adding more (pumpkin) spice to your life : pumpkin muffins, cookies, and yogurt

Thanks to Starbucks, I know very few people for whom the return of autumn doesn’t mean cheering over the return of the pumpkin spice latte.  If you’re like me, though, that’s not enough.  I want to pumpkin the crap out of my fall!

While doing some blog browsing this weekend I stumbled upon a blog with a recipe for pumpkin spice chocolate chip muffins using stuff I already had on hand.  A box of chocolate chip muffin mix (that I had bought on a whim literally two days before and had never bought before–it was FATE), half a can of pumpkin (still in the pantry from last fall–I had no idea there was a canned pumpkin shortage all winter or I’d have sold it on ebay), and some pumpkin pie spice.  The muffins were AWESOME and a huge hit with everyone (we gifted a few to Will’s teachers).  The pumpkin made them extra moist.

Recipe for pumpkin spice chocolate chip muffins:

1. 1 box of chocolate chip muffin mix (or your favorite muffin recipe)
2. 1/2 can of pumpkin
3. 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
4. Prepare the mix as directed (you can decrease the water called for my the mix by a bit since the pumpkin adds a lot of moisture)

It inspired me to go on a little pumpkin spice binge.  While grocery shopping this week I went to grab some more muffin mix, but the chocolate chip cookie mix was half the price of the muffin mix, and I figured it would be just as yummy.  This particular mix didn’t call for any water, so once I’d added the pumpkin it was a little runny.  I added about 3/4 cup of old fashioned oatmeal and 1/4 cup of pecans to thicken it back up.

Recipe for pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies:

1. 1 box of chocolate chip cookie mix
2. 1/2 can of pumpkin
3. 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
4. 3/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal
5. 1/4 cup pecans (or other nuts on hand)

Then came the pumpkin spice yogurt.  Super yummy and I think my favorite of the bunch!

Recipe for pumpkin spice yogurt:

1. serving of homemade yogurt (you could also substitute plain yogurt)
2. heaping spoonful of brown sugar
3. heaping teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
4. graham cracker (crumbled for topping)

All are amazing with a little pumpkin spice tea.  I get mine from Adagio, but it’s not strong enough in the pumpkin spice department for me, so I add pumpkin pie spice to the loose lea tea before steeping.  (Oh no–I just looked and it seems like they are either sold out or just stopped offering it.  In that case, I recommend my most favorite tea from them, the thai chai.)