A delicious dessert that tastes like a cheesecake and a pumpkin pie with half the effort! This Pumpkin Fluff is made with cream cheese, real heavy whipping cream, and warm fall spices. This is the perfect, easy dessert for your holiday table this season!
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This Pumpkin Cheesecake Fluff is a revelation. It's no secret that I'm a huge cheesecake fan and when the season calls for it, pumpkin cheesecake is my jam.
And what better time than Thanksgiving to indulge in a cheesecake pumpkin pie mashup?
Well let me be the first to say as much as I love both pumpkin pie and cheesecake, they can be a lot of work. And I'm not that ambitious this year.
So I came up with this recipe to give me you all the same vibes of a no-bake cheesecake, while making it taste like a pumpkin pie, and definitely ensuring that you could slather it on cookies...and apples if you're into that sort of thing.
It looks super pretty on a dessert table or on a sweet charcuterie board to have with coffee.
Jump to:
What's In Pumpkin Fluff?
After doing a little bit of research online, I found that pumpkin fluff is typically made up of pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, pudding, and Cool Whip.
For this recipe, I wanted to make it a little more homemade, and get a little bit more control of the flavors and sugar that went into it.
And honestly, if I can find a way to sneak a cheesecake into anything, I'm going to!
This recipe for pumpkin fluff is made with cream cheese instead of pudding--which is what makes it "pumpkin cheesecake" in my opinion.
Using cream cheese in place of instant pudding for this recipe will also cut out a ton of sugar!
Another key difference is that this pumpkin fluff recipe is made with heavy cream instead of Cool Whip. The homemade whip cream just gives the pumpkin fluff dip a little extra richness and a way more homemade taste.
How to make Pumpkin Cheesecake Fluff:
Printable version at the end of this post.
Makes 1 Quart
Ingredients
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 (8-ounce) package of cream cheese, room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
Instructions
Pop a small stainless steel or glass bowl into the freezer.
In a small saucepan or small skillet, add the pumpkin, spices, and brown sugar.
Cook over medium-low heat until sugar is melted and spices are fragrant about 3 minutes. The pumpkin will be dark brown and shiny.
Remove the bowl from the freezer and scrape your pumpkin into it. Put the bowl of the pumpkin mixture into the fridge to cool while you prep the other ingredients.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the cold heavy cream and whip the cream until very thick and fluffy and stiff peaks have formed.
You'll know it's ready when the whipped cream can stand up on the end of the mixer beater without drooping.
Gently scoop out the whipped cream from the mixing bowl into another bowl and set aside. Don’t wash out the mixer bowl.
Add the cream cheese to the mixing bowl and whip until smooth and creamy, about a minute.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the cooled pumpkin.
Give the mix a quick stir with the mixer and then add the sugar and vanilla.
Beat mixture until smooth.
Scrape down the sides and beat another 30 seconds more. The mixture should be smooth, and fluffy.
Grab the whipped cream and gently fold it into the pumpkin mixture, being careful not to stir. Stirring would deflate all the air we whipped into the cream and the mixture wouldn't be as fluffy.
Fold until no more streaks of whip cream are showing.
This can be served immediately but is better if chilled for a couple of hours. It's even better the next day.
Storing your pumpkin Fluff
Once prepared, you can store your fluff in an airtight container or transfer to your serving dish and cover the top with plastic.
You can insert toothpicks into the dip to keep the plastic wrap from directly coming in contact with the fluff. Do this if you've taken the time to make it look really pretty in the serving dish, you can smooth out the toothpick holes before serving.
This dip, when not being served, needs to be refrigerated since it contains uncooked cream and cream cheese.
Can I make this Pumpkin Cheesecake Fluff ahead of time?
You certainly can and it tastes better the longer it sits. This fluff will last up to five days in the fridge, but I'd recommend serving it around day 2 or 3 at the latest.
This pumpkin fluff dip will firm up as it sits, so if you're going to make it ahead, either store it in its final serving dish in the fridge (see above storage notes) or if you chose to store your dip in an airtight container, you can always spoon your fluff into a piping bag and pipe the fluff into its final serving dish--or mini mason jars!
If you wanted to prep the ingredients for this dish ahead of time, you can make the cooked pumpkin mixture hours or even days ahead and store covered in the fridge until you're ready to make the dip.
When you're ready, just skip to the whipping cream section of the recipe and proceed from there.
