I made up this recipe. Again... not really. I saw something like it online, and then I changed it to suit my particular culinary skill set and supplies. They said to use a can of pumpkin and then add all the spices that are usually associated with pumpkin dishes. I changed it to a can of pumpkin pie filling that already has all the spices in it because my kitchen isn't equipped with all those specific spices. (Yes, I could buy the spices, but then I would have to organize them.)
Chocolate Pumpkin Walnut Muffins
(That's all that's in there. Really.)
1 box of chocolate cake mix. (Brand doesn't matter.)
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin pie filling.
1 cup of chopped walnuts (Big chunks of walnuts- don't spend too much time chopping. This is supposed to be easy.)
Mix the pumpkin pie filling with the cake mix. Don't add eggs or anything else, you don't need them.
Pour into muffin pans lined with cupcake liners. Bake according to the directions on the box of cake mix (That's why they put them there.)
Don't frost them when they are cool. (Cupcakes get frosted, muffins don't. That's how you can tell them apart.)
Variations on a theme...
Instead of chocolate cake, you could use white, or spice. If you use spice, you might want to switch to just a can of pumpkin instead of the pie filling. Otherwise, you are doubling up on spices.
If you don't like walnuts, try pecans. You could also throw in some raisins, craisins, chopped dates, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or some combo of any of those. (Do they make caramel chips? Cuz that would be like... yum-o!)
In the next few days, I'll probably be sharing my "recipe" for cheater turkey pot pie- complete with pictures.
Stay tuned.
