Creamy Pumpkin Soup

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1-2 celery stalks, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons brown sugar, packed
1 (14.5-ounce) can chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can 100% pure pumpkin
1 (12-ounce) can Evaporated Milk
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and sugar; cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until softened. Add broth, water, salt and pepper; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Stir in pumpkin, evaporated milk and cinnamon. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Transfer mixture to food processor or blender (in batches, if necessary); process until smooth. Return to saucepan. Serve warm.

Pumpkin Pie Cake Squares

1 (18.5 oz) box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 eggs, divided
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Oven at 350. Measure out one cup of the cake mix and set aside for later use. Lightly beat one egg, remaining cake mix, and the melted butter together. Press mixture into the bottom of a greased (and floured) 9x13" baking pan.
Lightly beat other 3 eggs, mix in pumpkin, both sugars, milk and cinnamon. Pour mixture over cake mix in the pan (this pumpkin mixture might be very liquidy. It will firm up upon cooking.)
Take reserved 1 cup cake mix and the softened butter and beat together until it forms soft crumbles. Sprinkle crumbles evenly over the pumpkin mixture in the pan. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Once cooled, cut into squares.

Pumpkin Apple Strussel Muffins

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour**
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups canned (pure) pumpkin
2 eggs
¼ cup veg oil
2 cups apples finely chopped**

¼ c sugar
2 T flour
½ t cinnamon
2 T butter

For muffins:
Oven at 350. Combine flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. In a separate bowl combine pumpkin, eggs, and oil. Stir into dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened. Stir in apples. Spoon batter into muffin cups (sprayed or lined w/ paper). Makes 24 muffins.

For streussel topping:
Combine sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over muffin batter. (About one teaspoon over sprinkled over each muffin)

Bake muffins w/ topping for 30-35 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes in pan then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

**Note-These muffins are quite nutty/chewy with all whole wheat flour. If you are more sensitive to that you may want to use half whole wheat flour and half regular flour.
**Note-I recommend shredding your apples, that way the peel is small enough that you can leave it on and not notice it in the muffins.