Pumpkin Spiced Napoleons with Brown Sugar Pecans

Pumpkin spiced flavored pudding, pecans and puff pastry are a winning combination in this dessert inspired by one of my blogging friends.

I was so impressed with the beautiful Pumpkin Pistachio Napoleons with White Chocolate Ganache that my blogging friend Erica made. Simple and elegant and worthy of praise for sure. With puff pastry in my freezer and some of the other ingredients like Jell-O pumpkin spiced pudding mix and pecans already in my pantry I decided to make a version of her recipe that fit my budget and hopefully yours.
The puff pastry in my freezer has been haunting me for weeks. You see I spotted it on sale a while back at a really decent price I could not pass over even though I had no clue what I would use it for. I thought of using it a bit ago as a crust for chicken pot pie using up some left-over roasted chicken and gravy but instead the chicken went into making Mom's Chicken Salad so my husband could have sandwiches to take to work.

Sometimes things just work out for the better!

• 1 sheet puff pastry dough
• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 tbsp. sour cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 pkg. pumpkin spiced flavor Jello-O instant pudding
• 3 tbsp. white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• egg-wash (1 whole egg beaten with 1 tsp water)
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• whipped cream for topping

1. On a lightly floured surface, use a 3 inch round cutter and cut out 9 circles.
2. Using a dinner fork, poke holes all over the pastry to prevent it from puffing up too much.
3. Bake the pastry in a preheated 400° oven for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Let these cool on a wire rack.
4. In a bowl whisk the instant pudding together according to box directions.
5. In a separate bowl cream together the softened cream cheese, egg yolk, white sugar, sour cream and vanilla. When this is fully mixed and smooth fold in the instant pumpkin spice pudding and mix until it's fully incorporated.
6. In a small sauce pan, melt the brown sugar and add in the pecans. Toss to coat and lightly saute for a minute and remove from the heat. Pour the pecans on a sheet of parchment paper to cool down.

Assembly:

1. Slice the baked pastry sheets in half. Place a sheet of puff pastry topped with some of the cream cheese pudding mixture, followed by another sheet of puff pastry, then more pudding mixture.
2. For the top add some whipped cream and the brown sugar pecans.

I really want to thank Erica of Erica's Recipes for allowing me to snag her idea and create something of my own. Yes I am a blogger with integrity and I asked before I went ahead with this! Hope you all enjoy this recipe and be sure to check out the original from Erica.

What is your go-to fall baking recipe? Is it apple or pumpkin pie or perhaps a dessert bread? I'd love to know.