Two Pumpkin Recipes

Yesterday was the first official day of autumn. The nasty hot droughty (is that a word?) days of summer are behind us. Today was actually a little cool and rainy so I felt compelled to make something to celebrate Fall's arrival. I had a big 30 oz can of pumpkin, so I turned it into two things:

• Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer
• Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer
For the past few years, we have found Pumpkin flavored coffee creamer at our local grocery. It's a seasonal item, so it would be a big deal when we were able to find it. I'd never even considered that flavored coffee creamer was something we could make at home. When I came across a recipe for Homemade Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer,  my mind was blown. It's a simple mixture of sweetened condensed milk, skim milk, a few tablespoons of pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. I threw it all in my Ninja blender. A few whirls later, and we had Pumpkin creamer.

I didn't measure it exactly, but I think the recipe makes about three good cups of creamer. I don't know how long this will stay good. I divided the recipe into two containers. One for home and one to take to work. Aren't my work people lucky? When was the last time someone you worked with brought in homemade flavored coffee creamer?

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
I never seem to use the same recipe twice, unless it's a true home run recipe. I'm always on the hunt for the "ultimate" muffin recipe. After an Internet search, I decided to try this recipe for Healthy Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins.

This recipe was for 12 muffins, so I made a double batch. After taking a few tablespoons out of the 30 oz can for the coffee creamer, I figured I had pretty close to the 2 1/2 cups of pumpkin I was going to need. Actually, I probably had closer to 3 cups. So I skipped the orange juice/water part of the recipe because I figured it was moist enough. I used all dried cranberries, no raisins, and I didn't use pecans. I don't have anything against pecans, I actually had them... somewhere. I keep them in my freezer and after a few minutes of digging around, I just decided to quit looking and forget about them. Which means I'll find them tomorrow when I don't need them. When I'm looking for something else.

These are pretty good. They are very moist and dense, not like your typical "cake-like" muffin. They are more like mini quick breads, if that makes sense. And I bet they'd be really good with pecans in them.

I'm taking half the batch to work tomorrow. My coworkers can have them along with their Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer. They are so lucky, don't you think? I'll be sure to tell them that tomorrow.

And another little surprise...
This morning I was at Target with my nieces and I came across a new candy that totally blew my mind. I don't know if you can handle this. Are you ready?

PUMPKIN SPICE HERSHEY KISSES!!

They're a limited edition flavor. Needless to say, the nieces and I were VERY excited. And I immediately bought a couple of bags. We also bought some Candy Corn flavored M&M's. I'm always intrigued by those limited edition flavors. I wouldn't eat them every day, but hey, they're limited. They might be gone tomorrow. Might as well seize the day!

And, for the record, I am NOT taking the candy into the office. I'm keeping those all for myself.