Pumpkin Chip "Muffins"

I love summer. Actually I love Summer with a capital S. Summer is my best friend. So, you can imagine that I like to hold off on all things apple, pumpkin, spice, etc. until mid-November at the earliest. In my world, Halloween is the end of Summer. This is partly because I'm delusional, partly because I'm stubborn, and partly because I grew up in Southern California where Summer has a mind of her own. Last year in San Diego we had no summer. The year before that I spent Thanksgiving pregnant and sweating because our turkey dinner was cooked indoors despite 87° weather. (p.s. The two Virginia years were rough for me. Ask anyone who witnessed my ineptitude doing recess duty in a tank top and sandals amid falling leaves and snow. It was ugly.) I, therefore, choose to believe in the Endless Summer.


Back to the muffins. Big Sissy had just been down for a visit, and the Little Sissy asked her about the "magical muffins." I'm sure many of you are familiar. It's apparently a Weight Watchers kind of deal, but it doesn't seem believable that these would be diet approved. Fast forward a week when Little Sissy and I have The Chick and The Dude and no projects planned. Enter emergency Pumpkin Chip Muffins to the rescue. Yum. Pumpkin is now allowed if, and only if, I have two hungry toddlers in my charge and no animal crackers in sight. I'm having a sordid love affair with one right now. I'm singing Brobee's "Party in My Tummy" song in my head as I type. I'm talented like that. Here's the recipe and directions on how to keep munchkins happy in the process of making them. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 boxes of Spice Cake
1 large can (30 oz.) of pumpkin (NOT pie filling!)
1 bag (12 oz.) of mini-chocolate chips

Step 1: Get naked. Pour cake mixes into a bowl and stir to break up any clumps.

Step 2: Pour mini-chips into bowl and mix well.

Step 3: Clean up any fallen chips.

Step 4: Don a party hat.

Step 5: Mix pumpkin into dry mix. It ain't easy. No you don't need more pumpkin. I called to confirm this with Big Sissy. She said, "It'll get better." It did, after about 50 calories burned from stirring.

Step 6: Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.. You know the drill- check 'em at 20 minutes with a toothpick. If they don't scream, they're done.

Step 7: Celebrate and share a bite with your puppies. Try to make it a non-chocolaty bite, but that's almost impossible with these treats!

Photo Credit: The first image is not mine. I never got a pic of the final product, mostly because we were scarfing them down in a not-so-Weight Watchers like fashion. This picture is pretty close, although they claim to be cookies. It's from this blog: http://deliciousdixie.blogspot.com/2010/10/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies.html