A Wedded Weekend

On Saturday, my fiancé and I set out to conquer more to-dos on our wedding list. With my mom in toe, we headed up to a florist near our venue to discuss flowers. This is the second florist we’ve met with, and we’re meeting with one more before making a final decision. It’s really hard, because I’m not super picky when it comes to flowers; I don’t have a favorite flower, for example, and I’m really clueless about them too. So, I’m really looking for someone that can use their creativity and the little bit of input I have to make something gorgeous. All I know is that I want bright beautiful green and yellow in my bouquet, with more muted colors for my girls since they’ll be in green. As for centerpieces, I just want something low, and bright. Maybe like this…

After meeting with the florist, we headed to the hotel where we’ll be booking a block of rooms for ourselves and our guests. By booking with that hotel, we also get a deal on transportation for all of our guests to and from the venue, which was extremely important to us. We’re also in the process of finalizing our invitations… Things are starting to come together!

On Sunday, we spent the morning trying to clean up our townhouse, since I have my bridesmaids coming next Saturday for their dress fitting! After that we headed out for a run. We still have it on our heads that we’ll be “running” the half marathon April 17th, and I think my fiancé finally realized that it’s something we’ll be doing together, slowly. On Thursday after my 4-miler, I noticed that when I accidentally hit my shin, I felt pain. Pain very similar to my shin splints in December. Low and behold, I’m definitely on the road to get shin splints again. This time, though, I’m not ignoring it and I’m icing, compressing, rolling, and not increasing my mileage like crazy. I was supposed to run 6 miles Sunday, but kept it at 4 just to be safe. I’ll try and tackle 6 on Tuesday, followed by 2 on Thursday. I can’t seem to catch a break with these injuries!

Since we’re back to running, I’ve welcomed yummy desserts back into our routine. On Sunday evening, I decided to make How Sweet Eats’ Triple Layer Cookies & Cream Crunch Bars. Ohh yes – they were absolutely amazing. Of course, they didn’t look quite like Jessica’s, but they tasted awesome! Everything she puts on her blog looks so scrumptious; I wish I could be that creative in the kitchen. And checkout the sweet plate – these awesome Maleficent (from Cinderella) plates were on sale at Target for 75 cents! So I scored four!

This week’s kitchen adventures were first squashed when, again, the avocados at ShopRite were nowhere near ripe. I’m hoping they’ll be ready sometime this week to use in other recipes, but the homemade sushi I was planning on making Sunday night was a no-go. Maybe next week. But, I’ll be making some veggie burgers and sweet potato fries, falafel, and finally the huevos rancheros I wanted to make last week. Maybe I’ll even bake something else!

Mom’s Irish Soda Bread

Growing up, Saint Patrick’s Day was one of my favorite holidays. We made Irish soda bread, had corned beef and cabbage, and I got to wear cute green socks, shamrock tattoos on my cheeks, and other fun things. Then, in college, I attended the Scranton parade every year – a true showing of debauchery. And now that I spend most of my time in the kitchen, I was able to try my hand at Irish soda bread, without the help of my mom.

Both of my parents are mostly Irish, my father’s grandparents being immigrants (it goes back a bit further on my mom’s side). It’s no secret I’m Irish – my hair is dark with hints of red and curly, I freckle as soon as my skin sees the sun, and I “tan” red (aka not at all). No one in my family has brown eyes, and in keeping with the stereotypes, I love potatoes and beer. Though my taste buds have changed and I don’t enjoy corned beef, I do still love boiled cabbage, especially when it’s colcannon.

For the average person, Irish soda bread might seem a little bland. But the Irish weren’t ever really known for their flavorful foods. I personally love it, especially when it’s warmed up with some butter. The best part is that because it makes such a large loaf, there’s plenty left over to enjoy for breakfast, or as a snack.

