Christmas Muffins and My Elves

We are of course in the throws of a whirlwind week for the entire family.  Action packed with sports practices, company parties, concession commitments, school finals and assignments and my husband's birthday tomorrow. Thank goodness though, the holiday decorating is complete and I didn't have to lift one box.

Last weekend I was receiving a verbal reprimand from my girls as to why the house had not been decorated yet, as it was way past December 1st.  I simply explained that they were now old enough to take over the duties and I was passing my torch on to them and they had full reigns to decorate as they wish.  They had plenty years of experience with helping me in the past and I shared I was fully confident that they would do a beautiful job.

On that note, I went upstairs, closed the blinds, curled up in a comfy blanket and took a nap (still trying to shake this terrible head cold).  An hour later I woke, opened up my bedroom door and saw a sea of red, green, silver garland and wreaths everywhere while listening to their favorite holiday hits.  In that one hour, they proceeded to pack up Thanksgiving, pull out all the Christmas bins from the basement and decorate away.  My little elves took over the house and I couldn't be happier.

To thank them, the next day I tried out a new muffin experiment.  I still have an abundance of pantry items from the family visit and am determined to use everything up before I do another major grocery store venture.

These taste like Christmas morning to me... a little of that cinnamon/sugar coffee cake we all grew up with and a touch of chocolate that brings back those hot coco memories.

Christmas Muffins

1 package plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly mist a regular size (12 count) muffin pan with non-stick baking spray and set aside.

Put the light brown sugar and ground cinnamon in a bowl and stir well.  Set aside.

Put the yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, canola oil, water, eggs and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed for about 1 minute.  Stop and scrape the bowl sides.  Mix again on medium speed for another 2 minutes.  Pour the mini chocolate chips in the batter and fold in to get it fully mixed.

Pour approximately 1/3 cup of batter into each muffin tin until all 12 tins are full.  Spoon approximately 1 Tablespoon of the sugar/cinnamon mixture on top of each muffin.  Swirl the mixture into the batter with a toothpick so there is cinnamon/sugar in both the batter and on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15-18 minutes.

Makes 18-20 muffins.

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Two Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

I can now check one event off my list...Volleyball Season Banquet - done.  After two months of planning and preparation, it is now over and I can breathe a sigh of relief.  The next morning, I felt like I had been hit by a train... all the anticipation and work, had finally kicked my butt, but it was definitely well worth it.

Personalized Gift Bags
 for all 44 players and coaches.

Floral team centerpiece at buffet table.

Custom monogram lollipops, bubbles and mini volleyballs.

Lighted centerpieces for each table.

I needed a quick, easy breakfast for the weekend and these little beauties were perfect!  I cannot believe how easy they were and I really cannot believe (being the semi-homemade baker) that I had never heard of these two ingredient muffins.  If you go on Pinterest, you can find countless combination possibilities.

Two Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

1 (18.25 oz) pkg yellow cake mix
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.

In a large bowl mix together the cake mix and canned pumpkin until smooth.  Batter will be really thick.

Spoon equal amounts of batter into the prepared muffin cups.

** At this point, we sprinkled half of the muffins with mini chocolate chips and the other half with our family cinnamon/sugar blend...both additions were equally terrific.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.

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