Brownie Bites With A Surprise Ingredient To Make Them Moist

The minute I saw this recipe for Brownie Bites linked up at Anti-Procrastination Tuesday from Double The Decor, I knew I had to make them.  They looked moist and chocolaty, they were vegan, and they used ingredients that everyone is familiar with.

 What makes these babies so moist?  PUMPKIN!

I've had a can of pumpkin sitting around and using it made me particularly happy!  This recipe only used half a can, so I found another recipe that uses pumpkin, Banana Pumpkin Muffins, and made 2 types of muffins.

Todd and I had a little pep talk at the beginning of the week about money & how we needed to save some money for bill paying the next couple months.  Yeah, one of those fun talks.  Blech.

One of the ways I thought I could help with that is to have an 'eat from our pantry' week.  That is where I get creative and use as much food from our pantry/cupboards/freezer that I can.  I still had to buy the basics--bread, almond milk, peanut butter.  But, it is Thursday and I have only spent $50 on groceries this week and for us, that is a significant savings.

These muffins really helped in this endeavor.  They made a lot, they were filling and great for snacking.  They also used that can of pumpkin that had been sitting in my pantry for way to long.  

 Brownie Bites
{adapted Double The Decor via Chocolate-Covered Katie}

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup, our taste buds are used to less sweet around here. Could also use 1/2 cup maple syrup, according to Chocolate-Covered Katie)
1/2 cup of pumpkin
3 T oil (I used coconut oil)
2 T non-dairy milk (or dairy if you'd like)
11/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 330 degree and grease a mini-muffin pan.  Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine wet ingredients in a smaller bowl, then add wet to dry and mix well.  Scoop mixture into muffin pan and bake for about 10 minutes, but check with a toothpick first to make sure they are done.  Let cool and enjoy!