While my goal is always healthy, unprocessed food, I absolutely have a sweet tooth.  My achilles heel?  Ice Cream.  I love the stuff.  Homemade, creamery, soft serve, low fat, chunky, creamy, fruity, chocolatey, love it.  I would be quite happy if it were a food group and lived on the pyramid next to fruits and veggies.  Given my affection for Ice Cream and my ongoing weight loss mission, I have instituted a rule:  I only get to purchase Ice Cream if it’s a new flavor that I haven’t previously tried.  So imagine how delighted I was to see the Edy’s Pumpkin Ice Cream waiting for me in all it’s Autumn glory in my grocer’s frozen food section.

The ice cream has a wonderful texture and has a nice pumpkin pie flavor.  As I savored a couple spoonfuls straight from the carton, it occurred to me that this particular ice cream was calling out for embellishments.  I lacked ingredients to go homemade, so I threw together a very shortcut pie that ended up being DELICIOUS.  It’s rediculously simple and could easily be a standout dessert at Thanksgiving.  The pie was so good that I fully intend to try the recipe again using homemade ice cream, whipped topping, pie crust and caramel.

Shortcut Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 container Edy’s Pumpkin Ice Cream (Slow Churned or Regular)
• 1 container Cinnamon flavor Cool Whip
• 1 graham cracker pie crust
• 1/4 cup Hershey’s caramel sauce

Directions:

• Remove ice cream from freezer and allow to thaw while preparing crust.
• Prepare pie crust per package directions and set aside to cool.
• Pour 4 tbs caramel sauce into the bottom of crust and use a spoon to form an even layer.
• Stir the partially thawed ice cream until it reaches a pudding consistency and pour into pie crust.
• Return the pie to the freezer for 30-60 minutes.
• Remove pie from freezer and top with 4 tbs caramel sauce, using a spoon to spread the sauce evenly.
• Top the caramel with the whipped topping, spreading to reach an even layer.
• Sprinkle top of pie with a pinch or two of nutmeg and cinnamon and return to freezer for at least 1 hour.