Combine cream cheese, milk, and pudding mix into a bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix the ingredients until they are combined. The mixture should resemble soft pudding.
4 oz. cream cheese, 2 cups cold milk, 1 5.1 oz instant vanilla pudding box mix
Add half (1 cup) of the pumpkin puree, half (½ TBSP) of the pumpkin spice, all of the vanilla extract, and 3 tsp of brown sugar to the soft pudding mixture. Using the mixer again, mix ingredients until they are combined.
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree, 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1.5 Tablespoons brown sugar
Spoon all of this mixture into the graham cracker pie crust and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Ensure the top is as even as possible.
1 large graham cracker crumb crust
In a new bowl add half of the cool whip (½ cup), the remainder of the pumpkin puree, remainder of the pumpkin pie spice, and remainder of the brown sugar. Using a spoon mix these ingredients until combined and the color is even throughout.
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree, 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, 1 tub (8 oz) whipped topping, 1.5 Tablespoons brown sugar
Spoon all of this mixture onto the first soft pudding mixture in your pie crust. Smooth the mixture out as evenly as possible, spreading it to the edges of the pie crust.
Spoon the remainder of the Cool Whip onto the top of the pie. Again smooth this mixture out as evenly as possible to all edges of the pie crust.
Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours but ideally overnight.
Notes
To apply the design with a stencil:Cut the design out, ensuring you start cutting from the center of your paper so it's just the design that is hollow.Next, hold the cardstock as close to your pie as possible and use your fingers to sprinkle the sugar inside the design.
It is important to to not over mix the cool whip mixture for the middle layer as this will cause it to be less light and fluffy.
It’s important to remember to take your cool whip out of the freezer the day before making this or it will not spread correctly.
Note the size of the graham cracker crust is a 10 inch which is the larger size. Using a smaller size is fine but will result in more filling being left over.