Add Some Pumpkin Puree To Your Boxed Cake Mix For A Deliciously Dense Twist

Autumn is the season of fuzzy sweaters and changing leaves. It's also the season of pumpkin-flavored goodies, such as the much-beloved pumpkin spice latte, tasty pumpkin cake bars, or your signature pumpkin pie.

Now, if you love the idea of these autumn-inspired goodies but don't want to spend ages slaving away in the kitchen, you're in luck. Rather than making labor-intensive treats, you can just add a bit of pumpkin puree to a pre-packaged cake mix. The result is a moist and delicious treat that has everyone's favorite fall flavors infused into it. Plus, it's extremely easy, saving you time and making for a great last-minute dessert to whip out at autumn gatherings.

While this trick is certainly simple, there are a couple of things to know if you want to try it. By knowing what other ingredients you need and how much pumpkin puree to add, you'll be on the right track to baking the perfect Fall dessert.

First things first — if you want to try this nifty trick, you'll need to choose a boxed cake mix. Many bakers love using spice cake mix since it already comes with ingredients such as cinnamon added to the dry batter to amplify the Fall flavors. However, feel free to get creative here. You can also use a chocolate or yellow mix, for example, as the base for your dessert.

The other ingredient you'll need for this trick is pumpkin puree. Remember, pumpkin puree is not the same as pumpkin pie filling, which has additional spices and sugar mixed in. In terms of how much to add, you can actually just use the boxed cake mix and a whole 15-ounce can of the puree to make your treat. Alternatively, some bakers choose to add 1 cup of it to a batter prepared according to the directions on the packaging.

Whichever route you take, you'll wind up with a deliciously moist dessert. Some report that the cake is fairly fluffy, while others feel it has a more dense, play-dough-like consistency. With this quick trick, however, you can try it out for yourself and form your own opinion!

You don't have to use this trick to make just cake. With a couple of variations, you can enjoy several other pumpkin treats as well. For starters, rather than baking the mixture in a cake tin, try splitting it into a muffin tray. If you want, add some chopped nuts or chocolate chips for delicious autumn muffins.

Another variation to try is to use the same batter of a boxed cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree to make pumpkin donuts. Similar to the muffin variation, just bake them in a donut tray. Then, when your treats come out of the oven, feel free to add a glaze to really ramp up their flavor.

Finally, you can also do yourself a favor and swap the cake mix for brownie mix. The result is a batch of ultra-easy, moist pumpkin brownies. So, this autumn, rather than spend hours behind the mixing bowl, use this quick trick to make delicious, moist, fall flavor-infused desserts without much hassle.