Dulce de Leche Pumpkin Swirl Cheese Pie

Susan over at Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy is officially my idol. Well, she's always been my idol because all of her dishes and desserts are absolutely fantastic. However, this pumpkin cheese pie was the ultimate end to all pies involving pumpkin. She didn't follow a recipe and just kind of whipped this up. That's where my interest came in.  I saw this and absolutely had to make it and boy, were my co-workers glad I did! This pie went faster than the speed of light and took a total of about 20 minutes to make, if that. 

I made a few changes: I used 1/2 mascarpone cheese and 1/2 cream cheese rather than doing all cream cheese.  I also added in some pumpkin pie spice to, er, spice it up. Lastly, I made a chocolate crust using chocolate teddy grahams rather than a sugar cookie crust. You can get creative here and really use any type of crust as these flavors pair up with practically anything crust-worthy. The combining flavors of dulce de leche, toffee, and pumpkin should seriously be illegal, it's that's good.  

Aside from the several hours of refrigeration period that this recipe requires, this pie is no-bake, with the exception to the crust. Therefore, the assembly of this pie literally comes together in a matter of minutes.  If you're looking for something a little different than your typical pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, I highly suggest you try this.  Your guests will thank you later...and then you'll thank me...than Susan...

For the crust:

2 cups sugar cookie crumbs (pulverize 6-8 large sugar cookies in the food processor)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

In a medium bowl, mix cookie crumbs, cinnamon and melted butter until well blended. Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Cool.

For the filling:

2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup sugar ( Use more or less according to your taste)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup toffee bits

2 cups dulce de leche or caramel sauce of your choice, divided.  (You may have to soften the dulce de leche to make it "swirlable".  I microwaved mine on 50% power for about 10-15 seconds.)

Beat cream cheese and sugar together on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and beat until completely combined.

Mix in the toffee bits and swirl in 1 cup of the dulce de leche or caramel sauce. 

Pour the filling into the pie plate and smooth it out.  Refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours.

Spread the second cup of dulce de leche or caramel sauce evenly over the top of the pie. 

If desired, use another 1/2 cup of dulce de leche to pipe rosettes or other design on top of the pie. 

Chill until the topping is firm.