CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE BATTER COOKIES

Oh my. You just never know what may happen when you find yourself standing in the middle of a room full of bored, crying kids and desperation strikes. Who's seen the scene from I Don't Know How She Does It where Sarah Jessica Parker bribes her kids with the classic "who wants to watch cartoons?!" line? In my house, it's "who wants to bake cookies?!" Anyway, that's what lead to trying this new recipe {from Sally's Baking Addiction}. I'm usually very unadventurous when it comes to cookie baking and I stick with the classic back-of-the-bag Tollhouse chocolate chip recipe. But this time we just so happened to have everything we needed to try something new.

I actually stuck to the directions to refrigerate the dough for at least two hours, and it was worth the wait. I was also kind of interested to see Sally's method for forming "tall" cookie balls {plus adding a few extra chocolate chips to the top of each ball}, something I've actually been doing for a while but had never seen anyone else mention! That's about my only semi-original baking tip.

Needless to say, the tears dried up real quick once the cookie factory was open for business...

I set the timer for exactly ten minutes and that was perfect. They look slightly underdone when they come out of the oven, but they're just right.

I think these are going to have to become a staple recipe, especially for birthdays!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/4 cup yellow or vanilla boxed cake mix (I used Betty Crocker's Butter Yellow)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips
  
• 1/2 cup sprinkles

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, mix the flour, cake mix, and baking soda. Set aside.

Cream the softened butter and both sugars together until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour, chocolate chips, and sprinkles and mix. Use your hands to knead it if the dough is powdery.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3-4 days. Don't skip this or the

cookies may bake too flat. You may also freeze the balls at this point for up to 3 months. {Then bake as directed adding 1 minute to the bake time without thawing.}

Once dough has been chilled, preheat the oven to 350F degrees.

Scoop rounded balls of the cold dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. Shape your cookie dough balls to be "taller" than they are wide, as pictured above.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until edges are slightly browned. Mine took 10 minutes exactly. The centers will still appear very soft, but the cookies will set as they cool.

Enjoy!