pumpkin muffins

I love a dense muffin.  The chocolate chip muffins at City Bagel Café are to-die-for -- not oily, not super fluffy, and well, dense.  I've never grasped how to get that consistency, but I've not actively pursued the perfect dense muffin recipe, either.

Well.  I heard someone this weekend discussing this recipe.  Actually, it's so easy, "recipe" might even be a strong word.  I only tried it because I didn't believe it could possibly be edible.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 box of yellow cake mix (I used a Pillsbury one, with pudding in the mix)
1 small can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, but pure pumpkin)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Using an elextric mixer, combine the cake mix and the pumpkin (do not add eggs, do not add oil, do not collect $200 and do not pass go).  Pop some cupcake wrappers into a muffin tin, and grease them up with cooking spray.  Spoon the batter evenly into a dozen wrappers.  Bake for 20-23 minutes, or (to be like all other baking recipes), "until a toothpick inserted comes out clean."

These are so quick, so easy, so cheap, kind-of healthy (muffin health is relative, people), and an intriguing conversation piece.  And they're deliciously dense.

Don't be a doubter; give them a go.  You know you want to!