Vanilla Bean Pumpkin Cupcakes

last night was Big A's school's Country Fair and all the parents were asked to bake a treat for the cake walk. OF COURSE i took my job super seriously and was going to make THE BEST fall-themed treat there ever was. i'd been seeing this pumpkin cake floating around Pinterest and happened to have a canister of Vanilla Bean Cake mix in my pantry and some pumpkin puree so i thought i'd give it a go. i made a few alterations to the recipe and thought i'd share!

easy breezy!

i got my mix from Fresh & Easy, but i'm pretty sure Trader Joe's has a very similar mix. 

mix, spices, and butter.

add pumpkin puree. this smells sooooo good!

Cherish is always giving me a hard time about never eating cookie dough or batter. the whole raw egg things totally freaks me out. i snapped this pic JUST for her!! (eggless batter!!!) love you Cher-bear! after little a and i finished licking our paddles she had batter all over her face and i really wanted to snag a cute shot. so i summoned her over and and asked her to smile. "Sister! come here and give me your best Princess smile!... smile really big!!... say cheese!!!!!!!... please.... please smile for mommy.... please.... "

can you see it? that look of CRAZY SASS in her eyes!?!?! ugh. i love her. and her sassy ways. 

i used squares of parchment paper for cupcake papers and put a little leaf flag on each cupcake to give it more of an autumnal feel. i also topped each cupcake with Cream Cheese frosting. this recipe is sooooo tasty!

and since we had to put it in some sort of hideous covered disposable tray, instead of using one of my pretty cake pedestals, i threw in a piece of orange tissue paper, just because i couldn't handle looking at my pretty cupcakes against foil and plastic. *shudder*

i sampled one just to make sure they were tasty and they definitely were!!! although, i think i will take a break on all the pumpkin treats. i don't want to get sick of them before Thanksgiving even gets here! maybe i'll start making stuff with apples and pears. i'm already dreaming of a Pear Berry Crumble. mmmm. 

what yummy fall treats have you been making lately?

happy Saturday!,

tara