This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, read my disclosure policy.
I mean, really. No-Bake layered lush desserts are probably one of the best things ever. They’re amazing in summer when it’s too hot to cook – but they’re a great party dish all year round, which is why I’ve been itching to make one with pumpkin!
Make a no-bake pumpkin dessert to have your fall flavors while it’s still hot outside!
Table of Contents
No Bake Easy Pumpkin Dessert
As you can probably imagine, I do a lot of grocery shopping. I do a big shopping once every week and I still often have to stop once or twice for things I forgot (or just realized I needed because I wasn’t planning to make two banana bundt cakes to make them perfect or I needed butterscotch pudding cookies right this second and have no pudding mix).
{I often relate myself to Doug the Dog from Up. I have lots of Squirrel! moments when it comes to what I want to make.}
Sometimes I wonder what the cashier thinks of me when I unload an entire cart full of groceries onto the conveyer belt. Often I’m buying several sacks of sugar and flour and four different kinds of M&M’s alongside a weeks’ worth of produce. Or I have Jordan with me and they wonder where my other 5 kids are because I’m spending $200 on groceries.
Or they wonder why I need 5 cans of pumpkin in July.
What is a Lush Dessert?
This No-Bake Pumpkin Dessert is in the style of a lush or a lasagna dessert. I never quite know what to call them, so I just stick with “dessert” like I did for my lemon and mocha mud pie versions.
A lush or no-bake dessert is created by layering a crust with two or three different flavors that are a pudding consistency. I make mine in a 9×9″ baking dish and I always make in when I know I have people coming over.
Because if left to my own devices, I’d eat the entire thing. #truestory
What’s in this easy pumpkin dessert?
This pumpkin dessert has four layers of fabulousness: crust, pumpkin, cheesecake, and whipped topping with chocolate shavings.
You’d eat the entire thing too, wouldn’t you?
- Pretzel Crust – made with crushed pretzels and melted butter.
- The pumpkin layer is made with pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla pudding mix. It layers nicely on top of the pretzel crust. I had a feeling pumpkin + pretzel would be amazing together, and I was right.
- The cheesecake layer is made with Cream Cheese that’s mixed with sugar, vanilla, and some whipped topping. Then the whole thing is topped with more whipped topping and garnished with some grated chocolate. (Did you know that pumpkin and chocolate go really well together?)
How do you make a fabulous no-bake pumpkin dessert?
- Mix pudding mix with milk, pumpkin and spices.
- Layer pumpkin mixture over crust.
- Mix cream cheese with sugar and vanilla.
- Once it’s mixed, add whipped topping.
- Mix until smooth and fluffy.
- Top pumpkin with cheesecake then top with more whipped topping.
This no bake pumpkin dessert was seriously my favorite lush to date. The pumpkin and cheesecake layers go well, obviously, because those two flavors are total BFFs. The pretzel adds a texture and a flavor to the pumpkin you didn’t realize would go so well, and the chocolate is the perfect garnish.
It’s an especially great pumpkin dessert for Sacramento in August, because it’s still over 90 degrees. It’s going to be that way until October, so this way I can enjoy my pumpkin without the added A/C bill. But you can believe I’ll be serving this at Thanksgiving too. No Bake Pumpkin Lush Dessert: the new pumpkin pie!
Just make it. Believe me – you’re gonna love it!
Other Easy Pumpkin Recipes
No Bake Pumpkin Dessert
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Pretzel Pie Crust
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 3.4 ounce box instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 ½ cups (354ml) nonfat milk
- 1 cup (243g) pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie mix
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 8 ounces (226g) Cream Cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 8 ounces Whipped Topping Whipped Topping
- Chocolate Bar (candy bar or semi-sweet baking bar) grated (for garnish)
Instructions
- Make pretzel crust and press into a 9×9-inch pan. Chill pretzel crust until ready to use.
- Wipe out the crust bowl, then add the pudding mix to the bowl. Add the milk and whisk until smooth. Add the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice and mix until smooth. Carefully pour and spread over the crust. The crust isn’t solid, so you need to be careful it doesn’t get mixed into the pumpkin layer.
- Place the cream cheese in the bowl and beat with a hand mixer until smooth. Add 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla and beat until combined. Fold in half of the whipped topping. Spread over pumpkin layer.
- Spread the remaining whipped topping over the top of the cream cheese layer and top with grated chocolate. (To make the chocolate shavings start with a cold chocolate bar and grate it with a box grater over the top of the whipped topping.)
Recipe Notes
Recipe Nutrition
Sweets from friends:
Chocolate Lasagna by CenterCutCook
Double Berry Cheesecake Lush Dessert by Tidy Mom
Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip by Something Swanky
No Bake Pumpkin Dessert is an easy pumpkin delight lush recipe with a pretzel crust, pumpkin pudding, cheesecake and whipped cream.
Last Updated on July 31, 2022
seems like delicious to have this cake in breakfast
Hi there,
Is there another cracker I can substitute for the ones you have listed? We don’t have them here 🙁
Yes! Regular pretzels, graham crackers, ginger snaps, Golden Oreos, or digestive biscuits! Enjoy!
This looks yummy! I’m assuming the recipe uses a 15oz. can of pumpkin, and not the larger 28oz. can, right?
Just one cup of pumpkin puree, from either size can. Just freeze the leftover for next time! 🙂
This looks simply amazing!!
Yum!!! I don’t keep instant pudding or Cool Whip. So – I made some vanilla pudding, decreasing the amount of milk to make it thicker, and stuck it in the freezer to chill quickly. For the Cool Whip, I whipped heavy whipping cream and added vanilla and powdered sugar. Otherwise, I kept to the recipe. It was quite tasty!! We all ate two helpings. Thanks for a cool, delicious dessert. 🙂
I’m glad you liked it! Great to know it works with whipped cream. Thanks Arlene!
Pretzel, pumpkin, and cheesecake…this is the dessert of my dreams! Haha! I was totally laughing at the squirrel comments and the grocery store trips…girl, we are so the same. I try not to make eye contact with my grocery store cashiers for fear of seeing judgement at all the sweets stuff I buy versus the real food. 🙂
Can you use canned pumpkin pie filling for this recipe or does it have to be pumpkin puree?
Dee
Wow. This looks… interesting? Coming from NZ, I can’t quite work out America’s thing about pumpkin. I think your pumpkin must be different to ours, because this would taste terrible if I made it! What does your canned pumpkin have in it? Spices? Flavourings? I would love to give it a go, but I have never seen canned pumpkin in our supermarkets.
Canned pumpkin is just pumpkin – no spices, flavorings, or sugar. It’s what you’d get if you peeled, cut, and cooked an actual pumpkin for pie. That’s why I always add sugar and seasoning to it – to make it not just plain pumpkin. You can substitute equal parts of actual cooked pumpkin from scratch if that’s all you have, but the texture might be different. In this recipe it shouldn’t be an issue, but in baked goods it can cause a little liquid difference since canned pumpkin is a uniform product and cooking your own isn’t. 🙂
I’m loving all these beautiful creamy layers of yumminess! The pretzel crust sounds fantastic and I can’t believe it’s no bake too! Pinning – love this!
Yay for pumpkin!!! I am so ready for fall!
Featured In