Cake mixes are on sale at my grocery store. That’s a bad thing. Bad, bad, bad. Did I mention they were only 50 cents a box? Yeah. It’s not just bad, it’s dangerous. I bought six. Okay, I bought eight, but that does NOT make me a cake mix hoarder. Funny thing is, I’m not really a cake eater. In an effort to rationalize the irrational, I was thinking the kids love cupcakes, and I could bake them when they come to visit or vice versa. But then I started doing the math. Each box makes at least 20 cupcakes. I have 8 boxes. There’s a good chance that 160 cupcakes might just be too much for two small children. Way too much.
So now I have eight cake mixes that I got for the low, low price of 50 cents a box and I have to think of something to do with them. That’s when a light went off and I remembered seeing recipes for cake mix cookies on the internet. “I like a cookie!” (Name that movie…if you have young children and enjoy animated films.) With a little quick research, I found that you can covert a cake mix into cookies with a few simple ingredients. And that’s exactly what I done did.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1 chocolate fudge cake mix, 18.25 ounce box
3 large eggs
1/2 stick of unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (not pictured)
1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup pecan pieces
Pre-heat your oven to 350F. In a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract. This will start out very dry and take several minutes of hand mixing to get it to come together. I recommend using a heavy-duty wooden spoon, because this dough will be very thick. Once you’ve got it mixed together, stir in the chocolate chips, marshmallows and pecans. Using a cookie scoop or your hands, place golf-ball size dough balls onto cookie sheets lined with silicone baking mats or lightly sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake at 350F for 14-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on the cookie sheets for at least 20 minutes. Why? Because those marshmallows are going to be melted, gooey little napalm bombs and cooling them completely on the cookie sheets will allow you to remove them more easily. Would you like one? I’m happy to share. I’ve got a lot more cake mix where this one came from.
This recipe makes approximately 30 cookies. One last suggestion – make sure you have milk in the fridge before you mix these puppies up. Or a cup of coffee. Or a Slim-Fast.
RECIPE UPDATE: A reader on the Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen site tried this recipe and said hers came out too dry on the outside. I’m guessing her oven may get hotter than mine, since my batch came out soft and chewy. If your oven runs hot, you may want to reduce your baking time to 11-12 minutes instead of the 14 recommended. These don’t brown, so it’s hard to tell if they’re done by looking. The other option is to touch test them. If they’re relatively firm and dry on the outside, take them out of the oven. If they’re still sticky to the touch or too soft, leave them in a little longer. I appreciate your feedback!
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