I have cookies. Do you?

Right now I'm baking homemade oreos. I'm making chocolate fudge cake box cookies with homemade cream cheese frosting for the filling. If you want some, meet me tonight at the local LDS chapel at 6 p.m. for a social before the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. And I'm not entirely sure but I think you can't gain weight at a social full of Christmas goodies where you're just about to listen to the prophet speak. ;)

This recipe for Cake Box Cookies was originally posted February 21, 2007.

3 ingredients 3 steps – Perfect cookies every time!

I owe this wonderful tip to my mother-in-law. Sometime in my first few years of adulthood I lost the ability to bake cookies. Maybe it was the high altitude of where we were living, but my cookies started having issues after my babysitting years. When Danny and I were engaged my mil-to-be offered me a cookie from a plateful of spice cookies sitting on her table. They were the perfect chewy consistency and very tasty! I went on and on about how wonderful they were and could I PLEASE have the recipe. She looked at me like I was nuts and told me they were “Cake Box Cookies,” a term I had never heard before. Then she wrote down the recipe for me.

· One box of cake mix flavor of your choice
[Our family favorites: spice cake mix, cinnamon swirl cake mix, chocolate cake mix (not German chocolate) with chocolate chips mixed in, or lemon cake mix]

· 1 cube margarine or butter melted NOTE: That's equal to 1/2 cup.

· 1 egg (2 for cinnamon swirl cake mix) well beaten (use large or extra large eggs)

1. Mix ingredients well with electric mixer.
2. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
3. Bake 8-10 minutes in a preheated 350° Fahrenheit oven.

If you do the cinnamon swirl cake mix it comes with a cinnamon-seasoning packet. Use about 1/3 to half the packet in with the cake mix and use the rest to roll the cookie dough in, kinda like Snickerdoodles. These cinnamon swirl cake mixes are often on sale at our commissary on base for 75¢ to $1.00 a box. I keep a few in my pantry for last minute refreshment requests. They are always a hit! (and they freeze well too!) Fast, successful, non-flat cookies work for me!