Pinterest Fail Kitchen

My friend Jess is having a Pinterest Test Kitchen Link Up once a month to motivate people to actually MAKE the things that they pin.

I knew I had to participate because I have pinned tons of things & have made.....ZERO.
Until this week that is.

So, when the weather was rainy & cold this week, it was the perfect opportunity for the girls and I to bake some things that I had pinned.
My girls love helping me in the kitchen and it is a perfect rainy day activity.
Side note: Kate can crack an egg better than I can.

I gave the girls a few choices of what we could make.
They decided on these pumpkin donuts from my desserts pinboard.

Here is what the picture on Pinterest looked like:
Don't they look delicious? I was SO excited to make them.
I was thinking it would be a perfect Fall snack to bring to the pumpkin patch.
Well, those hopes and dreams quickly faded as we made them.
Here is what ours looked like:
The VERDICT?
FAIL.
The dough was so thick, and it wouldn't pipe into circles (donuts) like the recipe said.
I decided to make them into donut holes.
They didn't turn out like donut holes, more like donut blobs.
And, they didn't taste like donut holes AT ALL. Not even close.
The flavor was decent, I mean they are dipped in butter & cinnamon sugar, so of course it tasted okay, but the texture was off. It was like a pumpkin cookie.
The recipe also says you can use a donut maker instead of the oven, but I don't have a donut maker & there is no way I am going to buy one.

Will I make these again?
NO.
Not worth the hassle (or the calories).
The recipe called for SO many ingredients, which are now wasted.
I was about to trash them, but my friend's 7 year old son was over today & he loved them.
So, that is the silver lining on the Donut Blobs.

I was bummed they didn't turn out, so we decided to make another recipe.
Since the girls picked the last one, I picked this one.
It is the "famous" 2 ingredient pumpkin muffins.
You take a box of cake mix & a can of pumpkin, mix it together & viola! You have muffins.
I was feeling hopeful about these, I mean I couldn't have TWO Pinterest Fails in one day...right?
The original "pin" called for yellow cake mix, but I decided to use Spice Cake mix so that it would have more flavor.
Our neighbors yellow lab passed away earlier that day, so I was going to bring them these pumpkin muffins as an attempt to cheer them up & to let them know we are thinking of them.
I was feeling optimistic about these muffins & even sprinkled some powdered sugar on the top of them. Don't they look pretty?
Good thing I tasted one before I brought them over because they were N-A-S-T-Y.
I had my girls try them and they both took one bite and said Ewww. Gross.
Needless to say, I did not bring them to my neighbors.
Imagine if I brought them nasty muffins the day their dog passed away.
Nothing like kicking you while you are down.
"Sorry your dog died, here are some nasty muffins"
I ditched the muffins & brought them over a bottle of wine instead :)

If a recipe only has 2 ingredients, then it really is "too good to be true".
There is a reason most things we make have more than 2 ingredients....because it needs more FLAVOR! I can't imagine what they would have tasted like if I hadn't used Spice Cake mix.
Even more flavor-less. And, they had a funky texture. No bueno.

The VERDICT?
ANOTHER FAIL.
(Better than the donut blobs, but still a Fail)

Will I make these again?
NEGATORY GHOST RIDER.

If I want pumpkin muffins, I will make my pumpkin bread recipe, but bake them as muffins.
I asked Kate if she wanted a muffin today & her response?
"Don't make me try those muffins again"

So, my first round of Pinterest Test Kitchen has become Pinterest FAIL Kitchen.
Here are the lessons I have learned:
1. Just because something on Pinterest looks pretty, doesn't mean it tastes good. Looks can be deceiving. Very, very deceiving.
2. If you decide to make something you have seen on Pinterest, go to the original website to where it was pinned & read the readers comments on the post. See if any of the comments say that they actually made the item & it was good. If there are a lot of comments that say, that LOOKS good, beware & refer to Lesson #1 above.

I will not be discouraged after my 2 Epic Pinterest Recipe Fails.
I am annoyed that I wasted 2 cans of precious pumpkin, but I won't let stop me from trying another Pinterest recipe!
I guess this just means I need to spend MORE time on Pinterest finding more recipes!

Have you had more Pinterest Fails or Successes?
Inquiring minds (me) want to know!
So far, I am 0 for 2.