Pumpkin Muffins

Hey!

Now that fall has officially come to NC, my boyfriend and I make pumpkin muffins almost every week.  This no-recipe recipe hails back from my youth when my mom made these for us quite often.  My mom isn't exactly a baker so that should tell you how easy these muffins are to make (and fairly healthy to boot).  

These are endlessly adaptable and you can add a bunch of mix ins or none at all.  

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 box spice cake mix (any brand)

1 can pureed pumpkin (NOT pie filling)

Any mix-ins you like (we usually do dark chocolate chips and walnuts, but you could do dried cranberries and pepitas, or any nuts, any seeds, any dried fruit you like).

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Mix the cake mix into the pumpkin puree.  Do NOT add any of oil or eggs the box mix calls for.  Seriously.  Don't.  There will come a time inevitably while you are mixing where you'll think it's too dry.  It's not.  Keep mixing and have faith.  When you see very little to no powder left, add your mix-ins.  

The only tricky thing about this recipe is making sure you get the powder mixed in without over mixing the batter.  It can be a bit of a balancing act.  Just make sure most of the powder is mixed in and the muffins will be delicious.

When the oven is preheated, fill your muffin tin (this usually makes 12 for me, no more and no less).  Since the batter will be thick, you'll have to do your best to make the muffins look nice.  Since they don't rise too much, the raw ones will look really similar to the final product (just keep that in mind while you're portioning/scooping).

Bake for 20 minutes (or so) until they look done.  

Enjoy!