I wound up bringing a loaf to work and everyone loved it! I always feel so accomplished when a large group tries something I’ve made and they have rave reviews. In addition to my soda bread there were green cupcakes, and a giant cookie cake with a shamrock on it. I’m happy to report that my bread was finished first!

This is the recipe that my mom has been following for years. I can’t remember it ever being any different. Although a few times she tried to sneak in some caraway seeds (I’m not a fan). I’m thinking maybe I won’t wait until next March 17th to make this again…

Irish Soda Bread
– makes one loaf –

Ingredients:
2 Cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 Cup softened butter (half the stick)
3/4 Cup rasins
1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds (optional)
1 Cup buttermilk
1 egg slightly beaten with 1 tbsp water

Directions:
1. Sift flower sugar baking powder, soda and salt into large mixing bowl. Cut in butter until like coarse meal.
2. Stir in raisins and caraway seeds. Add buttermilk, mix to moisten the dry ingredients.
3. Put onto floured surface and knead for several minutes until smooth.
4. Form dough into round ball place on greased baking sheet. Flatten ball until about 1/2 inch high
5. Brush top and sides with egg/water mixture. Cut a 1/2 inch deep cross in top.
6. Bake at 375 degree for 30-40 min. or until toothpick comes out clean
7. Cool on wire rack. Brush top with butter, or serve butter alongside the bread

A Perfect Little Sunday

This past Sunday, still high from my bridesmaid dress shopping win, the fiancé and I set out to make our guestbook for the wedding. I had seen on The Broke Ass Bride, the idea to use a picture calendar (made on Shutterfly) as a guestbook instead of the traditional plain page books. That got my creative juices flowing, and after receiving a coupon code from David’s Bridal for a free 8×8 20 page hard covered picture book, I knew exactly what we were going to do! So after combing through a bunch of pictures we put everything together and ordered it! I’m so excited to see the final product.

We then only spent $50 at the grocery store for the week (win #2), and decided to celebrate with a trip to Chipotle. Well, the trip had already been planned, but we felt a lot less guilty about spending the money on dinner, especially since we had a coupon for buy one get one free thanks to the new show America’s Next Great Restaurant! As you can see, this whole wedding planning and saving money idea has really been rubbing off on me – I’m hell-bent on finding the best deals for everything. I’m pretty sure the fiancé and my wallet are thanking me! And the burrito I devoured could barely be rolled and wrapped shut… YUM!

Baking was done, as well. I made a batch of Kalyn’s Kitchen’s Sugar-Free and Flourless Chocolate and Oatmeal Cookie Clusters. They were SO good! I added 2 Tbsp of coconut oil to give it some extra flavor, and they were really great. They’re so easy, and you probably have all of the ingredients already. Go make them!

I came home to an e-mail to find out I had won RunAddict’s Zensah giveway was a sweet addition to the already positive weekend, too! It ended peacefully watching The Oscars, with dreamboats James Franco and Anne Hathaway (yes, they are BOTH dreamboats).

(source)

I hope everyone else had a successful and enjoyable weekend – I know I needed it! Now on to tackle the week… at least it’s above 35 degrees!

Lackluster Cooking

The week between Christmas and New Years is always packed with as many outings and visits with friends as possible; dinners and drinks here, shopping trips there, and just time spent with those you care about. This oftentimes requires you to either cook for the masses, or spend little to no time in the kitchen. For me, it was the latter.

This year, our company observed the Christmas holiday the following Monday, giving us off when most of our business partners were hard at work. It worked out perfectly, though, since there was a huge snow storm that Sunday, leaving everyone trapped in their homes anyway. Leaving my fiancé at home to use up the last bit of his 2010 vacation days, I trudged to work on Tuesday and Wednesday, less than enthusiastic. The end of the year can be a crazy time in time and attendance and payroll, so that coupled with the holidays causes a serious time crunch. On Thursday, however, I took the day off to go wedding dress shopping! My mom, sister, and I headed to Priscilla of Boston in Short Hills to check things out. You can check out my pre-shopping trip video here. The dresses were pretty, but I wasn’t overly impressed with anything. It was a fun trip, but I didn’t say yes to the dress.

