Ayeeee, it was so exciting to take the doggo out for a brisk walk yesterday and hear the familiar and oh-so-lovely sound of leaves crunching under our feet--all six of them. There's a chill in the air in the mornings, so much so that as I did a little inventory work and gazed out of the kitchen picture window into the yard this morning, I sort of wished I'd gone with hot coffee this morning rather than iced. This can only mean one thing. Its coming. FALL! The greatest season of all. And one of the best things about fall is arguably the fact that its a stepping stone to the holidays. And the holidays mean COOKIES. Cloud cookies!
So, you're going to need a super easy and bad ass cookie recipe to share with your friends and family this year. These are especially fun to make with the kiddos, because they love the part where you roll them in powdered sugar--at least, mine do. No rolling, no icing, no fuss. Truthfully...these are only semi-home made, but nobody would ever know it. They've become my signature cookie, and I do make a few pretty awesome variations of them (including one featuring rosemary and ricotta cheese for the more adventurous palate), and it all starts with a box of yellow cake mix.
Pretty much every mom in America has a box of yellow cake mix in their pantry, and I couldn't tell you why I bought it in the first place. It's totally not my style to make anything from a box, but after I experimented with this recipe, it's now a staple and I just consider it an ingredient at this point. Also, we need to put less pressure on ourselves to do everything from scratch and take a damn breath once in awhile. For that reason, but mostly the reason that these are freaking delicious and addicting and everyone who tries them (nicely) demands the recipe, I figure it's time I spill the sugar and pass it along to you.
Time to fire up the mixer and preheat to 350!
Ingredients ::
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 8oz cream cheese, softened
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 egg
- powdered sugar
- Preheat your oven to 350 F
- Beat the butter, cream cheese, and egg together until fluffy
- Add in the cake mix and lemon zest and mix until well incorporated
- Chill 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator
- Roll into balls (a bit smaller than a golf ball), then coat evenly in powdered sugar
- Space the dough balls about 3 inches apart on your baking sheet or cookie stone
- Bake 12-15 minutes
The dough will be a bit sticky when you form the balls--that's good. Coat your hands in powdered sugar before you work with it. The cookies will be very soft and floofy when they come off of the sheet, so transfer them carefully with a spatula to a cooling rack before shoving them into your mouth. They are truly amazing and I'd love to know what other variations you come up with! Try orange zest instead of lemon, maybe a few drops of lavender essential oil, or even some nuts or chopped dried fruit for a pop of color an pretty presentation!
Have fun trying not to eat all of them!
Best Wishes :: Warmest Regards,
Danielle
xo