Just Call Me Betty Crocker

I was in a major baking mood this weekend. It started with a batch of these pumpkin muffins that I made on Wednesday. They were delicious. The leftovers went to work with hubby because I didn't need that temptation on my kitchen counter, even if they are relatively healthy for a baked good. The moist tasty muffins left me with a Glad container of pumpkin in my fridge, which of course led to more baking. I attempted these Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting on Saturday. The cupcakes were fluffy and amazing. The frosting, however, was a total flop. While trying to be a rebel and use fat free cream cheese, I found that the recipe clearly declared "DO NOT USE FAT FREE" for a reason. I whipped the heck out of that stuff with my lovely Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but it was useless. I dumped the frosting wreck into a plastic bag and tossed it in the fridge to transform it into something useful at a later date. Instead, I drizzled a sweet pumpkin glaze over the cupcakes. The glaze was simply powdered sugar, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and milk. (They were not just for the two of us, fyi. We shared them with hubby's coworkers at a target shooting/dog-playing/Mexican food-eating shin dig at his boss' house.)

The muffin and cupcake recipes are both super easy to make, and they're wonderful for curing carb cravings. So, whip up a batch if you have a can of pumpkin lying around. You won't be disappointed. :)

Back to that frosting mess. I pulled it out of the fridge this afternoon determined that I would make something edible out of it. These are what I came up with!

I'm calling them Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cakies. They're like cookies, but with a fluffy, cake-like texture. And, surprisingly, they're good! Hubby snagged two right off the cookie sheet. ;)

Ingredients:

8 oz. package fat free cream cheese

1/2 c. canned pumpkin

5 T. brown sugar

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 c. Heart Healthy Bisquick baking mix

1/2 c. All purpose flour

(Measurements are approximate)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix cream cheese, pumpkin and sugars until smooth. Add baking mix and flour. Place by rounded spoonfuls on baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.