The Annual Cookie
Once upon a time there lived a beautiful, intelligent, sophisticated, enchanting… I’ve run out of adjectives. Anyway, there was this redheaded chick. She loved her husband but hated her oven. Hated it with a passion. In fact, she hated all ovens. But her husband loved chocolate gooey butter cookies. And chocolate gooey butter cookies happen to be baked in an oven. And so the redheaded chick pledged to bake the chocolate gooey butter cookies for her husband once a year. And they all lived happily ever after. The end.
Its true. I hate baking. I usually hate activities that I’m not good at. Like softball. And mosaic tiling. And baking. I’m just not good at the baking. Things either come out burnt to a crisp or they come out gooey and raw. I thought it was my oven, but then we moved and my cookies stayed the same and so I said to hell with it and I pretty much gave up baking altogether.
But on Chris’ birthday this week, I put aside my distaste for all things baked and dawned my frilly apron and set to work in the kitchen. You see, the only thing Chris loves more than me and Tina Fey are Paula Dean’s chocolate gooey butter cookies. And, of course, these cookies aren’t just a regular baking recipe. This recipe requires you to roll balls of chocolate goo and then dredge them in sticky powdered chocolate.
Oh, they look all pretty on the tray all covered in sugar and rolled into perfect little balls. But what you can’t see in this picture is that my hands are covered – c.o.v.e.r.e.d. – in chocolate goo and powdered sugar. I was so gooey I couldn’t even pick up my camera to take a picture and show you. But here’s what the inside of the chocolate bowl looked like:
Now imagine all that crap on your hands. If there’s anything I don’t like more than baking, its being dirty. But once a year, I roll up my sleeves and bite my tongue because I love my husband and he loves these cookies. And I have to admit. They are some pretty good lookin’ cookies.
What I like about them – aside from the chocolate and the cream cheese and the powdered sugar, of course – is that they are dark brown and crackly on purpose. This means if you burn them or under bake them, you can’t even tell! They look perfect every time! They are a bad baker’s best friend.
Well, until you take them off the cookie sheet and they fall into a mushy mess. That’s usually what happens to me first. I take them out of the oven and they are under baked and gooey.
So then I put them back in the oven and I burn them. I’ve got it down to a science. Of course, I could always use a timer. And I was planning on it. But my sous chef fell asleep.
I blame him.
So, this weekend, if you have some time, some chocolate cake mix, some cream cheese, and someone who deserves your blood, sweat, and tears, then by all means you should try these cookies. They make such a darn mess that you’ll vow to only make them once a year, too. But they are totally worth it.
Or, maybe Chris is totally worth it. Well, at least once a year he’s totally worth it.
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Paula Dean’s Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies
1 (8 oz) bricke of cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 box chocolate cake mix of your choosing
1 box powdered sugar
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. (KATIE’S TIP: Do the cake mix a little at a time or you will shoot powder cake mix all over your kitchen…or so I’ve heard…) Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up. Roll chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in powdered sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees. The cookies will remain soft and gooey. Cool completely and then sprinkle again with powdered sugar, if desired. (Who wouldn’t desire MORE powdered sugar?!?!)
Enjoy!
19 Comments
Andie
Those cookies look yummy! That Paula Dean loves giving us recipes that are good for any heart attack. She’s insane. One time she made a donut sandwich.. A donut as a sandwich who woulda thunk it. Anyway I’m gonna try my hand at those cookies. Thanks for the recipe!
Emily
I have a sudden urge for chocolate!!! 🙂
Jenn
Oh, these look so yummy – I am going to try them!!
Jill Smyth
Um, does it matter what temperature the oven is? Thanks lady!
Oops! 350 degrees, please. See? I can’t even TALK about baking without messing it up!!! – Katie
Sue V.
It’s nice to know there are other wives out there that struggle with the once a year “because I love you” baking thing. I love to bake cookies, but of course my husband’s favorite dessert is a complicated cake. It requires boiling, simmering, chilling, baking, cutting, whipping and altogether much more work than should be required. The worst part is I don’t even like the cake. But I love him, and thus every January you will find me making Twinkie Cake.
Looking forward to trying the cookies – Thanks!
Mindee@ourfrontdoor
I like to refer to PD’s recipes as “food porn.”
These look terrific. My 14 yo is on a baking kick so I’ll pass this along to her.
You might want to try baking with stoneware (I got mine through Pampered Chef). I make all my cookies on pizza stones and it’s darned hard to mess them up.
Hilary
Oh! Oh! My mom makes these at Christmas – the woman makes thirteen, yes, thirteen, different types of cookies for Christmas and they are all delish! Except her recipe is called Chocolate Crinkles. They are super awesome. But you’re right, they are time-consuming.
Maureen
Those look absolutely fantastic. If only I could afford to eat something with an ENTIRE STICK of butter in them. Oh well.
Heather
Mmmmm….. Gonna have to try those… They look amazing. Good for you! That’s love, makes you do things you hate ’cause you love someone so much… haha! ;o)
Jordan
We tend to have the opposite problem in this house: I love to bake, but my husband isn’t a huge fan of sweets. Out of his love for me he will eat pies, cookies, and cupcakes. But only a few, so I end up with MANY to eat. hmmm
Jilene aka NONA
You did a gret job some cookies are just sinfull! Great and easy but mess reciepe, Thanks Katie
Deanna Julich
Love your blog. The cookies look delicious!! Next time to keep them from being mushy messes as they cool, take them out of the oven when you normally would and let them cool for a minute or two on the cookie sheets. That helps them set just enough to pull them off in one peice! (I have to do this with my monster cookies). Now, I believe I have some baking to do….
Mindee@ourfrontdoor
Forgot to mention that if you spray your hands with Pam before you roll your cookies that you end up with a lot less of a mess.
Kathie
Ohh… good tip Mindee!
Katie… this looks like a fantastic recipe! I’ll have to make a batch… and then share with the neighbors. Lord knows we don’t need to have 2 dozen cookies in our house between the 2 of us!
Dandy
I’m all for anything that involves both a block of cream cheese and a whole stick of butter.
Jill
I just tried these…YUM!!! Just a tip: If you use a cookie scoop, it’s not nearly as messy. 🙂
Jes the Bes
OMG! I want some so bad. I have to try this recipe because those pictures make them look so good. I just want a big glass of milk and those cookies.
The cool weather of fall always makes me want to bake and be all domesticated and stuff.
jen
made these on friday – delicious! my husband and i both think they taste like the chocolate munchkins from dunkin. and that’s definitely a good thing! i used a melon baller to scoop out the batter – the one i have has a handle to squeeze that ejects the ball. i use it for all my cookies. thanks for the recipe – i’ll definitely be making these again!
Carrie T
So I made these cookies this weekend for the Christmas parties my hubby and I will be attending this week. In the recipe you failed to mention that I will not be able to pull my powdered sugar coated fingers away from the cookie container. I swear I walk by the kitchen and all of those cookies are calling my name. After a weekend of them sitting on my counter there is not enough left to give away so I will have to make more. Which means there will be more in my kitchen. Why oh why did I make them? lol Loved them Katie and they are truly amazing!!!!!!!!! With my mouth full of cookies I wish you a very Merry Christmas.