It’s the Second Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! This year our lovely hostesses partnered with Cookies for Kid’s Cancer & OXO to make the season a little more special.
Every food blogger that signed up made a small donation to Cookies for Kid’s Cancer. And for every dollar that we donated OXO matched dollar for dollar!
If you weren’t able to participate in the fun this year be sure to keep an eye out for it next year. It’s a great event!
Gooey Butter Cookies… Have you seen these before?
The first time I tried a gooey butter cookie was at my parent’s house. It took me all of 3 bites to become completely addicted.
When I asked my Mom where she got these tasty new cookies, she told me the local butcher shop. Uh…okay? Next time I went in, I looked around and sure enough I found a few packs of cookies sitting amongst the random spice mixes and bread.
I liked these so much I knew I could never make them … that would be far too dangerous.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t make them for anyone else!
They are great for shipping to you friends around the holidays because [1] they stay super moist and chewy longer than most cookies [2] it’s easy to make any flavor!
That’s right. This recipe is so fun & easy. All you need is a box of cake mix, an 8 oz block of cream cheese, 1 stick of butter and an egg! You can substitute any flavor cake mix, and spice up the mixes with chocolate chips or extracts.
For my cookie swap matches I chose to make red velvet & chocolate.
GOOEY BUTTER COOKIES
Yield: 18 Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 – 8 oz block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 stick butter (8 tbsp), softened to room temperature
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla (or other) extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 – 18 oz box cake mix
- optional mix ins: chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, candy
- powdered sugar (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
- In your stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed together until fully combined – about 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Mix in the egg, extract and salt until combined. Scrape down the bowl.
- Add the cake mix & mix on medium low speed until no longer lumpy. Scrape down the bowl and cover the dough with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- When the dough is chilled, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone sheet.
- Roll the dough into balls (optional: dunk the dough balls in powdered sugar) and place 2 inches apart on a cookies sheet. Bake the cookies for 13-14 minutes but no longer! You want them to be soft in the middle.
- Cool to room temperature and dust with additional powdered sugar.
I was so excited when I received my cookies.. this year they came at the perfect time — right before finals week!
We got lemon buttermilk cookies with dried blueberries, homemade oreos and snickerdoodles. What did you get from your cookie swap senders?