Friday (New Year’s Eve) was a day of relaxation and baking – I whipped up some pink champagne mini cupcakes, inspired by both Boozy Baker and Booze Cakes (two awesome books I got for Christmas!) to bring to our friend’s NYE party. After anxiously watching my fiancé light off fireworks from across the street and devouring lots of yummy appetizers, it was 2011! The new year started off with a 9 mile run, followed by a trip to Sonic to refuel (they have veggie burgers now!).

My mom, sister, and I reconvened on Sunday for another dress trip – this time to David’s Bridal. I had high hopes, hearing stories from many girls who found their dream dresses at David’s after searching high and low. While I didn’t have an overwhelmingly emotional experience (I’m not that kind of girl), I did find my dress! And while I can’t show you the dress I purchased, I can show you the dress I didn’t pick. And believe me when I tell you, my dress choices were all over the place. You name the style, I probably tried it on.

One of the favorite dresses I didn't choose...

My last day off ended today, Monday, as my company again observed New Year’s Day the following Monday (win!). While it’s sad to see the holiday season come to an end, I’m heading in to work tomorrow for only one day. Why? Because I’m heading to Disney World bright and early Wednesday morning for a week of fun, and to run the Walt Disney World Half Marathon! I’m really excited to be heading back just under a year from the last time I was there, where I got engaged! I’ve been going to Disney World since I was 5, almost yearly, and get giddy like a child every time. Even though I’m a little injured (though getting better), the race is just going to be about the experience – I can wait until April to knock out a PR.

So, needless to say my cooking has been almost non-existant this week, aside from making Belgian waffles with chocolate chips and coconut flakes one morning, breakfast burritos a few other mornings, and a super simple stir fry for dinner one night. Tonight’s menu is a giant salad and some fish sticks – classy, I know. But somewhat fitting – a child-like meal before heading to the most wonderful (and childish) place on earth!

A good kind of puff

Each year on Christmas Eve, my fiancé and I head down to his family’s to spend the night and open presents in the morning, before heading back up to my family. This year, I thought it would be appropriate for me to make a quick appetizer that we would be able to bring with us to his cousin’s for Christmas Eve dinner. I don’t remember how I found this recipe, but as soon as I saw gouda on the ingredient list, I was sold.

The ingredient list and recipe itself is straight forward and easy. I accidentally picked up the wrong kind of dough the first time around, but after heading to the store to get something completely different later in the week, I saw what I needed and realized I had originally grabbed the wrong thing. This allowed me to later try the recipe with two different types of dough, which was perfect after Sunday’s 9 mile run in the snow.

We had big plans for Friday – we were to get up at 5:30a, run 6 miles, head to work for a half day, I’d make the pastries while the fiancé finished packing, and we’d head down to his parent’s to first meet up with a friend for coffee, before continuing on to the party. Well, we of course didn’t get up to run thanks to the cold howling winds, but we were able to follow the rest of our plans for the day (for the most part, at least). I tried one of the pastries both right out of the oven as well as room temperature, and they were both really good. When bringing food to parties, I like when it’s something that doesn’t taste best at a certain temperature, because it’s difficult to keep it at that constant level.

Since it’s an apple and cheese puff pastry, I think it could be served as an appetizer or a dessert, depending on your crowd. My fiancé’s family snuck a few from the tray before we even made it out his parent’s door to get to his cousin’s. I knew that I would at least like them since gouda is my favorite cheese, but I was pleased to find everyone that tried it really enjoyed it.

