Pumpkin Muffins

ZEITGEIST. You have 31 days to try to capture the mood of your culture and your life as they exist right now.

Today, I want to capture my mood and life that exists right now with a recipe.

I haven't posted a recipe in a long while, so today seemed perfect as any other day to follow up what's going on with our tummy's.

Work can be a pretty life consuming or life defining aspect of your life.  Many of us spend 40+ hours of our week staring at the same computer, sitting in the same chair, staring at the same people, talking to the same people, saying the same things, blah blah...you get what I mean.  So when you work in a world of cubicle heaven hell, one of the sadly exciting days to look forward to is the day of another co-workers birthday.  Well, at least for me.  I can't speak for everyone else.

I soooooooo look forward to birthdays with the group of peeps that have become so dear to me not only at work, but in my real life.  The people one works with can become either your worst enemy or your life savers.  Luckily for me, I have the latter.

Today is a triple threat b-day.  Every work birthday is an excuse for everyone to break out their baking, culinary, and/or creative skills...a nice break in a monotous world of government contracts.  One friend shared her yummilicious recipe and it is now forever in my mental rolodex.  It is so simple and scrumptious and it would be devious not share.

Pumpkin Muffins
1 box yellow cake mix
1 can pumpkin mush
1/4 cup water
1/2 bag of cinnamon chips (or butterscotch chips or white chocolate chips)
ground cinnamoin (as desired)



Yes, I buy a lot of store brand products if I can't find it organic.  If i'm going to waste my calories and ingredients I might as well do it on a budget.  I'm cheap.  But you know what?  They are scrumptious!



Cinnamon Chips.  These little buggers had me running around ragged. 



Mix cake mix, pumpkin mush and water in a bowl until smooth.  Add ground cinnamon as desired and mix.  Add 1/2 bag of cinnamon chips and mix.  Bake at temperature and time directed on cake box.  DO NOT MAKE CAKE AS INSTRUCTED ON BOX. 



I baked the normal sized muffins at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. 




How delicious does this look??!!



I also made quite a few mini muffins.  These actually turned out great especially for grazing at work.  I baked these for 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.  I just kept checking on them.

It is so simple that it feels like you're missing something!  My friend's recipe said to sprinkle the ground cinnamon, but I had a great accident and dumped about a few tablespoons worth of cinnamon in my first batch.  whoops.  THEN, I had the most difficult time finding cinnamon chips around Thankgiving (I went to three different grocery stores!) and ended up settling with butterscotch and white chocolate chips.  They turned out AMAZING...if I do say so myself.  Everyone in Sparky's family was asking for the recipe. 

This has turned out to be Sparky's new favorite snack.  He claims that there is something evil in them...it might be the cinnamon.

So I decided to make some for today's work birthdays and they have been a hit.  I finally found some cinnamon chips during my normal trip to the grocery store right after Thanksgiving.  This time I made a batch with cinnamon and another batch with butterscotch chips.  They are both fabulous.  Sparky prefers the butterscotch. 

Give it a try and don't be afraid to make mistakes or changes.  You never know when it could turn into a beautiful or yummy mistake!

Keep on Keepin on.