Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

This is supposed to be a muffin. I swear. But it came out more like a cupcake. Actually. This probably should be titled "Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes". But can we pretend not so that I can still eat these for breakfast guilt free?

Just don't judge me if I choose to add some chocolate frosting...

These muffins/cupcakes are really moist. Almost too moist. They fell apart very easily, and didn't cut in two as easily as I please for a muffin to for buttering purposes. But ohhhh was it sooo goooodd!!

Alright. I give. Eat these for breakfast. Every. Day. Because they're good. And if you need a cupcake recipe too, then these will do.

Let's just call these the Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcake Muffin and call it good.

Ingredients...

...1 chocoalte cake mix
...1 can pumpkin
...2 eggs
...1 tsp. cinnamon
...1 tsp. vanilla

Directions...

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until well combined and there are no dry pieces left. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! I hope that this post finds you all giving thanks and counting your blessings for all the great things in your lives! (and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it!) If you are looking for a last minute recipe to take to your gathering today, or just to make to munch on while you relax at home, then here is my all time favorite Thanksgiving food...The Pumpkin Pie. It just isn't Thanksgiving to me until I've had one piece covered in whipped cream! I've never actually made the pumpkin pie myself, I always left that up to my grandma growing up. After she passed, other family members would rotate bringing it each year, and it was most always a store boughten pie at that. Don't get me wrong, Sara Lee and Mrs. Smith can make one mean pie...but it's just not homemade, ya know? No prepackaged food is ever as good as homemade. So a few years ago, I took it upon myself to learn how to make my favorite Thanksgiving food (ever.) myself. I tried a new recipe this year, and I'm super happy with how it turned out! So the homemade pumpkin pie tradition will carry on!!

Ingredients...

...unbaked pie crust (9")
...3/4 cup white sugar
...1 tsp. cinnamon
...1/2 tsp. salt
...1/2 tsp. ground cloves
...1/4 tsp. ground ginger
...2 eggs
...1 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling. That's what we're homemaking here. Just plain old pumpkin.)
...1 can evaporated milk

Directions...

In a small bowl stir together salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and sugar. In a large bowl, beat togehter eggs and then stir in pumpkin. Add sugar and spice mixture and stir until well combined. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk and stir until smooth. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 and continue baking pie for an additional 40-50 minutes. To test for done-ness, insert a knife into the center of the pie. If it comes out clean, the pie is done. The filling will be ever so slightly jiggly yet, but will stiffen as it sits. Serve with whipped topping!

To see more last minute Thanksgiving recipes, check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap going on over at Life as Mom!

Pumpkin Rolls

If you need a good roll recipe for Turkey Day (3 days and counting you know!), I strongly recommend you try this one. The ingredients list will throw you...trust me, it threw me too. A can of pumpkin in rolls just can't be natural, can it? But trust me, you can't even tell that the pumpkin is there...it helps keep the rolls soft and moist instead of getting hard and dry.

This is originally Money Saving Mom's recipe...I left it completely unchanged. Which is very unlike me, I usually switch a few things up. I was super nervous about that too. I never make any sort of bread without the aid of my bread machine. Sure, I've done it sans bread machine before, but I just prefer the machine to do all the mixing and kneading for me. Kneading is so not my forte. Despite that I think I shorted it a little on the flour, they turned out phenomenally, and this is my new roll recipe. Hands down. Perhaps I'll start experimenting with other bread recipes machine-less.

Or maybe not...I'm kinda wussy like that...

Ingredients...

...1/2 cup sugar
...1/4 cup warm water
...1 cup warm milk
...2 T. butter, softened
...1 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling. Plain old pumpkin.)
...1 tsp. salt
...1/4 cup wheat germ (If you'd rather not do the whole wheat germ thing, flour will sub nicely)
...5-6 cups all purpose flour
...3 1/2 t. yeast

Directions...

In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, water, milk, salt, butter and pumpkin. Whisk together until smooth. Add in wheat germ, 2-3 cups of flour and yeast. Combine until all ingredients are well mixed, and then continue adding flour until dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky. Place dough in a greased bowl and grease the top of the dough. Cover and place in a warm place to let rise for one hour. Once dough has risen, punch down and divide into 25 individual rolls. Place on a baking sheet and again cover to let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Once dough has risen, bake rolls at 350 for 15-20 minutes. When rolls are golden, remove from oven and brush each roll with melted butter. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

To see more delicious recipes, check out Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairytale!

Healthy Pumpkin Pie Muffins

One of the things I love about this time of year is getting to do so much baking with pumpkin. It's just so warm and inviting! And it makes my house smell a.maz.ing. which means I don't have to buy any special fall scented air fresheners. Soooo...I decided instead of filling up on calorific pumpkin pie and other such deliciousness, I would give my ever growing baby belly a healthier, less caloried up, option. So I found a basic healthy pumpkin muffin recipe, made some tweaks here and there and came up with this! Besides...I'll have enough calorie and fat watching with being pregnant through the holiday season (oh Lord, help me...), I figured I wouldn't need to start worrying about that now. Plus...I wanted something kind of healthy to make up for Halloween this coming weekend....*looks nervously around*

Ingredients...

...1 1/2 cups plus 1 T. flour
...1 1/3 cups white sugar
...1/2 tsp. baking powder
...1/2 tsp. baking soda
...1/2 tsp. salt
...1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
...1/2 tsp. cinnamon
...1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
...2 eggs
...1/2 (of a 15 oz.) can of pumpkin puree
...1/3 cup vanilla yogurt (plain will work as well. or unsweetened applesauce.)

Directions...

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. In a seperate, smaller bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin puree and yogurt until smooth. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined and a batter is formed. Grease 12 muffin cups and fill each cup halfway with muffin batter. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

This recipe makes 18 muffins

To see other great breakfast recipe ideas to kick start your day, check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap over at Life as Mom.