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Cake Mix Cookies and a Bonus Cake Recipe

When I worked, I would often bring cookies or a cake into the office and I started to get a reputation as an amazing baker.  It was kind of embarrassing, actually, because all of my most popular recipes use boxed cake mix – and sometimes little else.  It’s a good thing there is no official Persephone office, because I think I would be shamed off of a staff that seems to have a disproportionately large number of accomplished cooks and bakers.  But for those of you who want to impress your friends and family with your mad baking skills, looks no further than me and Betty Crocker.

First up is a recipe that I thought my grandmother invented, and is about as easy as making the cake straight from the box. It turns out she didn’t, as the recipe is readily available on the Internet. I copied this one from Cooks.Com and it was the same one my grandmother used. We call them Lemon Whippersnaps, although I think people also call them other names. I prefer them soft, so I usually bake them for 10-12 minutes.

LEMON WHIPPERSNAPPERS
1 (18 1/2 oz.) package lemon cake mix
2 Cups Cool Whip
1 egg
1/2 Cup powdered sugar.

Grease cookie sheets. Combine cake mix, Cool Whip, and egg in a large bowl. Stir until well mixed. Drop by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar and roll to coat. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet and cool. Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

Plate of lemon cookies dusted with powdered sugar

This next one is one of my favorites, and I found it after searching furiously for a recipe to make the Chocolate Marshmallow cookies I loved (I can’t emphasize enough how much I loved these cookies) when I was a kid.  These ones come pretty close to the original.  Beware though, I also call them crack cookies because about five minutes after I am done with one I NEED another one. I found this recipe a few years ago on I Blog About Nothing.

CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW COOKIES
preheat oven to 350°
1 box chocolate cake mix (Recommended: devil’s food or triple chocolate chip)
2 Tbsp butter
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
18 to 20 large marshmallows

Chocolate frosting of your choice (I usually use a canned milk chocolate frosting)

In a mixing bowl cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add the cake mix, eggs and vanilla. Mix until well mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips and drop the cookie dough by spoonful onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 9 to 10 minutes. While the cookies are baking cut each marshmallow in half with a pair of clean scissors or kitchen shears. Remove the cookies from the oven and press one half of a marshmallow sticky side down (the sticky side will be where you cut through the marshmallow) on each cookie. Place the pan of cookies back in the oven for one minute. Remove the cookies again and use a spoon to flatten and spread the melted marshmallow across each cookie (this works best if you lightly butter the back of the spoon, re-buttering it as needed to prevent sticking). Allow the cookies to cool and frost with the chocolate frosting of your choice.
This last recipe was one that a friend used to use to impress people, and now I use it to impress people! It couldn’t be easier, but it makes people think you are an amazing baker.  This is a very rich cake, and I like to serve it with some whipped cream or Cool Whip. I found the recipe on Cooks.Com.
KAHLUA CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 (18.5 oz.) pkg. devil’s food cake mix
4 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1 c. kahlua or coffee liqueur
1 (6 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 c. vegetable oil
In large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, sour cream, Kahlua and vegetable oil. Using electric mixer, beat at low speed to blend, then increase speed and beat 3-5 minutes at fast speed. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into greased and floured 10-inch bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack, 30 minutes. Cool completely on rack.
Photo credit: Just One More Bite

6 replies on “Cake Mix Cookies and a Bonus Cake Recipe”

I’m about to share a long-held family recipe with you all: the easiest cookie bars on the planet.
1 cake mix
2 large eggs
1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup quick oats
vanilla to taste (um… in my family this means glug, glug, swig ifyouknowwhati’msayin)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1-2 cups of whatever mix-ins suit the cake mix you’ve chosen

Mix it all together, spread it in a cake pan, bake it at 375 for 20 minutes.

That’s it. Sour cream white mix plus chocolate chips makes fabulous chocolate chip cookie bars, spice cake mix with Christmas’ leftover spiced pecans is a favorite New Years’ snack, one of my favorites is lemon cake mix with sliced almonds sprinkled on top instead of mixed in. My sister does chocolate cake mix, chocolate chips, leaves out the oatmeal, and calls them brownies.

Wow, so this might be the most fortuitous post ever for me. My boyfriend was just begging me to find a recipe for dark chocolate marshmallow cookies this afternoon, and that sounds exactly like the recipe he was describing for me. Thanks for saving me a lot of time hunting around! :)

Ha! I love this because I do the same thing.
You know what makes a really delicious cookie? Brownie mix! They’re crisp and chewy on the outside, fudgy on the inside- it’s all the best of a brownie, but in cookie form (and people CANNOT believe that they taste EXACTLY like a brownie!)
The recipe is a little loosey-goosey, but it goes something like this:
One box brownie mix (any kind is fine, if it comes with a chocolate syrup packet, add it)
One stick of butter, softened.
One egg.
Mix.
You *might* need to add a tablespoon or two of water (or chocolate syrup!) to get everything damp (you don’t want to see any dry powder, but it should be pretty dry and grainy looking).
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.
The tops should look like brownies- cracked and split open, but still moist.
You have to let them cool a bit before you try to get them off of the cookie sheet, or else they’ll fall apart.
Enjoy by the boatload. Especially in the form of an ice cream sandwich.

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