Can I freeze pumpkin fluff?
I'm happy to report you can!
The night before you're ready to serve, allow the fluff to thaw completely in the fridge.
Once thawed, scoop or use a piping bag to pipe your pumpkin dip into its final serving vessel.
Pumpkin Fluff Tips:
This dessert is super simple to make, but after making this a few times, there are a couple of little tips and tidbits I picked up along the way to maximize the success of this dessert:
- Cook your pumpkin! Most pumpkin fluff recipes don't call for cooking your canned pumpkin, but I really recommend that you do. Cooking your pumpkin gets rid of that funky canned taste and it cooks out any excess moisture, so your dip won't be super runny.
- Cook your spices! At the beginning of the recipe, we add our brown sugar and the spices to the skillet with the pumpkin to cook. By doing this, you are toasting the spices and releasing their natural oils, making them much more fragrant and flavorful.
- Make sure your pumpkin mixture has cooled completely--room temp is fine--before adding to the cream cheese. If the mixture is too warm, it'll melt the cream cheese and the whipped cream
- Beat the whipped cream to stiff peaks. This will keep the pumpkin dip light and fluffy and thick.
- The longer the dip sits, the better it tastes! This dip can be eaten right away, but if you pop it in the fridge and let it sit for a couple of hours or even overnight, the flavors will have a chance to blend and develop and it'll taste even better!
What to serve with Pumpkin Cheesecake Fluff
This is my favorite part! Here are a list of delectables to stick on the side of this fluffy pumpkin cheesecake triumph:
- Graham Crackers
- Ginger Snaps
- Biscoff/Lotus Cookies (definitely do this one)
- Sliced Apples
- Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Naked Pretzels
- Poundcake
- Vanilla Wafers
Or here's a serving twist:
In small plastic cups, mini mason jars, or small drinking glasses, crumble up some ginger snaps or graham crackers and put them at the bottom of the glasses. Scoop or pipe your pumpkin fluff over the top and top with additional whipped cream for mini individual Pumpkin Cheesecake Fluffs!
Other Recipes You Might Like:
No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Tools You Might Need:
My Stand Mixer--It's a small investment, but totally worth it.
Mini Mason Jars for serving Individual Pumpkin Fluff Cheesecakes
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Cheesecake Fluff
A delicious dessert that tastes like a cheesecake and a pumpkin pie with half the effort. Perfect for the holidays!
Ingredients
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 (8-ounce) package of cream cheese, room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
Instructions
- Pop a small stainless steel or glass bowl into the freezer.
- In a small saucepan or small skillet, add the pumpkin, spices and brown sugar.
- Cook over medium-low heat until sugar is melted and spices are fragrant, about 3 minutes. The pumpkin will be dark brown and shiny.
- Remove the bowl from the freezer and scrape your pumpkin into it.
- Put the bowl of the pumpkin mixture into the fridge to cool while you prep the other ingredients.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the cold heavy cream and whip the cream until very thick and fluffy and stiff peaks have formed.
- You'll know it's ready when the whipped cream can stand up on the end of the mixer beater without drooping.
- Gently scoop out the whipped cream from the mixing bowl into another bowl and set aside. Don’t wash out the mixer bowl.
- Add the cream cheese to the mixing bowl and whip until smooth and creamy, about a minute.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the cooled pumpkin.
- Give the mix a quick stir with the mixer and then add the sugar and vanilla.
- Beat mixture until smooth.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat another 30 seconds more. The mixture should be smooth, and fluffy.
- Grab the whipped cream and gently fold it into the pumpkin mixture, being careful not to stir. Stirring would deflate all the air we whipped into the cream and the mixture wouldn't be as fluffy.
- Fold until no more streaks of whip cream are showing.
- This fluff can be served immediately but is better if chilled for a couple of hours. It's even better the next day.
- Store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Notes
If you don't have a stand mixer, a large bowl and a hand mixer work just fine!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 95Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 56mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 3gSugar: 13gProtein: 1g
Does not include the cookies that you'll be serving with the dip.
Jennifer Dynys says
I need to make this soon! Thank you for sharing with us at Embracing Home and Family! I am featuring you this week!
Meg says
Can I blend the pumpkin mixture to make it super smooth before putting into the cream cheese? I love pumpkin, but I don’t like the fiber-y textures it tends to have.
Michelle says
You absolutely can!