Pumpkin Cookies

The first Presidential Debate, here in Denver, caused a lot of anxiousness in drivers with major road closures for 7 hours! So I already disliked the debate before it started, for the stress it caused of getting Little Red (the girl I nanny) from her school located south of DU to her dance classes north of DU.

I won't get into politics, however all I do know is, that they needed to warn someone that there would be no commercial breaks, because damn did I have to pee! If you are, for whatever reason, interested in my thoughts on tonight's debate you can follow my twitter feed. Disclaimer, wine and muscle relaxers were consumed this evening.

So during a much needed bathroom break, I decided to make pumpkin cookies! I get distracted easily.

Here's what you need:

• Box of spice cake mix
• Can of pumpkin

Mix together thoroughly. You could use a hand blender but I prefer mixing by hand with a thicker batter.

I used an ice cream scoop to put on a pan. Since these cookies do not spread while baking, you are able to put more on the pan at a time.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Delicious! The texture is more similar to a cake than a cookie, so they can easily be transformed into breakfast muffins on the go!

Seamus loved them too! I may make smalled balls next time and store as treats for him!

Chobani Cupcakes

Being allergic to oils (canola, vegetable, rapeseed, cottonseed, and anything expeller pressed) makes traditional baking very difficult. I usually substitute applesauce for oil when baking, but tonight I was also missing eggs. I read about using Greek yogurt in lieu of both, so I figured I'd give it a try.

I am bias when it comes to Greek yogurt. I love Chobani. Chobani has the best flavor of all the Greek yogurts, but I'm also biased towards them since they are located in upstate New York, where my grandmother was born and raised.

Here's what you need:

• Boxed cake mix (Funfetti is my favorite!)
• 3/4 cup plain Chobani Greek Yogurt
• 1 cup water

Heat your oven at 350 degrees. Mix the ingredients together. I would usually use a hand blender, but being cautious of using yogurt in the cake mix I hand mixed the batter. Needless to say, I was nervous about how these cupcakes would turn out.

Once mixed, I was even more nervous about the cupcakes since the batter seemed "spongier" than a normal mix. Bake regular cupcakes for 20 minutes, and mini cupcakes for 12 minutes.

Once baked to a nice golden brown, let the cupcakes cool. The texture of the cupcakes seems more like a sponge cake, but they taste great! Great tasting cupcakes that are actually good for you?!? No longer impossible!

These cupcakes would be great for vegetarians and those watching their figure alike!

Honestly, I felt a lot less guilty eating four cupcakes tonight.

While I used plain Greek yogurt this time around, I thought of using raspberry yogurt in chocolate cake mix next time. Yum, raspberry chocolate cupcakes! Really, the possibilities are endless!

What cake flavor would you make?

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini seems to be the only thing that has been able to grow in the Colorado heat this summer. With an abundance of zucchini and no tomatoes to pair it with, I have been making zucchini bread like crazy!

I found a great recipe for zucchini bread. Below is my modified version since I'm allergic to most oils.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 6 oz plain Greek yogurt*
• 1/4 cup applesauce*
• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini

* I substituted Greek yogurt and applesauce for vegetable oil. The applesauce also allowed me to cut back on the sugar, since it is already sweetened.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

I threw all the ingredients, except the grated zucchini, into a bowl and mixed. I can hear my 7th grade home economics teacher shaking her head at me for not sifting the dry ingredients, and mixing the wet ingredients together separately, before combining them all together. Sorry. Mrs. Wrigley! But honestly, I can't tell the difference, chemistry will do its thing either way.

I was concerned that there wasn't enough wet ingredients to incorporate all of the dry ingredients until I grated the zucchini. Zucchini is surprisingly a very juicy (for lack of a better word) vegetable. Fold in the zucchini until evenly distributed.

Grease and flour two loaf pans.

Fold the batter into the two greased and floured loaf pans.

Bake for 45 minutes. Test with a knife or toothpick to ensure the bread is cooked thoroughly. Let cool before cutting.


Enjoy!