Lovin' From the Oven

Cake Mix Whoopie Pies

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Have you guys ever had the problem of deciding between a cookie and a cake? Well, why not have both? Whoopie pies are like a cake-cookie-sandwich. It’s made with cake batter, but in a form of a sandwich that’s easy to hold and eat. There are no forks, knives, or plates needed. Just pick up with your hands and chomp away!

Whoopie pies are even easier to make at home, thanks to Pillsbury’s Purely Simple line. I used their chocolate cake mix and buttercream frosting mix to make these delectable treats. Since I currently have birthdays on my brain (Ellie’s turning one in less than a month!! How is that possible?! I’m going to have a toddler in three weeks. WHAT.), I busted out some confetti sprinkles to decorate the edge of the frosting with.

These cake mix whoopie pies are fun to work with because you can easily change of the flavors, frosting, and decorations. You can make them themed for a sports game by simply adding some food coloring to the frosting to change the color. You can add the sprinkles on top of the whoopie pie prior to baking if you want the decorations on top of the pie instead of the side. You can try different cake mixes and even do dual combination whoopie pies, like half red velvet and half funfetti!

I love baking with Pillsbury’s Purely Simple line because there are no colors, preservatives, or artificial flavors. Even though Ellie is not quite a year old yet, I always let her taste a little bit of what I’m baking. To know that I’m not putting those preservatives or artificial flavors into her body makes me feel like I’m doing a little better as a mom. I’m doing one step at a time to help her make great choices when she grows up! I hope she’ll learn to love Pillsbury just as much as I do. Who knows, maybe this baking and tasting all of these wonderful desserts will become a tradition that Ellie will remember forever.

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Cake Mix Whoopie Pies

Ingredients

  • 1 box of Pillsbury™ Purely Simple® Chocolate Cake & Cupcake Mix
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
  • 1 package Pillsbury™ Purely Simple® Buttercream Frosting Mix (plus the ingredients on the package needed to make it)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line your baking sheets with silicone mats.
  2. In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix, eggs, water, and vegetable oil for three minutes.
  3. Use a small cookie scoop to drop batter onto the baking sheets. Leave at least an inch in between each scoop.
  4. Bake for 9 minutes. Let cool.
  5. Make the buttercream frosting mix as directed on the package.
  6. Turn a chocolate cake piece over, evenly spread the frosting on the bottom, and then put another cake piece on top (flat side down so both flat sides should be touching the frosting).
  7. Roll the sides in sprinkles, if desired. That's it!
https://lovintheoven.com/cake-mix-whoopie-pies/

This is a sponsored post, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Simply Chocolate Cupcakes

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Can I tell you how much better the holidays are when you have kids? Or in my case, a kid? I’m SO excited to dress Ellie up for her first Halloween, eat tons of food for her first Thanksgiving, and wrap presents to leave under the tree for her first Christmas! I know she’s not even one yet so she won’t remember any of these events, but I’m going to go all out anyway.

Let’s start with Halloween. I bought Ellie her costume before she was born (hellooooo 80% off-after-Halloween-sale! How could I resist?). She’s a little too young to help me in the kitchen right now, but I’m counting down the days until she can wear a mini apron and stand beside me watching cupcakes rise through the oven glass door. img_5053
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When that day comes, I’ll have Pillsbury’s Purely Simple mixes to help me out. With a toddler on hand, it’ll be difficult to bake things truly from scratch. I’ll need a little help to get me started and that’s where these mixes come in. It makes everything a little homemade, while giving me more time to spend with family.

Plus, there is so much you can do with these mixes! I love using them in the kitchen. For these simply chocolate cupcakes, I doctored up the normal recipe by adding a couple of my finishing touches. From there, I used Halloween candy to dress up the tops.

Kids will love choosing their favorite Halloween candy to put on top of their very own dessert. Cupcakes are the perfect size for tiny hands to hold and devour. I played it safe with chocolate and peanut butter based candies, but you can be adventurous with taffy, gummies, or even hard candies.
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I like using Pillsbury’s Purely Simple mixes because they’re free of preservatives and they don’t use any bleached flour. It’s easy to make them at home and it tastes like every ingredient was thoughtfully mixed in, one by one. img_5117

You can always use the recipe on the back of the box, but if you have a little extra time, you can use this recipe to make it even more personal.
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I made the buttercream exactly as listed on the package. Believe it or not, you only need to add butter and water to the mix. That’s it! Just two ingredients that are almost always readily available in your refrigerator.img_5135 img_5146 fullsizeoutput_3ee7

The result is this deliciously moist, fluffy, and tasteful cupcake. It took me less than half an hour total to make these cupcakes. Yes, that even includes the baking time! That’s faster than doing a load of laundry, going grocery shopping, or running the dishwasher.

Use up that leftover Halloween candy and turn it into gold!

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Simply Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 package Pillsbury Purely Simple Chocolate Cake Mix
  • 1 package (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 2 tbsp dark cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 cup half and half
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 package Pillsbury Purely Simple Buttercream Frosting Mix, prepared using the directions on the package

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 18 cupcake liners.
  2. In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together until smooth.
  3. Evenly distribute the batter into the 18 cupcake liners.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs.
  5. Wait until cool and then frost with the buttercream. Top with chopped candy.
https://lovintheoven.com/simply-chocolate-cupcakes/

You can check out more Pillsbury ideas here:

This is a sponsored post, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Blue Velvet Cake Mix Cookies

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It’s almost been two hours since Ellie has gone down for her morning nap, so I’m here updating the blog! She’s been taking longer morning naps recently and I’m alllllll about it. Now that she’s consistent with her bedtime, I finally have a little down time to bake in the evenings when I still have the energy.

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Even still, these are quick cookies to make because they’re from a box. Sometimes you just need a quick sweet treat, ya know? Plus, I love the fun colors from using blue velvet cake mix and the added large sprinkles.

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I love that the nights are finally starting to cool down in Southern California and we don’t have to sleep with the air conditioning on any more. Hallelujah for saving a little on our electric bill! We’ve pretty much been running it straight since June. With the end of summer, I’m ready for all of the fall flavors coming up. Holiday baking is just around the corner!

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Blue Velvet Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 box blue velvet cake mix (16.5 oz)
  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • sprinkles (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a mixer, cream together the butter and cake mix.
  3. Add in the eggs and vanilla until just combined.
  4. Scoop dough into rounded tablespoons and top with sprinkles (if using). Place at least two inches apart on baking sheet.
  5. Bake for 9-10 minutes.
https://lovintheoven.com/blue-velvet-cake-mix-cookies/

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