Cake Box Cookies

Here's how I know I've found a good recipe. It shows up on my blog three times in the past five months. It all started with the Fudgy Crinkles back in March, then my red velvet variation for our anniversary in May, and most recently the varieties I made for my mom's jewelry party. After making the recipe so many times, I figured that it was time I made some comments and reviews on it, because I've definitely noticed some differences from time to time.

The biggest difference? The type of cake mix used. Not the flavor of cake mix being used, but rather the brand of cake mix (although I suppose that in order to do a true comparison, I should do the same flavor in different brands).

Notice how much flatter the lemon, and especially the red velvet, are compared to the chocolate? They all came out of the oven at roughly the same thickness, but only the chocolate didn't flatten significantly upon cooling. The difference? The chocolate is made from Pillsbury, while the other two are Duncan Hines. And not only did the cookies cool differently, but the dough was also significantly different. The use of my mixer may have impacted this slightly, but I found that the red velvet and lemon dough were far too sticky to be rolled into balls like the recipe calls for. Instead, I ended up loading the dough into my icing decorator and pressing out the dough like they were spritz cookies (although I did shape them like a ball and not flat, so I don't think that's why they flattened so much with cooling). All three of those varieties were made with half a cup of butter, but I've also made them with half a cup of oil before. If my memory serves me correctly, the ones made with oil were a little bit more moist, while the ones with butter definitely had a little butter flavor.

Truthfully, despite these differences, I haven't had a bad batch of them yet. They are definitely worth making, and they are easily customizable to any occasion. And just as a reminder, here is the basic recipe!

1 box cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter or oil

Mix all ingredients together. Roll into balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350* for 8-10 minutes, although this may vary depending on the size of the cookie. The cookies should still seem a little doughy when they come out of the oven. Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.