Halloween Dessert: Orange Jell-o Dream

Last weekend a friend gave me a book of Halloween recipes. I quickly picked out this dessert for a family dinner. The kids loved it. To the chagrin of my sister-in-law, they chose my dessert over the leftover birthday cupcakes she brought.  Sorry! But who can resist Cool Whip and Halloween sprinkles?

This is the book I received in case you're looking for more Halloween recipes. I made only slight changes to their directions.

Halloween Dessert:

Orange Jello Dream

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups of crushed Oreo cookies (I used the majority of a bag)
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter, melted
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed and softened
1 tub Cool Whip
1-1/2 cups boiling water
1 large (8 serving size) package orange Jello
1/2 cup cold water
ice cubes
Halloween sprinkles or candy

Set aside 1/4 cup crushed Oreos. Mix remaining 2-1/4 cups crushed Oreos, 1/4 cup sugar, and melted margarine with fork. Press firmly into bottom of 9x13 glass pan. I used a buttered spatula to help press the cookie mixture down. Place pan in refrigerator.

Beat softened cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar until smooth. With a wire whisk, blend in half of the Cool Whip. Spread evenly over cookie crust. Return to refrigerator.

Stir boiling water and orange gelatin mix until completely dissolved. 

Fill a large measuring cup with 1/2 cup cold water. Then add ice until you have about 1-1/2 cups total combined water and ice. Add to gelatin mixture and stir until slightly thickened. If any ice remains, remove it from the mixture. Spoon gelatin over cream cheese layer.

Refrigerate three hours or until firm. Spread remaining Cool Whip over Jell-o. 

 Sprinkle with remaining crushed Oreos and candy. The original recipe used candy corn and candy pumpkins. Then they decorated oval-shaped cookies to look like tombstones. I decided simply to use Halloween sprinkles with little pumpkins.