Easiest Ever Pumpkin Trifle Recipe with Pumpkin Spice Mini Muffins

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Albertsons. All opinions are 100% mine.

Whether you’re venturing out or staying in with your family, the holidays always call for delicious desserts!

This is the easiest ever Pumpkin Trifle recipe. With store-bought Pumpkin Spice Mini Cupcakes, this dessert can be made quickly and is full of flavor!

It’s a great centerpiece idea that perfectly rounds out your party table. Read on to get this easy Thanksgiving trifle recipe and see the other ways I used the tasty mini cupcakes!

This post was originally published on October 26, 2020 and has now been updated with better instructions and ingredient notes.

Make the season fun

Every fall season I strive to continue old traditions (like hosting Friendsgiving), but it’s a great time to create some new ones as well.

From trying new recipes (an easy one is this Pumpkin Mug Cake!) to finding little ways to make celebrating with our immediate family feel extra special, I’m being really intentional about how the holidays unfold around the house.

Especially this year, I’ll be putting decorations up a little bit sooner. Planning meals that are a little more elaborate. And I’ll be paying more attention to easy gift ideas that I can drop off to family and friends.

The place to shop for everything

While I don’t mind putting in extra work to make things special for my family, I certainly look for ways to keep things as easy as possible.

I shop at my local Albertsons store to find everything I need for the holidays. From the seasonal ingredients I need for my Pumpkin Spice Trifle to holiday gift bundles (like this Wine Advent Calendar) and even decorations, I don’t need to run all over town.

You can find fun, seasonal products and ingredients as well as holiday baking and cooking essentials exclusively at your local Albertsons store.

They offer everything we need for holiday baking (because you MUST make a Brown Sugar Pie this year) and meals (Chicken Eden Isle, anyone?), limited edition pumpkin flavored snacks and healthy baking alternatives at a value.

It’s the perfect place (in-store and online) for creating gifting moments for friends and family.

I shopped at Albertsons but you can also find these seasonal goodies at the Albertsons Companies family of stores including Safeway, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Randsalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons.

Plus, you can utilize their Grocery Delivery or the Drive Up & Go® options if you don’t want to go into the store.

Why This Recipe Works

Trifle recipes are always super easy. They are typically layered with cake pieces, a cream cheese layer, and a whipped topping layer.

This Pumpkin Trifle comes together especially fast because I used store-bought Pumpkin Spice Mini Cupcakes instead of baking my own. And I combined the whipped topping and cream cheese layers.

Whether you are heading to a family party and need a potluck recipe, want to delight your family or just need something to enjoy while watching holiday movies, this is the dessert for you!

Ingredient Notes

Using Open Nature®, Signature SELECT™ and O Organics® products ensure that the flavor on this trifle is out of this world and the quality is top-notch.

There are several parts to this trifle. The cake layer is taken care of thanks to the Pumpkin Spice Mini Cupcakes. I bought 3 packages but used about 2 1/2 for this recipe.

The cream cheese layer is so crazy tasty and includes cream cheese, O Organics Sweetened Condensed Milk and Signature SELECT Whipped Topping.

To add some crunch, I used Open Nature slivered almonds and chopped pecans along with some broken pretzel pieces (not pictured in the ingredients above!).

I quickly broke up the mini pretzel twists by putting them in a plastic zipper bag and hitting them with an ice cream scooper.

A drizzle of store-bought caramel sauce makes this trifle decadent and crave-worthy.

How to Make a Pumpkin Trifle

Remove the frosting layer of the Pumpkin Spice Mini Cupcakes into a bowl. Set aside for the time being.

Remove the cupcakes from their wrappers and place them in a separate bowl.

Use a hand mixer to blend softened cream cheese, whipped topping and sweetened condensed milk until smooth.

To put the dessert together, start with a layer of cupcakes.

Top with a layer of the cream cheese mixture. Use a spatula to make sure the mixture covers all the cake pieces and is fairly even.

Add crunch by sprinkling almonds, pecans and pretzel pieces.

Add a drizzle of caramel sauce.

Then do it again.

Continue until all of the cake has been used.

Finish with the cream cheese layer on top.

Add more nuts, pretzels and caramel sauce for the perfect finishing touch to the Pumpkin Trifle.

This has that sweet and salty combination that I LOVE!

This dessert is so quick and easy! It should on every holiday table this year!

Tips and Tricks

• Be sure to let the cream cheese sit out to soften before making the cream cheese layer. It will help so much and ensure that it blends smoothly.
• If you want the trifle to have more of a cake presence, you can easily bake your own Pumpkin Cake just ignore the cream cheese frosting part from that recipe.
• If you need to feed a larger crowd but don’t want to double the batch, you could add in a layer of just whipped topping.
• To enhance the nut flavor even more, you can toast them quickly in a dry pan on the stove.
• To play up the sweet and salty combo you can finish with a sprinkle of sea salt flakes.

Serving Suggestions

I served some Pumpkin Spice Mini Cupcakes along with other delicious items I picked up at Albertsons.

I served sliced green apples alongside a quick dessert dip (or make this chocolate chip dip!) I made with the frosting from the cupcakes I used in the trifle. I just added a little bit of milk to thin it out and mixed it up really well. TASTY!

This dessert would also pair perfectly with a Family Snack Board.

Serve the trifle in small bowls or glasses.

I fell in love with that cream cheese layer. And the Pumpkin Spice Mini Cupcakes… Ok, all of it was amazing.

While we love to make Ice Cream Nachos when the weather is warm, as soon as we feel a chill, it’s all about a Pumpkin Trifle!

Frequently Asked Questions

Shop Albertsons’ exclusive brands like Signature SELECT™, Lucerne®, Open Nature® and O Organics® for your seasonal meals, baking and gifting needs at a savings.

Related Recipes

• Fireball Pumpkin Pie is an adult twist on the classic holiday dessert.
• Your kids will love these Salted Caramel Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes!
• This Pumpkin Sheet Cake from scratch is also great for parties and could work as the base layer for this Pumpkin Trifle.
• And you can’t go wrong with this super simple Pumpkin Dump Cake.

Your family will love this tasty Pumpkin Trifle recipe and you’ll love how easy it is to make!