Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins

I love pumpkin, I can't wait for it to be season appropriate and the second it's considered fall, I'm so anxious to start making pumpkin inspired food! This past year we moved to the east coast and were here for the hurricane. It wasn't too bad in our area but others were hit really hard. I had heard over the radio that because of all the damage caused by the hurricane that there would be a pumpkin shortage this past season. I immediately panicked, I mean how was I supposed to make gooey butter pumpkin bars?! My grandparents were in Indiana at the time visiting family and were going to be driving out to see us in October so I asked my grandma if she could please bring me a couple cans of pumpkin puree so I could at least bake a couple dishes for the holidays. My grandma always goes overboard and they brought me 16 cans of pumpkin!! I was so stoked but I'm still working on using it up because my husband can't take too much of the same flavor for long so I've been spacing it out. But it's been awhile and I thought it was time for some more pumpkin in this life.
This recipe is beyond easy, I suppose it's hardly a recipe. Cake mixes are becoming so versatile and the more I read through blogs, the more I realize how much you can do with a cake mix! I've been making cake mix cookies for a few years now but I've never made muffins. These have a fairly mild pumpkin flavor but it's there enough. The muffins themselves are very light and fluffy and much more cake like then your typical muffin. I will absolutely make these again. They're my dinner for tonight!

Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
1 box vanilla cake mix
2 egg whites
1 15oz can of pumpkin puree
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly beat egg whites in a large bowl. Stir in cake mix and pumpkin until combined. Divide into cupcake liners that are lightly greased with oil or cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes and you're done! That's seriously it, and I'm letting myself believe that since this is a cake mix and you only use pumpkin and egg whites, that it's fairly healthy. It's gotta be better then a muffin with cups of sugar and a stick of butter, right?

Twix Brownies

I truly hadn't stopped thinking about chocolate in days when I finally caved and made these Twix brownies. They were just what I needed! I'll be honest, I didn't use nearly the amount of Twix that was called for and I should have, but I didn't intentionally skip out. My lovely husband munched away on them while I was doing the other prep and by the time I realized, it was too late and he'd polished most of them off. So my batch only had a slight addition of Twix, but I did like the caramel topping. These would be a great brownie recipe without the additions, they were really chocolatey and sweet. However if you're looking for a more fudge like brownie, these aren't for you as they are fluffier and more cake like. I still really enjoyed them but I love most brownies. I know for some people the whole point of a brownie as opposed to cake is to have that dense, fudge like texture.
I don't know if I would make these again or not. I did like them, but they weren't over-the-top special to me. Of course had I added the correct amount of Twix I might feel differently.
Anyway, I took pictures but mine look like regular brownies, not anything special but here is the recipe and if you want to see what they look like, check out twopeasandtheirpod. 
Twix Caramel Brownies
Ingredients
1 cup of butter
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
3/4 cocoa
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chopped Twix bars
1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping
Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan and set aside
Place butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and melt. Remove from heat and add sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well each time. Add cocoa and stir til well blended. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until combined. Stir in Twix pieces. Pour batter into pan.
Drizzle caramel evenly over brownies, then use a toothpick to swirl the caramel into brownies. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until brownies start to pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Have I ever mentioned how much I despise recipes that require me to wait until the dessert is completely cool before I eat it? Half the time I don't actually wait... this time I did though!

Pinterest Challenge

I am a pinning maniac. I love Pinterest and have so many recipes pinned it's ridiculous. I have made several recipes I've found on there but there are many, many more to knock off my list. So I'm going to make it a goal to make at least 8 Pinterest inspired recipes a month and post my results, good or bad. I've had a really tough time narrowing this months choices down, but based on what I've been craving and what I have available in my fridge already these are the choices I've made:
-Twix caramel brownies Done! 3/3/2012
-Salmon pierogies (I'm really excited about these because I've never had a pierogie and I don't have enough recipes that call for smoked salmon)
-Crockpot white cheddar chicken pasta
-Pumpkin muffins Completed 3/6/2012
-Strawberry scones with Meyer lemon Completed 3/5/2012(I've never used Meyer lemons!)
-Crockpot honey chicken Completed, 3/4/2012 (I've had a couple friends rave about this already)
-Hawaiian crunch halibut
-Peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I think it's a good balance of the types of meals and level of difficulty. I'm super stoked for the brownies, I can't stop thinking about chocolate. I wish I had all the ingredients right now.

On with the Pinterest challenge!