Cookies from cake mixes! Also: BISCOTTI, BARS, CUPS & POPS

[cabmom]

What should I look for when I'm in Canada to bring home?

Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, I'll have a look tomorrow when I'm out grocery shopping.

Marilynn

 

[Imzadi]

Bumping! The weather's getting cooler again. Kids are back in school. Bake sales are starting. It's okay to turn ovens back on & fill the house with the scent of fresh baked cookies. Yum!

I could go for a nice spice cake mix with diced apple cookie, or the butter pecan mix or a nice spice cake/pumpkin & walnut cookie. These would go great with a warm apple cider.

 

[pamlet]

Had to laugh... I just bought a spice cake mix yesterday... I was thinking about the same thing..

BUT ... it's not cooler here in South Texas... still in the low 90's..

 

[MazdaUK]

Its in the low 70s here and very humid - made the wrong decision going for sausages with bubble and squeak for dinner!

 

[Imzadi]

Had to laugh... I just bought a spice cake mix yesterday... I was thinking about the same thing..

BUT ... it's not cooler here in South Texas... still in the low 90's..

Hmmm, maybe you could do a variation on the, "It's so hot you can fry an egg on the road" experiment. Lay some foil on the hot, black asphalt, flatten out a few cookies & report back to us, how long it takes to create "Sunbaked Cookies."

It might become a new Southern fad.

 

[bear74]

Thanks these all sound wonderful.

 

[kellypooh]

I haven't tried any of the yummy sounding recipes from this thread yet -- just wanted to add one of my personal favorites (it always disappears quick at a pot luck!)....not for those watching their fat calories but.....

I got this recipe out of The Cake Mix Doctor cook book by Anne Byrn and have slightly modified it for my family's tastes.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

1 pkg. plain yellow cake mix
1 cup peanut butter (original recipe calls for smooth but I've used chunky and it's still good!)
1 stick butter, melted
2 large eggs
12 pkg. semisweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Set aside an ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan.

Place the cake mix, peanut butter, melted butter, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The mixture will be thick. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mixture for the topping. Press the remaining crust mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan so that it reaches all sides. Set aside.

For the filling, place the chocolate chips, condensed milk and 2 tablespoons butter in a medium sized heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir and cook until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is well combined. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour the chocolate mixture over the crust, and spread it evenly to the sides of the pan. Using your fingers, crumble the reserved crust and scatter it evenly over the chocolate.

Bake the cookies until they are light brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 30 min. Cut into bars. Store at room temp. for up to 3 days (good luck with that!), in the fridge for up to a week or freeze them, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.

 

[3NJDisneyDivas]

They all sound SO good.
I am homeroom Mother this year for my DD school, so these will all come in handy!
Thanks.
Lisa

 

[Imzadi]

Recipe snipped from another thread :

These get gobbled up quickly.

Thin Mints

1 box Devil's Food (chocolate) cake mix
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. water
1/2 cup baking cocoa (not hot cocoa mix)

1 pound chocolate coating or 1 pkg. chocolate chips
Mint flavoring

Combine eggs, cake mix, water, oil and cocoa. Mix well and let sit for 20 minutes. (this is a messy bunch of batter - sticky and thick - it's supposed to be like this). Make 1/2" balls, place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet, and press flat with a spoon that has been greased or sprayed. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.
Let the cookies cool. Melt the chocolate (I use a double boiler), add mint flavoring to your taste. Dip the cookies, let cool on waxed paper.

...I got a recipe out of The Cake Mix Doctor cook book by Anne Byrn...

I love The Cake Mix Doctor cook books. What's great about her recipes are that she's researched & tested what ingredients to add so that the "box-mix flavor" of cheap vanillin is covered up. Adding things to a chocolate cake mix such as pure vanilla extract or cinnamon or sour cream or extra cocoa can banish that boxy flavor.

Like the Thin Mints recipe above, she will add in extra cocoa powder to boost the chocolate flavor. While she found out adding too much additional cocoa powder to a cake mix makes for a dry cake. Another example: Adding a mashed banana makes a moister "mix" cake.

