Cloudy with a Chance of..Lara Bars and Pie

I knew it! Mother Nature wouldn’t be too nice for long—it’s cloudy, rainy, and gloom. But instead of letting it ruin my mood, I  just use it as an excuse to go stroll the mall and, oh yeah..write a persuasive essay.

And another reason I cannot be blue—I received my prize package from winning Shannon’s recipe contest for a great cause! I entered my Pumpkin Angel Food Cake with Cinnamon Cream Filling—told you it was a winner! ;-)

Shannon you are such a sweetheart!! See sent me the cutest card and A LOT of goodies!

She knew my kitchen is cupcake themed, so this goes fabulous on my fridge!

But it doesn’t end there. She sent 2 Blueberry Vanilla and 2 Choco PB Honest food bars, coupon for a free Promax bar, and 2 Newman’s Own dog food coupons, since the contest was paired with the Humane Society. My dog will be one happy camper!

And I know you will all be green with envy, but check out all these mini Lara bars!!

And no I am not eating all of them just like they are, I have a little recipe idea brewing..so stay tuned for that!

Now obviously I’ve been flooded with a rainstorm of Lara bars, but that’s not the only treat that’s fallen into my hands. I came up with a brand new pie recipe that was quite the rival to the Lara’s! For some reason I have been craving slices of pie..maybe I just don’t have the patience to wait for Thanksgiving?? So, here’s a knew one that quieted the pie pestering for awhile, but I am already in the kitchen planning a new one for the week =)

Whipped Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 c Fiber One Cereal
• 1/4 c whipped butter spread
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp Splenda, or other granulated sweetener
• 1 c canned pumpkin
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 c FF evaporated milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 packet cheesecake mousse filling & needed prep ingredients, see below
• 4 Pumpkin Spice Hershey’s kisses, or if you can’t find them anymore, you can omit.

Here’s the cheesecake mousse I used. It’s SF and used 1 cup of Almond Breeze milk to prepare.

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 F. Pulse Fiber One, butter, vanilla, and Splenda in food processor till fine crumbs are formed. Press into the bottom of a sprayed pie pan. Bake for 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile beat pumpkin, egg whites, vanilla, cinnamon, and evaporated milk with a hand mixer until thoroughly blended. Pour on top of crust and bake for 20 min, or until the pumpkin filling is shiny and set.
• Let cool for about 25 minutes, meanwhile following cheesecake mousse instructions. With mousse, plan on beating it with a hand mixer for at least 5 minutes to get it fluffier.
• Pour cheesecake layer over pumpkin.
• Take your Hershey Kisses and curl them with a vegetable peeler to get fine curls and sprinkle evenly across the top.

--This was great! I loved the chewy pumpkin filling contrast with the fluffy cheesecake top. Definitely a pie that is on the lighter side, yet still full of flavor that makes for a satisfying fall dessert!--

*If I haven’t over-sweetened you with this post, head on over to this sweet giveaway!*