Pumpkin and Cranberry Dessert Pizza

I've been playing in the kitchen today and this is the result, Pumpkin and Cranberry Dessert Pizza.  I made this Patriotic Dessert Pizza last summer and was kind of craving it.  But, I thought it would be fun to make a dessert pizza with some fall flavors.

I decided to combine the flavors of pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce.  Where did I get this crazy idea?  My mom likes to put cranberry sauce on her slice of pumpkin pie.  Honestly, I thought that was kind of weird when I was a kid.  But, one Thanksgiving I finally tried some cranberry sauce on my slice of pumpkin pie and I liked it!  I liked the sweet, tanginess of the cranberry sauce mixed with the rich, creamy pumpkin filling along with a big dollop of whipped cream. Yum! 

Recipe Link
Ingredients 
Crust:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened to room temp
Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin puree 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice 1 tsp. vanilla 3 Tablespoons brown sugar (Dark is best!) Dash of salt
Topping: 
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 (16 ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
Whipped cream, if desired
Pecans, roasted and coarsely chopped, if desired
Directions
Crust:
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar and butter. Form into a ball with hands and press into a 14-inch ungreased pizza pan OR roll out the crust on a pizza stone . Use flour as needed to keep crust from sticking to rolling pin.
Bake at 325 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
Topping:Whisk orange juice and cornstarch together until smooth in a small saucepan. Stir in cranberry sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring all the while. Let the topping boil about 1 minute, then remove from heat and let cool about 10 minutes. Chill in fridge. When chilled, it's ready to spread on pizza.
Filling:
Combine cream cheese, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, brown sugar and salt in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend until smooth and creamy.

Spread the pumpkin pie cream cheese filling on top of cooled crust. Then, spread the chilled cranberry topping on top of the pumpkin cream cheese (I saved a few Tablespoons to garnish my dessert plates). Slice and garnish with whipped cream and chopped pecans, if desired. Store any extra pizza in the refrigerator.

*Notes:  I think this dessert pizza tastes best after it's been chilled in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Inspired by these recipes: 
Creamy Pumpkin Pie with Cranberry Topping from Spoonful---originally from Family Fun Magazine (I used the cranberry topping recipe)
Strawberry Pizza from You Homebased Mom (I used the crust recipe)
Pumpkin Pie Cream Cheese from My Biscuits are Burning
  

I made the cranberry topping first and let it chill in the fridge while I worked on the rest of this dessert.

All you need is a pair of hands to mix together the crust. So simple! I just needed a little extra flour to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin when I rolled it out onto the pizza stone.

When the crust is cooked, it looks like a giant sugar cookie. But, it isn't super sweet like a sugar cookie. It is more buttery and flaky with a hint of sweetness.

The pumpkin pie cream cheese. This stuff is great on bagels, too!

First, spread on the pumpkin pie cream cheese.

Then, spread the cranberry topping on top of the pumpkin pie cream cheese. I used all but a few Tablespoons of cranberry topping that I saved to garnish the dessert plates---and then, forgot to use it!

Garnish the slices with some whipped cream and chopped pecans, if you like.
You can see that the cranberry topping is a little runny. It sets up more when you let this pizza chill in the refrigerator. I cut this piece right after I made it.

The Results... 
Pumpkin and Cranberry Dessert Pizza did combine the delicious flavors of sweet, tangy cranberry sauce and rich, creamy pumpkin pie filling on top of a buttery, flaky crust.  The kids liked this dessert just as much as I did!  They gave it 4 1/2 stars (out of 5).  It definitely tastes best after it has a few hours to chill in the refrigerator.  The kids liked it with whipped cream, but not with pecans on top.  Playing in the kitchen paid off today!


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