Pumpkin Chocolate Walnut Muffins

With the temperature dropping to freezing cold, what better way to warm up the house, other than baking goodies? So with that, I decided to make some muffins to not only get some warmth throughout the lower level of the house – but also to have some goodies since I haven’t baked since Halloween.

I had a few boxes of pumpkin cake mix, so I decided to put one box to good use.  This recipe is truly SO incredibly easy to throw together. The most tedious part is putting the batter into the muffin tins in the pan. They puffed up marvelously and are delightfully delicious and not guilty whatsoever!

 

Serves 12. 4 Points Plus Values.

Ingredients:

• 1 box, Pillsbury Perfectly Pumpkin Cake Mix
• 15 oz can Libby’s Pumpkin Puree
• 2 tbsp Egg whites
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 5 tbsp Water
• 2 tbsp Milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)
• 1 ¾ tbsp chopped walnuts

Line a muffin pan with 12 liners, spraying each tin with non-stick cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl mix together cake mix, baking soda, pumpkin, egg whites and water until well blended and mixture is fully combined.  Evenly distribute mix to each muffin tin.

In a small bowl toss together chocolate chips and walnuts. Evenly sprinkle mixture over the top of each muffin.

Place muffins into oven and bake per box directions, adjust time based on how fast/slow your oven cooks. My oven is on the faster side and these were done in 16 minutes.  Cupcakes are done when a knife is inserted and it comes out clean.

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

This past week I decided I wanted to do a little baking and Spice Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookieswere on the menu!

I wanted to make these the week prior, but time just didn’t allow so I went ahead and whipped these up over the weekend and boy, oh boy, were they delicious!  Not only were they delicious, but they were so simple to make.  It involved opening packages and a can, dumping the contents into a bowl and measuring out chocolate chips and walnuts.  Easy as pie.

The Points Plus values do vary depending on the amount of cookies you make so your individual recipe would have to be thrown into Weight Watchers Recipe Builder to uncover the points plus value per serving.  I ended up making 68 cookies and it made each cookie 1 points plus value each.

These cookies are softer cookies – but they are heavenly.

Ingredients:

• 1 box Spice Cake Mix
• 1 can 100% pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie)
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• ~1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Blend spice cake mix. Pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin together until evenly combined and there are no bumps left.  Add in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips and fold until combined.

Using a melon baller, teaspoon or the tip of a tablespoon drop cookies onto a non-stick cookie sheet.  Note: the cookies don’t really rise or spread so having them close together (but not touching) on the pan will not affect the end result.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for roughly 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Cooking times vary oven to oven, so it may take up to 15 minutes to bake.

Last but not least – enjoy!

Deliciousness: Strawberry, Pineapple & Coconut Cake!

I’ve been on this baking kick as of late I’ve been making cupcakes and muffins and enjoying it all. I’ve wanted to make a pineapple cake for a few weeks now but just hadn’t gotten around to it. I then saw a strawberry coconut cake on pinterest and then wanted to make that. So then I thought … why not just combine the two together? Pineapples and strawberries go perfectly well together and coconut could just be an added treat. Now if you follow some of my food posts, particularly my baking posts (particularly on LUUUX), you see that I like to use healthy alternatives in baking. That is primarily eliminating the use of eggs, oil and butter in my cooking. I do use those things in other ways but there are ways to make moist, delicious cakes/muffins, etc. without using them. I also wanted to test this recipe out because my boyfriends moms birthday is in a couple weeks and I’m pushing him into making her a cake (with my help of course).

So what did I use to make this cake? Simple! One box of white cake mix, 1 box of sugar free strawberry Jello, 1 can of crushed pineapple, 3/4c shredded sweet coconut and a tub of light Cool-whip. I mixed the cake mix, Jello, crushed pineapple and half the coconut mixture together with a mixer. When incorporated, I then equally placed the batter into two greased cake pans and baked according to the box directions. I let the cakes cool on top of the stove for a few hours and when completely cool to the touch, I removed one cake and put it into the center of my cake holder, smeared some whipped cream on top of the bottom layer, then added the second cake on top of it. I then frosted with the whipped cream all over and used my residual coconut to sprinkle over the top of the cake as a decoration.
Because of the Jello and coconut the cake has a little bit of a heavier texture. The pineapple gives it a wetter/moister texture when compared to regular cakes that use oil and eggs. The whipped cream is perfectly light to go along with it because the cake itself is sweet enough on its own. Overall a fabulous treat and one that I’ll be making again.

QUESTIONS:
Do you like baking at home?
Would you make a cake like this for yourself and your loved ones?
Have you ever incorporated healthier techniques into either your cooking or baking?

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