If you're still in search of something sweet and festive to add to your Thanksgiving table, America's Test Kitchen has recipes at the ready to prep for Thursday.
"America's Test Kitchen" co-hosts Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison joined "Good Morning America" on Tuesday to share two recipes: a sweet, classic dessert in easy-to-eat bars and a warm seasonal beverage to sip and enjoy throughout the Thanksgiving festivities.
Check out the full recipes below.
Makes: 24 bars
Total time: 2 hours, plus 6 1/2 hours cooling and chilling
Why This Recipe Works: For these bars, we wanted to get the flavor of a gingersnap crust (which can bake up unappealingly hard) using graham crackers. The simple solution was to add ground ginger to the crackers to spice them up.
Ingredients
15-ounce (425-gram) can unsweetened pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
15 whole graham crackers, broken into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces/50 grams), plus 1 1/3 cups (9 1/3 ounces/265 grams) sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 pound (454 grams) cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
Directions
Combine pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in small saucepan. Cook mixture, stirring constantly, over medium heat until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool for 1 hour.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 F. Make foil sling for 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Grease aluminum foil.
Process graham crackers, 1/4 cup sugar, and ginger in food processor to fine crumbs, about 15 seconds. Add butter and pulse until combined, about 5 pulses. Sprinkle mixture into prepared pan and press into even layer. Bake until just starting to brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Let crust cool completely on wire rack.
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat cream cheese and remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar on medium-low speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add lemon juice, vanilla, and pumpkin mixture, and beat until combined. Increase speed to medium; add eggs, one at a time, and beat until incorporated.
Pour over cooled crust and spread into even layer. Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cheesecake cool in pan on wire rack for 2 hours. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate cheesecake for at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.
Using foil overhang, lift cheesecake out of pan. Cut into 24 pieces before serving.
Makes: 12 zero-proof cocktails
This is a concentrated version of the seasonal sipper that the "America's Test Kitchen" team said tastes even better than it smells.
Ingredients
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces, plus extra sticks for garnishing
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, cracked
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, cracked
7 whole cloves
2 quarts apple cider
1-3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
Four 3-inch strips orange zest, plus orange slices for garnishing
Apple slices for garnishing
Directions
Toast cinnamon stick pieces, peppercorns, coriander seeds, and cloves in large saucepan over medium heat, shaking saucepan occasionally, until fragrant, 1 to 3 minutes. Add cider and sugar and bring to simmer, using wide, shallow spoon to skim off any foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Off heat, add orange zest and let sit until flavors meld, about 15 minutes.
Strain cider mixture through fine-mesh strainer into heat-safe bowl; discard solids. (Mulled cider can be refrigerated for up to 1 week; gently warm before serving.) Return cider mixture to now-empty saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until mixture begins to steam but not simmer. Serve in warmed mugs, garnishing individual portions with apple slices, orange slices, and extra cinnamon sticks.
Customize your cocktail
Make Brandied Mulled Cider by stirring 16 ounces of brandy into the strained cider mixture. Bourbon or aged rum also work well. You can make Pumpkin Spice Mulled Cider by increasing the cinnamon sticks to 2 and substituting 1/2 teaspoon of whole allspice berries and 1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg for the peppercorns and coriander seeds. Then, cut 1 vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape out the seeds and substitute the bean and seeds for the orange zest.
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