Sweet Treats: Perfect and Easy Pumpkin, Chocolate Chip and Blackberry Muffins Recipe

 

The pumpkin muffin bandwagon is hopping this time o' year. So, I made this recipe with my own spin.

The EASIEST method is to mix 1 can of pumpkin with 1 box of spice cake mix and THAT IS IT!!!

If you only have yellow cake mix, (like I did), just spice it up. A mix of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and/or pumpkin pie spice will do the trick and THAT IS IT!!!!

If you want to up the yumminess factor, than go cray-cray with some add ins. My weapons of choice: Chocolate chips and blackberries. (Cranberries, walnuts, raisins, strawberries, mint or white chocolate chips, anything would be good). I mix in about 3 cups of chips, then after the mix is in the muffin tins, I cut the blackberries in half and dot them on the tops of the muffins. Then, bake at 350 degrees till toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and the muffins pull away from the sides. Easy, peasy and soOooOOoooOoooo delicious.

Sweet Treats: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

 
I got this recipe from a church friend. These are sooo good. I first thought they wouldn't be, but oh man, was I wrong. Soft, moist, flavorful but not overwhelming. I crave this weekly... they. are. amazing.

1 cup oil (I used applesauce, they will be extra moist. Or you can do 1/2 oil, 1/2 applesauce)
3 cups sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 TBS vanilla
5 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg (I was out, so added an extra 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 large* can of solid pumpkin (not the mix)
1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips.

Mix together the wet ingredients. Stir in sifted dry ingredients. Mix well. Glop on heaping spoonfuls on your cookie sheet. I do about 3-4 spoonfuls per cookie, so I get 9 cookies per cookie sheet. (They don't need to be this huge, but I like them to be this huge! Almost like cookie/cupcakes) Bake at 375*F for 12-13 minutes or until cookies are cooked through. (You can tell by looking to see if the tops still look mushy and uncooked).

*I have made this using the regular sized can of pumpkin. Still good, but not as good. Get the large 29 oz can.

* Linked to Sweet as Sugar cookies Recipe Linky
*Linked to Remodelholic Recipe Swap

Sweet Treats: Magic Pumpkins Holiday Desserts

I love pumpkins. I probably love decorating them more (though I prefer white cinderella ones), so stay tuned for that post, oh yeah) , but really, I love them. I tend to like them on the sweet side, but am not opposed to a hearty dinner version either. Plus, they are quite healthy for you (minus the sweets), and who can resist that? And even WITH the sweet toppings, can you resist that either?!!

*mouth waters from below image*

 Maltese Bakes -Pumpkin Cake RECIPE

zoe bakes for a streusel apple pumpkin cake recipe

When I was first married (6 years this month), I got adventurous and made a pumpkin jambalaya, IN the pumpkin. Oh, it was heavenly. I made some mistakes, but nothing that still couldn't be enjoyed. And the fact that you can cut away the pumpkin as you eat, and dip it in the stew as if it were a crusty soft chunk of bread, made it all even better! I don't remember the recipe I used, but it had rice, sausage, various veggies... you can make it more stew like with beef, potatoes, celery, carrots, or jambalaya like, I've done both and both were delicious! I also read, that if you use non toxic paints, you can paint a jack-o-lantern face on it prior to baking, how fun would that be for the kids or even a Halloween party!! Here is a good recipe, but there are way more out there, just search for "dinner in a pumpkin".

You can also make mini pumpkins into desserts by baking them with butter, brown sugar and spices and topping with ice cream or whipped cream. Lots of possibilities. I used an acorn squash for this one, as shown in my pic above. Just cut that sucker in half, add some butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice, then pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and you are done. Top it with whip cream or ice cream for some extra yum factor. You can also bake it, but you have to put it in a thin layer of water... too much work!

 saffron pumpkin macaroons form tartelette... I know!

And though, I am not a huge pumpkin pie fan, I do love pumpkin bread, cookies, those swirl things. Also, canned pumpkins are one of the few natural canned foods that is just as healthy as a fresh pumpkin. This pan cooked pumpkin with duck fat looks amazing! Lots of good and simple pumpkin recipes here!

 Libby's Pumpkin Roll Recipe, photo by Pinch my Salt

Candy Jamamas Pumkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing

If you have any good pumpkin recipes or food ideas, please share in the comments... or bring me a sample and I will love you forever ;)