Ridiculously Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Ok, so I'm usually a fan of making things totally from scratch. It makes me feel good about the finished product and I like knowing exactly what is in things. But sometimes, I just want something, and I want it right now with hardly any work.  Bonus points if it isn't filled with oil and butter (mmmm...butter) since it is only October and there are still months of holiday baking ahead!

This morning I wanted to make pumpkin muffins! Then I started looking at recipes, and I realized I didn't really want to make them, I just wanted to eat them.  In the comments of one of the recipes I saw someone say to just mix a box of spice cake mix with a can of pumpkin and bake it! I have been seeing a lot of variations of that on Pinterest lately, and honestly that is the reason I bought that spice cake mix a couple weeks ago. So next time you are feeling lazy, take 3 minutes to mix these up, bake and enjoy!

Ingredients

1 box of spice cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
1 15 oz can of pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

That's it! No eggs, no oil, no water.


Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cake mix in a bowl. Add pumpkin. Mix with hand mixer until well blended. Batter will be stiff and lumpy. (If you are worried about there being too many lumps, you can put the cake mix through a mesh strainer so smash out the lumps. The muffins turn out almost exactly the same, but they are a bit prettier.)

Spoon into greased muffin tin. I used a mini muffin tin and filled all the wells completely full and then some. I just kept putting in batter until it was mostly evenly distributed. They did spread a little, but it was mostly up so none of them were touching by the time they finished baking, so don't worry about them being too full!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 22-25 minutes (for mini muffins, I would say 25-30 for a regular tin) or until a toothpick inserted into the largest muffins comes out clean.

Let cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!  I was really pleased with the texture since I was worried about over mixing, but apparently that wasn't a problem either.

Now my whole house smells like fall!

Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes

Today was one of those days where I felt fat. All day. The problem with me on days like this is that I actually tend to be LESS motivated to get off my lazy butt and do something, and more inclined to eat things that are loaded with carbs and sugar. Are you with me, ladies? Anyway, Pinterest doesn't help with that. Yes, there are many random pictures of fitness motivation, lists of foods with "negative calories" and pictures of really attractive skinny people jogging. But that isn't what really draws my attention. I see yummy food and gooey cake and chewy cookies. Oh, and sparkly things, but that isn't really relevant to this post.

At any rate, today I found this recipe for Baked Pumpkin Donut holes. I knew I had some canned pumpkin leftover in the fridge that needed to be used, like, right now. So of course that must have been a sign that I needed to bake these!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 24+ donut holes
Serving Size: 2 donut holes (Hahahaha, yeah, right.)
Source: Pennies on a Platter

Ingredients

For the donuts:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used half whole-wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoons ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup low-fat milk

For the Coating:
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves.





In a separate large bowl, combine the oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth.





Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.





Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until passes the toothpick test.



Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes, or until just cool enough to handle. With the melted butter in one bowl and the sugar and cinnamon combined in another, dip each muffin into the butter then roll in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Serve immediately.




Enjoy this yummy fall treat! :D

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup

This morning I surprised my husband with a stack of these yummy pancakes. He really enjoys things baked with pumpkin and since it is now October I thought it was time for this happy fall treat. I had made some Buttermilk Caramel Syrup last week for waffles and saved the extra in the fridge. This morning I reheated it and added cinnamon instead of making the syrup the recipe calls for. It was very tasty!



Pumpkin Pancakes
(original recipe here)
yields 6 pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup flour (I used whole wheat, you could also use half)
1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs vinegar

Directions:
In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Cinnamon Syrup:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup water

Stir all ingredients together in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, stir occasionally until boiling. Let it boil for a few minutes while stirring until it thickens. Remove from heat and set aside until needed.

Enjoy!