Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (5 Ingredients!)

I was desperately craving pumpkin anything anything delicious and mouth watering but…. I was out of sugar and most cookies call for at least 1 1/2 cups sugar :/ bummer. Then I thought I saw on Pinterest that you could mix a can of pumpkin with a spice cake mix. Bingo! Problem solved. FALSE, no spice cake mix here. I did have a yellow box mix so I thought what the heck I’ll improvise. And poof these muffins magically appeared and then disappeared as soon as Mr. Smith came home.  Success this time really was in a ‘can’…. of pumpkin that is!

xoxo

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

1 Yellow Box Cake Mix

1 Can Pumpkin

1 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 Egg

1/4 Cup Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions

Mix together first 4 ingredients then stir in chocolate chips.  Spoon 3/4 full in mini muffin pans and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Serve warm or cool; with or without cream cheese frosting.

*Makes 48 mini muffins at approximately 47 calories per muffin // without frosting.

>>Happy Halloween Forrest Gump

HAPPY HALLOWEEN Y’ALL!

We love Halloween round here! Fall is in the air, pumpkin spice smell… well pumpkin everything really, candy, dressing up, cooler weather, hiking. AHH I am so freakin excited!  We went as Russell & Mr. Fredricksen from ‘UP’ for our ward Trunk or Treat.  Then Saturday we headed to party with our dental school friends as Forrest Gump & Lieutenant Dan.  Here are some of my favorites from this October!

>>Copycat Swig Sugar Cookies

Two weeks ago, my new friend Denise introduced me to probably the best sugar cookie I have ever had… in my life.  AND if you know me, I love cookies and probably have eaten my fair share of sugared ones, so I am what one would call… an expert in sugar cookie tasting ;)

Denise told me that these cookies are a knockoff of a restaurant in St. George, Utah called Swig. How in the world has no one introduced me to this? Of course I learn about this little slice of heaven after I have moved out of Utah…

Anyways, she used a knockoff recipe from HERE and so of course I went home and made 2 dozen of my own. All I am saying is that this chick made some fine cookies. 

For copyright purposes, I am just going to direct you to HER BLOG for the recipe but please please go check them out! 

Much love & many calories!

x o x o

>>Freedom Cupcakes

Happy 4th of July everyone! Today, I woke up in the mood for cupcakes and since we had a wonderful holiday to celebrate our freedom and country, I thought there is nothing better than some festive Freedom Cupcakes.

I also tried my hand at cupcakes in a jar and it turned out great! So easy to make and a great gift for anyone!

We had some friends over for brunch to celebrate with blueberry pancakes and had such a great day with them! I hope everyone had a great holiday and took some time to enjoy our country and the freedom that we have!

Cupcakes in a Jar:

Take your favorite white cake box or made from scratch mix and evenly separate it out into three bowls.

Dye one bowl red, one blue, leave one white.

Bake your cupcakes and after they are cooled,  cut in half.

Layer the cake in the jar in the order you wish adding frosting in between layers.

Top with frosting and sprinkles!

>>Southern Fried Beignets

 The other day I was missing my southern food BIG time. I can’t find anything like it out here in the desert. I have been trying to eat healthy but my body wanted deep fried yummy sugary coated goodness so I made these puppies! Cameron’s life (and probably cholesterol) was changed for ever.  He devoured the whole plate.

Put some SOUTH in your mouth!

1. Cover small skillet with 1/2 inch of oil.  We used canola.

2.You will know it is hot enough if you take you take and flick a little bit of water into the oil and here it sizzle.

3. Form small beignets using Pillsbury crescent roll dough and cut in small triangles.

4. Place dough in oil until lightly brown and then flip. This should only take 30 seconds or so.

5. Carefully remove and set on plate with a paper towel to absorb the oil.

6. Coat with your favorite topping like powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar!

>>Vanilla White Chocolate Filled Coconut Cupcakes

Vanilla White Chocolate Filled Coconut Cupcakes
Cupcakes:
Make a regular bath of yellow or white boxed cupcakes.
After cooking, core the center of your cupcake (I used a smoothie straw since I don’t have a real corer) and fill with melted white chocolate.
Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 cup shredded coconut

Directions: 
In a small bowl, beat together butter, sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt until light at fluffy.
Frost cooled cupcakes and top with shredded coconut.

My Mother in Law’s two favorite desserts are coconut and cupcakes so naturally that is just was we made her for Mother’s Day.

My own sweet Mom got a present of her own too.  Check out what TuTus for TaTas is all about HERE!

Don’t Monkey Around!

Unfortunately, I can not take credit for the cuteness below.  My MIL is amazing at so many things but cupcakes… take the CAKE!  It was our nephew Bryton’s 7th birthday (a while ago, a little behind in the blogging world) and we always have a fun family dinner to celebrate with our favorite food and a fun dessert! I was just gaga over how cute this Curious George theme turned out!

Don’t you love it?!

Mardi Gras Themed Birthday

Cupcakes Made By My Amazing Mother-in-Law

Oreo Poke Cake

 

Oreo Poke Cake

Ingredients:

Devil’s Food Cake Mix (eggs, oil, water)

Oreo Pudding Mix

Milk

Oreo Cookies

Directions:

1. Make a Devil’s Food Cake as directed on box

(I wanted to make a smaller cake so I filled a 8×8 pan and then used the rest of the batter to make cupcakes)

2. When cake is almost done baking (1 minute or so left) make 1 package of pudding as directed on box.  (If you use all the batter then use 2 packages of pudding)

3. When done baking poke holes in the cake with a wooden skewer or something similar.

4. Pour the pudding on the cake aiming for the holes.

5. Sprinkle with crushed oreo cookies and serve warm or cool!

Pin-Tested. Katie Approved.

Nutella Fudge

Sunday night, Hubby turned to me and said… I want to make something with Nutella!  Well, since three jars just happened to by lying around my house, I knew just what to make thanks to Pinterest! I had everything else in my kitchen since the ingredients are really simple.

Nutella Fudge 

Ingredients:
1/2 c. salted butter
1/2 c. half and half
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c. Nutella
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar.

Directions:
1. Grease 8×8 pan. Put powder sugar in bowl and set aside.
2. Melt butter over medium heat.  Add milk and brown sugar.  Bring to a boil and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Nutella and vanilla until melted.
3. Pour Nutella over powdered sugar and mix until combined then pour in pan and chill for two hours.

We tested our fudge after one hour and it was so good but pretty gooey still.  This was so amazing!