2 Ingredient Pumpkin Cupcakes and the Famous Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

              

So, I have to confess I'm having a bad day.  I've realized it doesn't take much to throw me off my game, though.  A not so nice worker yelled at me at the car dealer (long story), and, though I tried to apologize for something I am not so sure was my mistake, I got a head shake, something muttered under her breath, rolled eyes and heavy sigh aimed in my direction.

I'm learning about the folly of pride in WBS this week AND heard about it in Sunday's sermon.  I love it when God makes it clear He wants me to pay attention to something.  It is a good thing, because my prideful self wanted to report the rudeness to her manager and also give her a piece of my mind at how she treated me.  Truly, though, I am guessing SHE was having a bad morning and needed the grace that she wasn't giving to me.  It was my opportunity to show humility and grace.  Ouch.  Pruning hurts.

Then, when I attempted to be nice and fill up my husband's car with gas for him, I had a strange man knocking on my driver door as I was ready to pull away.  I am always nervous about people approaching me when I am getting gas in my car--safety issues and all.  I gave him the best authoritative glare I could muster from my 5'3" frame and gave him an untrusting, "Yes?"  He smiled nicely (so much more than I deserved with my snippy "YES?") and said my son's cardoor was slightly ajar.  Sigh.  He was being nice.  My defenses melted, and I thanked him profusely.  I was shown grace from him and reminded again of my need to be humble ALL THE TIME.  I can be safe, aware and humble all at once--no snippy words needed.

Anyway, that has NOTHING to do with pumpkin cupcake muffins, but I had to share my morning and be real. 

NOW, a lot of you have seen this recipe on Pinterest, but these semi-sweet muffins--cupcakes if you will--are really good.  They are from the blog Sweet Verbena.  The best part is they only need TWO ingredients!  They call for a box of cake mix (unprepared) and a 15 oz. can of pumpkin.  I read through the comments on the original blog and saw some people added chocolate chips, so I, OF COURSE, added about 1/2 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips into the mix.  I also used spice cake mix instead of the yellow cake mix in the picture.

Here is the recipe--short and sweet:
1 box of cake mix--unprepared (I used spice cake)
1 can of pumpkin (15 ounce)
1/2 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Put into cupcake wrappers or muffin tins and cook at 350 for 20-25 minutes

Now, the best part is that I topped them with my mom's famous cream cheese frosting.  I grew up with this stuff, and it always makes me happy.  I am warning you, though, I have a SERIOUS sweet tooth--not chocolate, but SUGAR--and this stuff is sweet.  If you are more of a bitterweet chocolate person, this might be the perfect muffin for your sweet frosting, because the muffins aren't as sweet as a regular cupcake.  It takes the edge off the sugar.

Mom's Famous Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 box of powdered sugar
1 package of cream cheese, 8 oz.
1 stick of butter
1 tsp. of vanilla

Mix the wet ingredients at low speed until blended.  Then add the powdered sugar a little at a time with a medium speed mixer until it is all blended. 

Enjoy!