Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Heavenly Frosting

This pumpkin obsession will stop I promise...come maybe December!

This recipe was so easy to make and based on the response I've been getting very tasty as well (you know I'm still not eating any at this point). I actually got the idea from my mom over the weekend she said she heard you could use a spice cake mix and add pumpkin for a pumpkin flavor so I tried it and it turned out perfect. The heavenly frosting is not complicated, you all know I'm a loyal can frosting user but just doctor it up so that is what I did here and I think I might have more compliments on the frosting than the cupcakes.

Aren't the cute? I topped mine with the Carmel Crunch topping from Pampered Chef and finally had a chance to use my bandanna cupcake papers!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
1 box spice cake mix
1 can pumpkin puree
1 cup of apple cider
3 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients into a mixer and combine until all combined, mix on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into cupcake papers and bake per box instructions. I baked mine at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely and frost with Heavenly Frosting.

Heavenly Frosting
1 can cream cheese whipped frosting
3 TBS apple cider
1 tsp cinnamon

Combine all together and frost or put into a zip lock bag, cut the corner and pipe onto the cupcakes. Note if you go the piping route you will need to double the frosting recipe to cover all the cupcakes.

Low-Fat Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies

My pumpkin obsession continues. Sunday afternoon the weather was crisp, there was a storm trying to form but of course it did not, I was driving back to the farm to drop off my horse and trailer and was in the mood to bake. Something about fall makes me want to bake...put on a hooded sweatshirt and just bake. So the hooded sweatshirt was a little too much for the weather on Sunday but I did whip up these brownies. Now I didn't have one myself but I did eat some of the goodie that stuck to the knife as I was cutting them up. I started with a low-fat brownie mix and didn't add any oil to the mixture just the pumpkin and an egg so the brownies were pretty gooey and honestly probably could have used another 5 minutes in the oven but oh well.

Cast of characters....

Low-Fat Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies
1 box low-fat fudge brownie mix
1/2 pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice (I like mine spicy!)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until just combined. Pour into a prepared 9x13 pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray and bake for 5 minutes longer than package instructions. Let cool and enjoy with low-fat vanilla yogurt or fat-free whipped cream.

The finished pan, I added some candy corns for a little decoration, but I'm not sure why because I can't STAND candy corn, oh well they look cute!

Pumpkin Oatmeal

It is that time of the year again, the time of the year where I become obsessed with pumpkin and try to put it in absolutely everything I make...sorry to those around me who aren't as obsessed as I am. So I started off my day by making Pumpkin Oatmeal. I decided to do this because last night I made some Pumpkin No-Bake Cookies from a Pinterest recipe...the jury is still out on them, but I had some pumpkin puree left over so this is what I did...

Prepare your oatmeal as you normally would. I personally like to make my oatmeal from scratch but if you use a prepackaged version it will work the same...but reduce the cook time on your oatmeal by 30 seconds. Take the oatmeal out and stir it to combine, add in anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (depends on how much oatmeal you are making and how much pumpkin flavor you want), a 1/4 to a 1/2 teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie spice, a splash of vanilla and a small amount of honey to taste. Stir well and cook the remaining 30 seconds. Now I kicked my up a notch and added some homemade granola (click on the link for my recipe) on top for some crunch and texture.

Yummy! I wish I would have thought ahead and used one of mom's turquoise Fiesta bowls.

Pumpkin Oatmeal
1/4 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1/4 + 2 tsp Silk or milk of your choice
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
splash of vanilla
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp of honey
2 TBS homemade granola

In a microwave safe bowl combine oatmeal and milk, microwave for 1 minute. Stir the oatmeal and add the pumpkin, spices, vanilla, salt and honey, microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir. Sprinkle top with granola.