Low-Calorie, Low Cost, 2 Ingredients - Pumpkin Muffins!

Okay everyone, I've got a good one for you all today. It's low calorie, low cost, and there are only TWO (main) ingredients! Sounds too good to be true eh? May I present...

Pumpkin Muffins!

I'm trying to start the new year out by seriously watching my calorie intake (doesn't everyone at about this time of the year?) so when I ran across this recipe I knew I would have to give it a try. I thought these might be a good, quick and ready to grab-and-go breakfast replacement or a good snack!

Ready? Let's assemble all two of our ingredients.

• A box of yellow cake mix (I used Jiffy brand. Is Jiffy brand available throughout the United States? If so, take advantage of the low price... my 9 oz box of yellow cake mix was $.74!)
• A can of Libby's pumpkin filling. 15 oz can.

Optional ingredients: cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. I added a dash of each but you may exclude them if you want! I just found that these spices add a bit of "pop" to the pumpkin taste.

You'll also want: Pam spray or cupcake liners, a spatula, a large mixing bowl, and a muffin tin.

Preheat your oven to 350, and line your muffin tin with either cupcake liners or Pam spray/Crisco/whatever you prefer. I used Pam spray and they turned out great and came out easily.

Open your cake mix pouch and empty the contents into the bowl. Open your pumpkin can and add to the bowl. If you are going to add some spices, add a dash of each (cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves) in this step. Watch your nutmeg though... too much and it becomes very overpowering. I added more cinnamon than nutmeg and cloves.

Mix thoroughly until it looks a bit like this:

Then fill your muffin tins 3/4 of the way up. I was able to make 10 smallish (2.5" across, 1" tall) muffins this way. A spatula is helpful for getting every last bit out of the bowl.

Your oven should be close to preheated by this point... these are so quick to assemble I had to wait for my oven to be completely preheated when I was done with all of the above steps! haha. Once it's preheated, place the muffin tin in and bake for 25-30 minutes. I baked mine for 25 and they were slightly gooey on the inside... which was pretty yummy. :) But I had to eat it with a fork... if you're aiming for the grab-and-go idea, I'd cook them at least 30 minutes.

With a larger cake mix (remember, I used only a 9oz. cake mix), you could probably get even more muffins out of this recipe.

Cost breakdown: My can of pumpkin filling was $1.41 (on sale! woo hoo!), and my box of cake mix was $.74. = $2.15 for 10 muffins! If you eat one a day, that's ten breakfasts at roughly 22¢ a piece! Better for you and cheaper than a drive-thru breakfast sandwich any day.

You can add a little powdered sugar on top, or if you are not watching the calories right now, you can add chocolate chips, make a glaze, or put cream cheese frosting on top for a truly divine treat.

Thanks for following along! Hope you find success in these yummy little treats. Let me know if these worked for you!

Edit: I've added the nutrition facts for these pumpkin muffins! They are an awesome source of vitamin A, and at 119 calories and less than 3 grams of fat they make a great breakfast, dessert or snack! :)

Courtesy of FatSecret.com