Friday, January 20, 2012

Easy-peasy Pumpkin Muffins

Missy, here. And, yes, I stole Ruthy's word. Easy-peasy. :) But honestly, this is the absolute easiest recipe you'll ever find.

It has...get this...

Two ingredients. I'm not kidding.

1 box yellow cake mix (the dry mix, nothing else)
1 can pumpkin (15 oz.)

Mix them together. Don't add a thing unless you just want to (like pumpkin pie spice). Bake at 350 degrees in mini-muffin tins.

Now, I have to tell you I don't own mini-muffin tins. I have regular size. And since this makes a very heavy, moist muffin, I was afraid putting it in the regular size cups would make them ridiculously heavy (I pictured my kids throwing them at each other as weapons). :)

So I added an egg or two (can't remember for sure) to lighten them up a bit. And some oil since I like really moist muffins. I also added pumpkin pie spice.

Then I baked them in these really cute silicone muffin "tins" shaped like snowflakes.


The recipe made more than a dozen, made about 18 muffins.


They turned out beautifully. I had sprayed the silicone pans with cooking spray just to be sure. And they popped right out. They were a hit at church!


Keep these ingredients on hand in case you ever need something quickly from the pantry. Enjoy!

Missy

18 comments:

  1. Wow -- that is easy-peasy!!!! And I love the snowflake ones!!! I'm going to try this. And I like keeping the ingredients on hand for when you need something sweet fast! But, just how much oil did you add? And the exact egg count puleeezze! I'm a recipe follower. I figure that if somebody went to the trouble of writing it all down the least I should do is read it! LOL.

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  2. Well, Kav, the recipe I used was from a friend at church (who had mini muffin tins and didn't alter it). I just changed it off the top of my head. I'm pretty sure I added one egg and about a tablespoon of oil. But to my taste, they could have stood to be a little lighter.

    Keeping in mind that when I usually make muffins, I use the Pillsbury Quick Bread mix, I think next time I make it I'll try using what the box calls for as a guideline. I think I"ll try adding two eggs and 1/4 cup oil.

    Again, I'm not really sure what I used! LOL But that would be a good guess. :) I don't think you could mess it up.

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  3. I make this same recipe, but the lady I got it from used Duncan Hines Spice Cake mix instead of the yellow cake - it's so good, but a bit heavy. I'm going to try adding an egg and oil next time.

    And I think I'm going to have to put a snowflake muffin pan on my wish list...

    Well, our trip east is all set - we're leaving before 0'dark-thirty tomorrow morning. Friends are going to dog/house sit, the weather looks like it's going to cooperate, we're meeting our older children part way... Please pray for my husband's family. Some of his siblings are quite beside themselves and things are getting tense. This has been going on for a week now, and people deal with grief so differently. One thing my husband and his Dad share is an assurance of salvation - and that's something most of the others in the family have missed. It's going to be a long week.

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    1. My mom's hospice 'end' week stretched to nearly fourteen days, but it ended up being a great week of healing. Of people coming together and mending broken fences. And I would not have thought that possible, but it did. Something about seeing her there, rarely conscious, and dying... We got smarter. I'm praying this happens for dear husband's family. God amazes me. Still.

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  4. Jan, we'll be praying. I'm so glad you were able to get someone to house/dog sit!

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  5. I've made these wtih chocolate cake mix and pumpkin - nothing else added. once I added a little water. they were good but a bit sticky. they were so good I finally had to tell my dad they had pumpkin (fiber!) in them so he wasn't surprised later! if they passed his I ain't eating diet food test then they're good! I got it from weight watchers. there's another cake they do with canned pineapple and angel food cake and another that has all sorts of diet soda/cake mix combos - never tried those after another WW person said they were too good and hard to stop at just 1 serving..
    Susanna

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  6. LOL, Susanna. I imagine a serving is about 2 inches by 2 inches. :)

    My husband always NICELY points out that when we make a pan of brownies, the box says it's 16 servings. So he takes his tiny 1/16th of a pan. The kids and I each dish up about 4 servings. LOL Of course, he's also having a humongous bowl of frozen yogurt with it. :)

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  7. I love this. Really, truly love this. I like cake-like muffins. I know we talked about this a few weeks ago, and Jan recommended beating the mix longer, but this....

    Oh, this looks easy and wonderful.

    I wonder if this would work for chocolate chip muffins? Start with a cake mix and play?

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  8. I like them a bit more cakey (and lighter) than this, but it was perfect in a pinch when I needed something for Sunday school social time! :)

    I think you have to have the pumpkin for moisture. But maybe you could add extra oil and water?

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  9. I think a serving is more like 6x6! maybe that's why I'm fat...
    Susanna

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    1. LOL Susanna! I was going to say I thought the boxes only made one serving...

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  10. Actually, Susanna, when it comes to brownies, it would be hard to say an inch serving size. I usually take big spoonful (or two or three) right out of the middle, the gooiest part, while it's still piping hot! :)

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  11. Jan, this is a crazy question that has nothing to do with muffins... :)

    Where do you get your doggy diapers? And do you prefer a certain brand?

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  12. You're right Missy. That question has nothing to do with muffins:)

    I got the doggy diapers at Petsmart. The brand is "Simple Solution" - the only one they had in stock in his size. I actually bought diaper covers that wrap around the, uh, dangerous area and fasten with velcro (he looks like he's wearing a wide cloth belt). Then I buy incontinence pads made for women (much cheaper than the ones made for dogs!) and change those out when they get wet. I wash the cover about once a day - I have two, so I wash one while he's wearing the other.

    There are different shaped diapers made for female dogs - but I haven't looked into those.

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  13. Thanks, Jan! We're getting to that stage with our lab. :(

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  14. Jan, I'll be praying for your family.


    Susanna, I just read a friend's birthday cake on FB yesterday. She mixed a chocolate cake mix with diet coke. Said it was fabulous.

    Thanks for sharing, Missy. I'll store this away for next autumn. Is there anyone else out there who only eats certain foods at certain times of the year? For me, pumpkin is only an autumn food.

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  15. Mary, I usually like pumpkin in the fall and at the holidays. But every now and then I crave pumpkin muffins or bread. And my son begs for a pumpkin pie every now and then. :)

    Were the chocolate cake mix and Diet Coke the only two ingredients? That's amazing! I'll have to share the Coca-cola cake recipe sometime. But it's got a lot of other things in it.

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  16. Missy, I think they were but I'll check with her to be sure.

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