Pumpkin Cupcakes

I've been really bummed lately by how few desserts are available to me since I'm not supposed to eat fruit, chocolate, and most nuts. Well, guess what? Pumpkin, the king of fall food staples, IS A VEGETABLE!

Not only is the following recipe completely IC-safe, this is perhaps literally the easiest and most delicious fall treat you will ever make. It requires two ingredients--four if you want the cream cheese frosting (which you do, I guarantee).

I got this earth-shattering idea from Sweet Verbena who got it from Big Red Kitchen. Gotta love the blogger community.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 box cake mix
1 (15oz) can pumpkin pie filling

1 block cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
optional: 1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the pumpkin pie filling and cake mix. This will take some serious blending since the pumpkin is the only liquid going into the mixture. Blend thoroughly, crushing any powdery lumps, until a nice thick batter is formed.

Best thing about this batter? No raw eggs, so you can eat as much as you want without fear of salmonella! Josh took full advantage of this perk.

Grease muffin tins and fill them generously. These cupcakes will expand a lot in the oven, but they will settle again, becoming very dense, moist, and reasonably sized. Of course, you have to bake them first. try 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes for regular cake batter and 25-30 minutes for the extra moist variety. In all honesty, I would not recommend extra moist cake mix, as this recipe lends itself towards very moist cupcakes by nature.

While your niblets of yumminess bake, blend together the cream cheese and powdered sugar to make an easy and delicious frosting.

Final step: Accept your friend's offer to come over after the play he wrote and directed which you and your husband were in to frost the cupcakes for you. Be sure to give him one for himself and one to take to his girlfriend. Oh wait, this doesn't apply to you? You don't have a Greg Coles offering to ice your baked goods for you?

Alas, how sad I am for you ;-)