Crisp mornings and leaves starting to fall can only mean one thing:  Time for all things PUMPKIN!  It also kicks off the time of year that I start to feel more inspired to get crafting and cooking!

So, I have seen this recipe floating around for quite a bit and it combines my two all-time favorite flavors of fall:  spice and pumpkin. Just had to try it myself and see how easy it really was!  The results were OF COURSE NOT PINTEREST PICTURE PERFECT (*sigh*) but they were sure yummy and we enjoyed making them! And can it really be a Pinterest “fail” if you actually take the time to make the “pinned” project and are proud of it regardless of the photographic misrepresentations?!  😉

So, here’s what you need to make these Easy Pumpkin Spice Muffins:

• 1 box of your favorite boxed spice cake mix
• 1 15 oz. can of plain puréed pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling!)
• paper baking cups

 “Do one side first like this and then try and flip the pan around carefully and do another part, okay?”

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the pumpkin and the cake mix.  The batter will be very thick so you may want to use a mixer.  I didn’t want to drag mine out and clean it, so I just used a spatula and mixed it in a bowl.  No problem.  Nice upper body workout.
• Line your muffin tin with the paper baking cups.  Enlist help for this.  It’s challenging and tedious and if you have a 3 year old, you’ll probably be accused of doing it wrong anyway.
• Fill the baking cups about 2/3 of the way.
• Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Cool on a wire rack for a bit.
• The muffins will have a “rustic” or “artisan” look, nothing like any pictures I have seen, but they are so yummy!

Some things I learned from trying this recipe out:

• I would not use paper baking cups next time.  I think the muffins would cook up “prettier” if the muffin tin was just sprayed (or greased) with butter flavor cooking spray.  They just crumbled when the paper liners were peeled away.
• We tried sprinkling a few chocolate chips on some of the muffins but they were plenty sweet without them!
• I would try a mix-in of some sort (raisins or almonds maybe) and maybe some with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top!