Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Perfect Party Cookies


When you find something you love, truly deeply love, it can become all consuming. I am an extremely passionate person and I tend to get obsessed with things that hold meaning to me. Blogging is truly my passion and has become something that is all consuming for me. Not in a bad way, I mean I still socialize and shower and stuff, but I spend a lot of time blogging/researching/cooking/etc. It's my release. As a child I loved to write and took great pleasure from writing. As I grew older I set that part of me aside because I knew I didn't want to write books, and I figured if you didn't write books then you weren't a writer. It was through this blog that my love for writing rekindled. I can be myself- I can write my quirky thoughts just as they appear in my brain, and I can release some of my creative energy.

Aside from the writing aspect of this blog there is the obvious part- the food. While I like to dream that you come here for my little paragraphs at the top, I know most people skip to the recipes- and that's ok too. I try my best to come up with new recipes, ultimately trying to make up a good portion of what I put on this blog. Baking has been an area where I did NOT get creative. Sure I'd throw some chocolate chips in a recipe that didn't call for them (I am wild like that...) but I didn't mess with the quantities of ingredients because baking is science. Yet, one night I literally bounced off the couch and decided I was going to make up my own cookie recipe. I just started tossing things together, hopping around my little 2 by 4 of a kitchen, and then proudly proclaimed to John that "this was going to make the prettiest garbage!" because I was sure they wouldn't turn out.

Well... well well well... they turned out. They are amazing! And I'm not just saying that because it's my first original cookie recipe. I'm saying that because they are so firm and sturdy, yet soft in the center. They are pretty and colorful, and chocolatey, and cake-battery, and just delectable. Also since I'm lazy I didn't feel like pulling out my Kitchen Aide mixer (those things are so heavy... I'm amazed I still have 10 toes) so I used my laziness to come up with a recipe I could mix by hand... and here it is. I really am proud of this recipe, perhaps more proud than any other here, because it's truly my own. I've made at least 100 original recipes on this blog, but this one took me out of my comfort zone and it worked out so nicely. If you try these PLEASE don't be shy- comment, and tell me how they go. I'm like a proud mama letting her baby ducklings out to the pond for the first time... and I'm hoping they float rather than sink. So make these, they are excellent, and then tell me how it went. K? K.

Source: Stephanie Cooks Original

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup yellow boxed cake mix
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup butter, melted, and slightly cooled
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
4 tbsp. colored sprinkles

Directions:
1- In a large bowl sift together the flour, cake mix, and baking soda. Set aside.
2- In a bowl, beat together the melted butter, egg yolk, egg, and vanilla until slightly creamy. Add the sugars and stir well.
3- Add the flour mixture, stir until well combined.
4- Stir in the chocolate chips and sprinkles.
5- Refrigerate for 30 minutes (the dough will be very runny).
6- Preheat oven to 350.
7- Once dough is chilled, scoop heaping tablespoons worth of dough onto greased cookie sheets. The dough should be slightly smaller than a golf ball. Keep dough cool until it goes in the oven.
8- Bake 12-15 minutes, until the edges are golden and the center sets.
9- Cool for 5 minutes on the sheet, then place on a cooling rack to cool.

37 comments:

  1. Congrats on your first original cookie recipe! That is so exciting. I am too chicken to step outside of the baking boundaries. I will definitely try these soon and let you know how they are! :)

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  2. I'll definitely be making these soon! And kudos to you on the original recipe, that's awesome!

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  3. You should enter them in the pilsbury bake off

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  4. You should enter these in the pilsbury bake off

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  5. I cannot wait to try these! My son loves cookies made with cake batter. They look awesome!

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  6. I cannot wait to try these! My son loves cookies made with cake batter. They look awesome!

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  7. Courtney- thanks for the tip! I just entered them!

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  8. I always have lunch with my students and bake them a treat when they reach their Reading Counts goals. These cookies would be perfect for that!

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  9. I LOVE the idea of using cake mix. YUM! I will definitely be making them. I'm sure they're fantastic, and my 3 yr old is going to love the way they look.

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  10. Congrats, you have every right to be proud of an original cookie recipe! I think I have a loney box of yellow cake mix in the pantry, might have to make these this weekend!

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  11. They look awesome, and so festive! I definetly want to try them :)

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  12. These look great! What are you going to call them?

