Mini pumpkin donuts

Posted on by Victoria

It’s September and although I’m not ready for Fall (since summer doesn’t officially end until the 21st) I am anxious for the flavors of the season. Dunkin Donuts has been calling to me with their pumpkin donuts and pumpkin munchkins, but thankfully I have a slightly healthier version I can make at home.

I adapted a pumpkin spice cake recipe from an old Hungry Girl recipe that also lends itself well to muffins. It’s very moist and dense, so I wanted to try it out with my new mini donut pan. The ingredients are pictured above. One box Duncan Hines spice cake, one 15 oz can of pumpkin.

The batter is pretty dense. There’s also no eggs which makes it edible. Just throwing that out there. Go ahead. Lick the spoon. I won’t judge you.

Since the donuts are tiny, it only took about 6-7 minutes for each batch to cook at 350°.

I forgot to count, a few broke and ended up in my mouth, but I’d estimate I got at least 7 dozen mini donuts. That makes 25 calories and less than half a gram per of fat per donut vs a DD pumpkin munchkin which has 70 calories and 4 grams of fat. Not a bad swap at all!

Recipe:

1 box Duncan Hines Spice Cake

1 15oz can of pumpkin.

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix cake mix and pumpkin until thoroughly mixed. Batter will be thick. Place batter into a large gallon bag and snip the corner. Spray or grease pan. Carefully pipe mixture into mini donut pan and smooth over. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until done. Cool and set aside. Store in sealed container or bag up to a week.

Bahama Burst Grapes

Posted on by Victoria

 

20180717_2046224214132422434270234.jpgI took a trip out to Sam’s Club this week to pick up a rotisserie chicken and a carton of strawberries. I scoped out produce to see if Cotton Candy grapes were still in stock. Previously, the sweet green globes were only available in the late summer from Grapery, but at least one other company has started producing them as well.

While Cotton Candy grapes were temporarily gone, they were replaced with Bahama Burst grapes, a black seedless grape variant. Aside from my carnival-reminiscent fruit spheres, black grapes are my favorite, leaps and bounds over red and green. My interest was piqued and it was all aboard my cart with a one-way ticket to a “Juicy Taste of Paradise.”

I was anticipating each grape to explode my mouth with flavors of a tropical smoothie, and inspire daydreams of hammocks, beaches, and tanned, sleek cabana boys. I was mentally reeling at the possibilities of more flavored grapes. Grape aisles in the grocery with flavor selections that put Pop-Tarts and Oreos to shame. Or heck, why not Oreo flavored grapes? Oreos flavored like grapes that are flavored like Cotton Candy?

The grapes did have the juicy factor correct, but I wasn’t getting the “tropical” feel I was hoping from a grape called Bahama Burst that was boasting to take me to paradise. It was a reasonably good grape, not having too thick of a skin and a decent sweetness factor. It really did well in fruit salad.

Maybe one day I can get all the flavors of fruit salad with mixed flavored grapes alone.

Oooh. Fruit salad flavored grapes!