Pumpkin Spice Mousse Squares

I wanted something light and airy for snack the other night.

I had been toying around with making a no- bake cheesecake using a container of pumpkin spice cream cheese I had bought but I didn't have all the ingredients I needed.

I threw together what I had on hand and made a deliciously light and airy pumpkin mousse.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup granulated sugar

6 Tablespoons melted butter

Filling:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup half and half

1 8oz container pumpkin spice cream cheese

1/2 cup (or so) powdered sugar

To begin making my squared I first started by mixing up my crust.  In a small mixing bowl I used a fork to combine the graham crackers, granulated sugar and melted butter.

Once they were well mixed I pressed them into the bottom of a 9" square pan.  Then I put the crust in the freezer while I put the filling together.

For the filling I added the whipping cream and half and half  to the stand mixer.  With the mixer set on high I left the cream beating.  I knew it would not form stiff peaks like plain heavy whipping cream would but I wanted it to be nice and airy and firm up as much as it could.

Once I had a nice consistency on the cream I added the whole container of cream cheese and beat the entire mixture on high once again.  

Once the cream cheese was thoroughly mixed in I added approximately 1/2 cup powdered sugar.  I wanted both to firm up the mouse slightly and sweeten it just a bit.  

Once I had a taste and texture I liked I poured the entire mixture into the pan and spread it evenly over the graham cracker crust.

I set the mousse in the fridge overnight before cutting them up into squares.

I'll fully admit that they did not keep a nice square shape once I got them out of the pan but they tasted so good that no one seemed to care what it looked like on their plate.

They tasted so light and airy with just that hint of a crunch from the graham cracker crust-- in short I thought they were amazing and I hope you do too.

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