I don't have the exact amounts yet since the book isn't in front of me, but even adding those extra ingredients to the cake mixes, before all our cookie add-ins will boost the flavor of the cookie dough part. (Notice the Thin Mints recipe also added a couple of tablespoons of water to moisten up the cocoa powder added in.)

Here's a web excerpt where she talks about adapting cake mixes:
"The theory behind The Cake Mix Doctor is to use handy yet flavorful ingredients to enhance boxed cake mixes to make a dessert which has that "from scratch" taste. I was a from-scratch girl before this project. Although with three children I was using mixes for their school cakes and cupcakes. I tinkered with a white mix, adding whole eggs for more color and moisture. I substituted buttermilk in the chocolate cake mix recipes because I knew buttermilk and chocolate were great partners. I tell readers not to follow package directions literally but to use them as a framework for what is needed. For example, if the layer cake needs three eggs, 1 1/3 cups water and 1/3 cup oil, use three eggs and the 1/3 cup oil, but don't add water! Add orange juice to a yellow cake mix for fabulous orange cupcakes. Once you begin doctoring you'll become more confident, adding fruits for flavor and moistness, adding sour cream or yogurt for richness. Doctoring a cake is great fun, which is why this book has done so well. I tell food snobs that baking isn't about the recipe, it's about the moment. It's showing children how to bake, it's whipping up a fast cake even if you think you're too busy. And if I can keep one cook a day from buying a supermarket cake, then the Cake Mix Doctor is happy."

Here's the website for Cakemixdoctor.com and some of her recipes for cakes.
Also: Cake Mix Doctor's Top 10 Tips for Chocolate Cakes

 

[Trish Bessette]

This is the neatest site! I can't believe I've overlooked it all these years. Think I will try some this weekend.

 

[MazdaUK]

I want to get baking!!

 

[zippeedee]

This is a repost from the Budget Board. Oh, and I should have credited the Pillsbury box, this recipe was on the side. Thanks for all the great ideas.

1 box Pillsbury Pumpkin bread mix (you can use banana bread mix instead)
1/2 cup raisins (I used Craisins)
1/4 cup chopped crystalized ginger
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted

Mix it all together in the order listed, roll into 1 1/2" balls, mix 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl and roll each cookie in the cinnamon/sugar. Bake in a 350 oven for 12-15 minutes. They are really rich and yummy. It's supposed to make 20 cookies but I got a few more.

Patti

 

[jchick]

Does anyone have a recipe that would be good for my Brownie troop? Thanks

 

[saltnpepper]

Must Go bake !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Goodbye Computer
Hello happy mouth

 

[MazdaUK]

Does anyone have a recipe that would be good for my Brownie troop? Thanks

Someone must have a recipe for brownies from chocolate cake mix

 

[Diabolicdesire]

Thanks for the recipes. I got some great Ideas. I'm gonna make some different kinds using my left over halloween candy. Seems like an easy way to use it up.

 

[Imzadi]

Does anyone have a recipe that would be good for my Brownie troop? Thanks

Do you mean to make with the girls? How about putting out little bowls of a variety of items. (Kind of like the different toppings for sundaes.) Divide up the mix among ther gals. You can have each of them make a few of their own varieties. Just make sure there is more mix than the filler ingredients: walnuts, chips, etc. Then let the girls mix & match t taste each others cookies. They may come up with a few good assortments & a few yukky ones to laugh about.

(If you're allowing nuts, make sure none of the girls have a nut allergy.)

As Diabolicdesire just posted above, the Brownies may have extra leftover halloween candy they could bring in & use up.

 

[Karalynn]

subbing!!! I can't wait to try some of these! yummmm!!

 

[Kahana-ri]

How cool! What a great recipe. I always wanted to make homemade cookies, but I am not so great with lots of ingredients. I can't wait to try it.

 

[Kahana-ri]

Just made this out of yellow mix. Super easy, quick, and the cookies were way rich. DH loved them! This will work out great this holiday season. The lemon mix sounds good Thanks for sharing.