September hit, and I let a week go by without it.
Then I went grocery shopping and couldn’t find pumpkin.
I was distraught. And shocked.
September was in session, and pumpkin was nowhere to be found.
But this Saturday, that all changed! I found pumpkin on the shelves of my local Aldi and promptly bought four cans, you know, in case of a zombie apocalypse.
Also, PUMPKIN SEASON, Y’ALL <3 !
I knew I had to usher pumpkin season in with a bang. The first pumpkin post on the blog couldn’t be just another pumpkin recipe in the crowd; it had to be a standout.
So, summer is ending and fall is beginning, I realized I hadn’t had a s’more yet this summer. (Fail. I know.) But then I started thinking, hmmm….I usually put peanut butter on my s’mores. S’mores + peanut butter, s’mores + ________?, oh wait- s’mores + pumpkin!!! It had to work!
I mentally/frantically planned an experiment based on a solid previously tested pumpkin coffee cake from my girl Jessica.
And here is the vision, in flesh and blood. Or, in marshmallow and pumpkin, rather.
Let me give you a tour:
First off, there’s this crazy pumpkin/cake mix base.
Topped with a graham cracker STREUSEL.
A few crumbled Hershey’s bars.
And toasted marshmallows for good measure.
Also because s’mores do not exist without marshmallow.
Go for it!
- Pumpkin Coffee Cake:
- ⅓ cups milk
- 1 15-oz. can pureed pumpkin
- 2 large eggs
- 1 18-oz. box yellow cake mix
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- S’more Topping:
- 8 full graham cracker sheets (1 package in a typical box)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 6 tbsp melted butter
- 2 Hershey’s bars, crumbled
- 15-20 regular marshmallows, halved
- Prepare a 13×9 pan by spraying it with non-stick spray. I used butter-flavored.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- To make the pumpkin cake, mix together the milk, pumpkin, cake mix, eggs, vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and baking powder until just combined. Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth out with a spatula.
- To make the s’more topping, mix graham crackers, brown sugar, and melted butter in a food processor until you get coarse crumbs. Then, sprinkle this on top of the pumpkin cake. Next, sprinkle the crumbled Hershey’s bars, pressing them into the batter.
- Bake the cake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove it from the oven.
- Turn on broiler and give it a minute to heat up. Then broil until marshmallows are toasted and brown (less than 2 minutes).
- Serve warm (maybe even with ice cream!) or at room temperature.
- Also, you can take this route:
Inspired by Jessica by way of Tasty Kitchen.
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