Hello hangry cookie lovers! How are you? How is your day going? Mine’s going snowy here in NYC, but it gives me the time to FINALLY share my easier-than-pie and low-cal cookie recipe I made for the Super Bowl a couple weeks ago. They are so good, I purchased the ingredients yesterday when I knew the snow was looming to make them again today should we be shut in. And we are. So I’m preeettttyyy glad I made that all important decision yesterday. Maybe the most important decision of the day.  

So. On Super Bowl Sunday, my fiance, Scott, and I had plans to go to our friends Lorean and Mike’s apartment for a party. Yes, you guessed it! A Super Bowl Party! We were instructed to bring something delicious. I noticed in the party email chain that no one had offered to bring something sweet so I took it upon myself to do so. I told Scott that I was going to be making my “healthy cookies” for the party and I all I got in response was a groan. “Uggghhhh, no one is going to eat those! Can’t you just make normal cookies?” No, Scott. I cannot. I cannot feel good about making cookies laden with butter, oil, and fattiness. I do love myself a fatty cookie every once in a while but most of the time, I just need to pretend I’m not eating something bad for me so I can eat more of it. Ya dig? He still wasn’t convinced that anyone would eat them but I was makin’ ’em! Hell or high water, I would make these easy, healthier cookies and people would eat them! And if not, I would tuck my tail between my legs and Scott would win the “I told you so” award. But I WOULD MAKE THEM (stay tuned for what unraveled with these cookies at the party–It’s a cookie doozy).   The recipe is so easy that it’s basically like you’re doing nothing. You’re basically sitting on the couch watching your favorite made-for-tv movie and pretending you’re baking. You’re painting your nails while browsing on Pinterest–pretending you’re baking. You’re getting a massage. You’re sleeping. You get the idea. There are five steps to this recipe, not unlike the five steps featured in New Kids on the Block’s “Step by Step” song. RROOOOCCCCKKK! Please do enjoy.

The only ingredients you need to make these Pumpkin Delights are Spice Cake Mix, 1 can of pumpkin, and semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional). Follow the New Kid’s Steps below.

STEP ONE! (We can Have Lot’s of Fun): Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

STEP TWO! (There’s so much we can do! (With cake mix!)) 

Open a bag of Spice Cake mix and put it in a large mixing bowl. 

STEP THREE! (IT’S just you and me! (Pumpkin!))

Take a whole can of pumpkin and empty it into the dry spice mix. It will be sticky and gooey. Deal with it! Kidding. Don’t feel like you have to add any water, even if you feel weird about it. It’s supposed to be like that.

STEP FOUR! (I can give you mooorreee ([optional]chocolate chips!))

You can throw some chocolate chips in the mix if you’re a chocolate lover like me but if you aren’t and you also want to save some calories, you are welcome to opt out (side note: they are much tastier with the chocolate chips).

Then ball up the mix into bite sized pieces and put them on a cookie sheet. Note that the cookies don’t really spread out so you can make them kind of larger than you would normal cookies. Bake for about 15 minutes. 

STEP FIVE! (Don’t you know the time has arrived! (To eat these cookies!)) 

Here they are in all of their glory. They are cakey and delicious.

Now, I know you are DYING to know what happened at the Super Bowl party. What happened was, Scott, instead of eating my cookies, was eating a large slice of Humble Pie. Oh yes. Dishing. It. Up. That’s because all of my cookies were gone at the end of the night. GONE. Raved about. Recipe asked for. Eaten up like the little clouds of goodness that they are. Moral of the story, healthier can be better. We don’t need to eat greasy to eat happy. Am I right, hangry friends? Why, yes I am. Enjoy these cookies and remember that everyone will love them at your next bash and you can pretend you spent hours slaving to make these tasty treats. Have fun, you crazy [NEW] kids!