for at least an hour before serving! (Or in my case, eating to straight out of the pan with a fork while watching Friends :) )

You can get creative with what you put on top of the pie. I wasn't too adventurous this time, so I left it plain. You could add some toasted coconut, or crumbled vanilla wafers. Yum!