Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies

One of my favorite fall treats is the two ingredient cake.

Have you heard about it?

It's sometimes called the "Weight Watchers Cake." You simply mix one box of cake mix with one 15oz can of pumpkin puree. That's it. No other ingredients. You'll be tempted add some liquids because the mixture is quite thick, but resist the urge. It bakes into a dense cake.

I like to bake it in muffin tins, and recently decided - since it's so thick - to see what would happen if I used my cookie scoop to portion the batter out onto a cookie sheet. It bakes up into sweet pumpkin spice cake-like cookies.

Then I had a jar of marshmallow fluff in the cupboard and somehow a knife found its way to the jar and it schmeared some marshmallow fluff onto a cookie.

Heaven.

Yes, the cookie is a bit thick to be considered a whoopie pie, but it works for me!

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Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies 

Cake

1 box of spice cake mix

15oz can of pumpkin puree

Filling Ingredients

1 cup shortening

1 jar (7.4 oz) marshmallow fluff

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix the cake mix and pumpkin until thoroughly combined. Do not add any extra ingredients - batter will be very thick.

Use a cookie scoop and drop batter onto cookie sheet.

Bake 15 minutes or until done (a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean).

Remove and cool.

In the bowl of a mixer, combine all filling ingredients and mix until the filling is light and fluffy.

Once the cookies are cool, sandwich a heaping spoonful of filling in between two cakes.


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Makes 15 whoopie pies  |   10 Weight Watchers PointsPlus 

Pumpkin Spice Rice Pudding

Know what my sweet downfall is?

Creamy. Anything creamy.

I love puddings and cheesecakes and desserts made out of whipped cream. Remember Dirt? Did your mom ever make it for you? My mom made it on special occasions. It's ground Oreos, chocolate pudding, and Cool Whip mixed together with gummy worms hidden inside. I could eat a whole bowl of it.

We never had rice pudding growing up. Not sure why...probably because we didn't eat rice too often and when we did, we'd eat it all up. I had my bestie over for dinner the other night and made rice to go along with a dish. There was plenty left over and I didn't feel like eating it "as is." I hunted through the fridge and found a leftover can of pumpkin puree, and figured...let's go for it. Pumpkin Rice Pudding was born. It's a warm, comforting, autumn dessert. You could also eat it for breakfast - not like I did that or anything.

Quick note to my friends doing Weight Watchers: I made this recipe with 1 PointsPlus homemade coconut milk. I ran other milks through the recipe builder including skim, 1%, 2%, and unsweetened almond milk, and the PointsPlus values did not change. If half of a cup doesn't sound like enough to you, try bulking it up by stirring in a diced pear - so good!

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Pumpkin Rice Pudding

2 1/2 cups cooked rice
3 cups unsweetened coconut milk (like this)
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
2/3 cup agave (maple syrup or honey will work, too)
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
1 Tlbs vanilla extract
1 Tbls cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice

In a large sauce pan over medium-high heat, place the pumpkin. Slowly whisk in the coconut milk and agave. Add spices, rice, dried cranberries, and stir. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice has soaked up most of the liquid, around 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

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Makes 12, 1/2 cup servings   |   4 Weight Watchers PointsPlus 

...or... 

Makes 6, 1 cup servings   |   7 Weight Watchers PointsPlus

Easiest Pumpkin Spice Latte Ever

You are about to be introduced to one of the greatest things ever. A friend told me about this, and SHE got it from the lady who works at Trader Joe's, who probably was told about this by her cousin Louisa, thrice removed, on her mother's side of the family.

Or probably not.

Moving on.

We're talking about the world's easiest way to make a pumpkin spice latte: coffee plus pumpkin ice cream. I've tried countless versions of homemade pumpkin spice lattes and they either tasted goopy from the pumpkin or chalky from the spices. This is the winner to me. And it's a no brainer to make.

But let's be real for a moment.

Nothing can compare to a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. It's awesome. How do they do it? Starbucks puts magic in their lattes. Plain and simple. And then they stir it with the horn of a unicorn that's been dipped in sugar while we're busy checking our iPhones. That's how. And that's why one grande pumpkin spice latte costs almost $5. Never mind the fact that a half gallon of ice cream is somewhere around $3.50, and we could get two 1/2 gallons of ice cream for the cost of two Starbucks grande lattes.

So my disclaimer: nothing will taste as awesome as a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. But here's how to make the world's easiest pumpkin spice latte that's pretty stinking enjoyable.

Apple Spice Cookies

After a record breaking summer for the most 90-degree days in a calendar year, it's so nice to wake up to a crisp and cool morning.

Seriously.

I am so tired of sweating. Ahem, glistening.

I am tired of the drone of fans and window air conditioners (old house; no central air).

I'm tired of shouting to my mother when she's sitting on the couch five feet in front of me.

Not that I'm not grateful for fans and window AC units. Truly, I am. I couldn't imagine summer without them. But the noisssssse!

So I wake up on days like this grateful that I can throw open the windows and let the cool breeze flow in. It makes me want to sit outside with a cup of hot coffee and listen to the acorns drop from the trees. It makes me want to buy a bushel of apples and make pies and cakes and applesauce and cookies. How about you?

Here's a recipe I developed last fall. These are yummy, if I may say so myself. The ingredient list is a bit long, but trust me, it's worth it.