Gouda and Apple Puff Pockets via Pepperidge Farm
– Makes 48 Puffs –

Ingredients:
1 large Granny Smith apple, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons sugar
1 package (17.3 ounces) Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets, thawed
3 ounces smoked Gouda cheese, cut into 48 (1/2-inch) cubes

Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Stir the apple, chives and sugar in a medium bowl.
2. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 16×12-inch rectangle. Cut into 12 (4-inch) squares. Cut each pastry square in half diagonally to make 24 triangles. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheet.
3. Place about 1/2 teaspoon apple mixture on the bottom third of the longest side of each pastry triangle. Top each with 1 cheese piece. Brush the 2 bottom corners with water. Fold the bottom corners over the filling and press to seal. Press the bottom edge of the pastry to seal, leaving the top of the pastry open. Place the pastries onto 2 baking sheets.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with additional chopped chives, if desired.

Next time I don’t have to travel with the goodies, I’m making a Gouda en Croute. You know, melty gouda inside a giant puff pastry… Oh yes.

A Festivus for the rest of us!

On Saturday, my fiancé and I hosted our second annual (he’s been throwing one for years) Festivus party! If you’re unfamiliar with the origins of Festivus, Google it, and hopefully a clip of the Seinfeld episode is on YouTube. I grew up watching Seinfeld with my parents, and they to this day watch the re-runs after work while preparing dinner. Most people I’ve come across either love or hate Seinfield, but both my family and my fiancé’s family are fans.

Last year was unfortunately kind of a flop, as the first snow storm of the year rolled in, and we wound up only having two guests! This year, with no reports of potential snow, I knew I needed to make sure we had enough goodies. The party was more than just a Festivus celebration, it was also the first time most of our friends were seeing our new place! Needless to say, the pressure was on.

I always make some type of cupcakes. This time, instead of making full sized, I realized they would likely go faster if I made mini’s instead. I like to make them seasonal, or at the very least boozy. While I left out the booze this time, you could definitely add it in if you want, since I made eggnog cupcakes, courtesy of Southern Living! Based on the recipe I used, I wound up with 60 mini cupcakes. Plenty for all of the party-goers, and enough to bring into work on Monday as well. In addition to the cupcakes, I wanted to make something savory. I had a bunch of recipes to choose from, but wound up settling on Brown Eyed Baker’s Italian Gougeres, coming in a later post.

But back to the cupcakes – the cake was perfectly moist and just the right amount of eggnog. I actually tasted eggnog for the very first time after I mixed it into the batter. There was some leftover, so I decided to take a swig. I guess it’s a good thing I liked it, since I was already committed to 60 mini cupcakes with it. The frosting, though, was a bit runny. Even though it had cream cheese, butter, and confectioner’s sugar, I couldn’t get it thick enough to allow me to really do any decorating (I added A LOT of extra sugar). It wound up almost drying on the cakes though with a nice sheen, so they looked okay. But I would have liked to do something a little more snazzy!

I definitely think you could add some dark rum to the cake and/or frosting mixture to give it that boozy kick that I’m such a fan of. Nothing quite like a festive drink in cupcake form!

Eggnog Cupcakes via Southern Living
– makes 60 mini cupcakes, or about 24 regular cupcakes –

Cake Ingredients:
1 (16oz.) package pound cake mix
1 1/4 cups eggnog
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat all ingredients together at low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Increase speed to medium, and beat 2 minutes. Pour into lined cupcake pan, filling about 3/4 .
2. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, about 10-15 minutes.

Frosting Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar
1/4 cup eggnog
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting Directions:
1. Beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until creamy.
2. Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with eggnog, beginning and ending with sugar and beating at low speed. Add freshly grated nutmeg and vanilla extract; beat until smooth.
3. Spread over cupcakes.

Holiday Cookies

The end of the year is always crazy, and this year is no exception. Between holiday parties, shopping, and decorating, throw in a job in an industry that has a lot to get done at the end of the year, plus end of semester school-work, and you’ve got one busy lady. But enough about me, this post is about cookies!

