Pumpkin Dip

I'm a couple days late in posting this, but wanted to document the making of the Pinterest phenomenon: Pumpkin Dip.  I first pinned it months ago with a hope I would remember it come fall, and over the last few weeks have seen it pinned a ton.  So I made it for my guinea pigs coworkers, who loooved it.  Big tip: serve with ginger snaps and apple cider.  That extra bit of spiciness made the pumpkin dip perfect.

For the pictures, I've shown just a single serving of the dip with graham crackers and ginger snaps.  It makes a LOT of dip, so don't be mislead by the pictures!

Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients

• 15 oz can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling- just canned pumpkin)
• 5 oz box of instant vanilla pudding powder (you don't prepare the pudding; just use the powder)
• 16 oz container Cool Whip
• 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions

1. In a large bowl, use a spatula to mix pumpkin, pudding powder, Cool Whip, and pumpkin pie spice.
2. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours.
3. When ready to serve, stir again, sprinkle with cinnamon (though I would consider just stirring it in when making the mix to begin with), and serve with nilla wafers, ginger snaps, graham crackers, or any other treat that seems good to you! The original recipe used apple slices, which I opted not to do, though I did like it with apple cider.  I also think this could be great as a dollop on a pumpkin spice latte!

One comment about how to serve the dip.  The original post carved a pumpkin and served the dip directly in the pumpkin, which kind of grossed me out when it got to be time to make the dip.  I bought a small pumpkin as the post directed, but there was no way the dip would fit in it.  LOTS of dip would require a normal-sized pumpkin.  If you did want to serve it in a pumpkin, I'd recommend getting a large one, carving it out, and actually placing a clear plastic or glass serving bowl with the dip inside the pumpkin.  You'd still get that really pretty serving display without the dip actually touching the pumpkin on the inside.