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  13. I recently made Funfetti ones and they were yummy.

    http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/2011/02/26/ego-maniac-with-sprinkles/

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  14. I'm definitely going to have to try these! My sister loves all things "funfetti" and these remind me of her!

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  15. Oh, those look SO good! I'll definitely be making those soon. Congrats on your first original cookie recipe!

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  16. I can't wait to make these!

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  17. Yup, I'm adding these to my list!:)

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  18. Stephanie, these cookies are adorable! They look so wonderfully soft and delicious and fun! You have a beautiful blog and I’m so glad to have found it. I’m looking forward to exploring your recipes and seeing more! :)

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  19. Love these! OMG my boys will go nutso for the sprinkles. Congrats! Can't wait to make them

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  20. I made these tonight! They taste good AND look very festive, your baby ducklings are floating fine:-)

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  21. I love your imaginary mind on making an original cookie recipe of yours. I think I need to make my own recipe too but first I need to try your recipe since it really looks so yummy. LOL. I’m looking forward to make more awesome and original recipes.

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  22. Congrats for your first original recipe. I think I should make my own original recipe too. I just hope that I am creative like you. LOL. I will be making your recipe for my daughters birthday party this coming Thursday. Thanks for sharing.

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  23. AWESOME, seriously I'm so impressed...and if you check out my post today, you'll see why I really needed this recipe :) Could you really taste the cake mix in the cookies?

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  24. I made these last week and they were SO GOOD! But, mine spread out really thin and I don't care for thin cookies. So I made them again today and baked them into cookie bars. Perfect!! Thanks for a great recipe!

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  25. Ok, so I just made these and my dough was NOT runny at all. It was cookie dough consistency. Followed the recipe exactly. So I did not chill the dough. they baked up fine and taste great. Not sure what the difference was......

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  26. Just baked these. My dough was not runny at all. It was cookie dough consistency. Followed the recipe exactly. Didn't chill the dough since it was the right consistency already. Baked up fine and tasted great.

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  27. I made these again (and again) with gluten-free ingredients and they are SO GOOD! Check out the gluten-free version on my blog www.lifelovedinner.blogspot.com

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  28. These cookies were fabulous! I hate when chocolate chip cookies come out flat and crunchy. These were just as you said - a little crunchy on the outside and soft inside. I love that you can hand mix them. I hate bringing out the mixer just because I don't like washing it! These were super easy. I got about 2 1/2 dozen out of the recipe. Definitely keeping this to make again.. thanks!

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  29. made this today and they are SO good!!! i'm taking them to bible study tonight and i know the girls will love them!

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  30. I so love the cookie pics and I love the positive comments you get on your cookie recipes. I am part of a cookie swap group and every year I'm looking for new recipes to make. This year...I 'm using your "Perfect Party Cookies" recipe as my "Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies" Recipe. I'm so looking forward to making them.
    The ONLY thing I see that your recipes are missing is the Amount of cookies your recipes make.
    For instance, I'm making 16 dozen but I can never see how many dozen your cookie recipes are good for.
    It would be very helpful to me (and others like myself that do cookie swaps) if you could add that to your recipes. :)
    Thanks.
    I'll keep you posted as to how they come out and how much of a hit they are at the Cookie Swap. :)

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  31. These look delicious. I think I'm going to have to try them!

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  32. I just made these with my 4 y/o son, who loves to bake with me. They were really crumbly, and I couldn't figure out why, since you mentioned they would be runny. So I went back and re-read the recipe, and realized I misread 1 CUP of cake mix, instead of 1 BOX! Oops!! I guess that's what happens when I have a 4 y/o trying to get his hands on everything and my 1 y/o under my feet!! No worries, we baked them anyway and they turned out! Just a little more cake-like than cookie-like!! :) Lol! My son doesn't know the difference! He loves his with milk!

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  33. Congratulations on your first original recipe! What's funny is it's become so popular I had to follow a little bunny trail of bloggers to get to your original. First I saw it on Pinterest, then I saw it on another blog, then another then another, and each time the person attributed it to the blog where they found it rather than search of the original. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's kind of neat to find the person who decided to just throw all those things together and get fortuitous results.

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  34. Thank you so much for this recipe! It has become my go-to recipe when I have to make large amounts of cookies and they are always, always a hit :)

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  35. I just made these and they are really good! Thanks so much!!

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