This past Sunday I had the pleasure of attending the second annual cookie exchange party hosted by my co-worker’s sister. Last year, I made yummy choco-hazelnut cookies that were a huge hit. This year, I decided to make something a little more simple, but still different. I’ve had RecipeGirl’s Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies recipe hanging around in my recipe folder for over a year. Since I still had a can of pumpkin left, and am not yet ready to say goodbye to pumpkin season, I figured these cookies would be a perfect last hurrah. Not to mention, until only a few weeks ago I had never had a snickerdoodle cookie (I don’t like sugar cookies – they’re boring). So, the idea of adding pumpkin flavors to a cinnamon and sugar cookie seemed perfect. Maybe next year I’ll get creative and make my very own cookies. But I knew I was in good hands with RecipeGirl, as she’s yet to let me down!

We had the cabinets and flooring in our kitchen completely gutted and re-done on Saturday, so the day was spent laying in bed, running, and doing homework. Since I was banished from the kitchen all day, this meant I needed to wake up early on Sunday to prep my cookies for the 1pm party. My fiancé came downstairs to the smell of cookies baking in the oven – what a perfect way to wake up! Aside from having to let the dough chill in the refrigerator for an hour, the recipe was pretty straight forward. I’m still counting down the days until I have a KitchenAid stand mixer though; my hand mixer just isn’t cutting it!

I tried my best to make the cookies as cylindrical as possible by using a pint class to flatten the balls of sugary dough, but I definitely had a few that were misshapen. The cookies were only partly about presentation, though, because we all know everyone is at a cookie party to eat! And now that I have a solid 10 cookie recipes to add to my ever growing arsenal, eating is just what I’ll be doing over the next few weeks when I try to recreate these! But before that, I have to cook and bake for our Festivus Party this coming Saturday. I’m sure there will be epic stories about that to come.

But in the meantime, if you have some canned pumpkin laying around and are in need of a sweet treat, take a stab at these Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
– From the delicious RecipeGirl.com –

Cookie Ingredients:
2 sticks butter (1 cup), at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Rolling Sugar Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp allspice

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and pumpkin puree and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the ingredients.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Beat flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time until incorporated.
3. Cover dough with plastic and chill at least an hour, or until dough becomes slightly firm.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with nonstick spray). Mix rolling sugar in a small bowl.
5. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Use a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 Tbsp.) or a large spoon to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Use your hands to roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and make sure they’re coated really well. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Use a glass with a nice, flat bottom to dip in sugar and flatten the balls.
6. Bake at 350°F. for 10 to 14 minutes, or until they are slightly firm to the touch. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes or so, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: About 3 dozen

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

This particular recipe came to fruition by accident. On Saturday my fiancé and I headed to my boss’ house for a lovely evening of eating and playing Just Dance on Wii (which rules, by the way) as a celebration for successfully getting through our conference in October. Since she was doing all the cooking, I knew I needed to bring something along. After finishing my longest run post-injury (oh hey 6 miles!) I didn’t have much time to whip up anything fancy, so I fell back on PBFingers‘ two ingredient pumpkin cake cookies.

There were a few left over, and I was forced to take them home with me. Since we still have a ton of Halloween candy laying around, I wasn’t sure what to do with them. On Sunday, though, I awoke with a genius idea – whoopie pie! And let me tell you, this will be the easiest whoopie pies you will ever make in your life – trust me. Since the cookies themselves are literally two ingredients, adding some cream cheese frosting in between was perfect. They were a great morning treat, and would translate well any time of the day.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
– makes 6 –

Cake Ingredients:
1 box of spice cake mix
1 can pure pumpkin

Frosting Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine cake mix and pumpkin until completely mixed and fluffy
3. Bake 10-12 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean
4. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar.
5. Liberally spread frosting mixture on each side of the cookie, and press together

Candy Stuffed Cupcakes

The idea of putting a little surprise inside a cupcake gets me giddy. Cupcakes are awesome on their own. Throw in something extra in the center, and you have my full and undivided attention. I think that’s why I gravitate towards bakeshops like Crumbs, where most of their cupcakes have some type of delicious filling. Since I don’t [yet] have the proper tools to stuff my cupcakes with ganache, buttercream, or things of that nature, I decided to take it the easier route – shove some Halloween candy into cupcakes!

