Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

A couple weeks ago I picked up materials to make cupcakes just on a whim. We ended up planning to have dinner at my mother-in-law's {about 30 min from us} last Sunday night, so I offered to bring cupcakes. I'd purchased enough for two batches, so I went ahead and made them. With a twist.

I have a recipe from my mom that I just love to make cakes with. But I hadn't tried cupcakes yet.

They're made with pumpkin. And it makes them super yummy and moist!!

You need:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 regular can of pumpkin
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350.

The recipe says to follow the timing of what's on the back of the box. This worked for me with cake, but it didn't with the cupcakes. I had to add an extra 10 minutes to my cook time for the cupcakes {for me it ended up at 28-30 minutes for a 12 cupcake pan, but it was also a super dark pan}. Obviously keep an eye on it and test it with a toothpick. It will likely come out still slightly gooey on the toothpick, but you want it at the most minimal you can get it.

Of course I had to buy cute Fall cupcake-holder-thingys {oh my gosh...I'm blanking on what these are called}, sprinkles, and fun pumpkin toothpicks for the tops {thank you Wal-Mart}! And to go with the theme, I used cream cheese icing!

I took these to my mother-in-laws Sunday night for a family gathering and they were well enjoyed. I refrigerated the rest to take to work and to my friends Brian & Monica the next day. I do have to say it seemed to get even better after being in the fridge overnight! The pumpkin makes them gooey enough that it's easy to doubt if they've been fully cooked, so chilling them a bit helps solidify them and make them better.

And for you pumpkin haters out there, trust me you'll want to try these - you can't even taste the pumpkin! I promise, I've had people eat them that usually hate pumpkin but loved these!

Give 'em a whirl and let me know what you think! A friend tells me you get this same effect with soda. I've never tried that but it sounds interesting!