For whatever reason the trick-or-treaters were sparse this year, especially at our new place. We actually only had two sets of vistors. We did go out to dinner between about 6p and 8p, so I’m assuming we missed some others, but the overall feeling in the office the next day was that there just weren’t a lot of trick-or-treaters out and about. Fiance and I had spent quite some time in the candy asile at Target earlier that week, trying to pick out the perfect combination of candy – we wanted to make sure as the new neighbors the kids were impressed. Now, though, we just have two bowls full of leftovers. We’ve been taking a few pieces to work every day (to have 2-3 each), but at this rate, we’ll have candy until the new year. That’s when I realized I needed to bake with them!

I had found a recipe for deep-fried candy, but unfortunately I just don’t have the proper tools. Since hot oil is seriously dangerous, I figured it’d be best to wait until I have things like a deep fryer [hello wedding registry!] and other important and safety related items. I haven’t baked in awhile because of packing and moving, so I thought that would be a nice treat. Initially I wasn’t sure as to what flavor cake to go with, or even what type of frosting. Since I was using chocolate candy, I decided to go with a simple vanilla cake, and let the candy do the rest of the work. As for the frosting, I still battle with buttercream, and am still slightly afraid of cream cheese frosting. So, sour cream chocolate it was! The cake recipe came from Ming Makes Cupcakes and the frosting recipe came from AllRecipes.

The frosting was okay – It wasn’t nearly as thick as I had hoped the first time around. After eating a cupcake each I put the rest of the frosting in the fridge. When I went back for number two, I added a little more confectioner’s sugar, and since it was cold, the consistency was much better. The cake was delicious, I really enjoyed the surprise center. I would suggest popping any leftovers you have in the microwave for a few seconds to warm up the center, since the melty chocolate was one of the best parts. I stuffed my cupcakes with pieces of Kit-Kat, Twix, Almond Joy, Take 5, and Snickers.

Candy Stuffed Cupcakes
– Makes 12 – 15 cupcakes –

Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
5 of your favorite “fun-sized” chocolate candy bars, broken into pieces

Cake Directions:
1. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat in butter gradually. Beat in sugar and mix thoroughly. Beat in eggs, then vanilla and milk. Beat till mixed.
2. Pour into lined cupcake pan. Place a piece of the broken candy into the middle of each cupcake, placing it mid-way down in the pan.
3. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out almost clean.

Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

Frosting Directions:
1. Melt chocolate and the butter together. Let cool and blend in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt.
2. Gradually add the confectioner’s sugar until the frosting is of spreading consistency, beat well.

Pumpkin Cake Cookies

After being out of the baking scene for awhile, I decided to hop back in with what was hands down the easiest recipe ever. Aside from going to the store and buying a box of cookies, I don’t think this could have been easier (and it didn’t require me to leave my house!). This particular recipe comes from PB Fingers, who’s blog I stumbled upon recently. She’s got some super yummy recipes, and I love to see how her wedding plans are unfolding – everything is so cute!

I made a batch of these cookies and decided to bring a bunch to work the next day. Of course, I left some at home to enjoy as well. They were gone in a flash! My co-workers couldn’t stop talking about how great they were, and they were in shock after finding out they only required two ingredients, and a 10-12 minute bake time.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a big skeptical about the whole cake mix + a can of pumpkin = deliciousness, but I’m glad I went ahead with it anyway. All you need to do is combine a box of spice cake mix, and a 15 oz. can of pure pumpkin, plop them on some baking sheets, and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. That’s it! They’re going to be super moist and cakey which is just how I like my cookies. I have every intention of making these over and over again, and you should give them a shot too!