The One with the Brownie/Cookie/Cake Thing

ME WANT COOKIE:

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a hankering for cookies.

I didn’t want to bake cookies from scratch and I didn’t want to rely on my friend Nestle Tollhouse (Yes, I need you to read it like Phoebe Buffay would).
After checking out so many (and I mean soooo many) recipes online I was like
Hey… Maybe I can bake cookies from a box of cake mix…
From all my research, I had surmised that, at a bare minimum, I needed to add 1-2 eggs & 1/4-1/2 cup of either oil or butter.
But what about after that?
I wanted these cookies to taste good.
Yes, I wanted the real deal… but not too sweet.
I read about adding instant pudding mix, but I was more interested in adding a cup of readymade pudding (mostly because it was already in my fridge). Yes, I know, as evidenced by the picture, it was sugar free, but beggar’s can’t be choosers.
So Anyways…
Being the Curious George I am, I thought to myself, ‘Challenge Accepted!
I realised that since every quantity of cake mix is different (aka the companies have starting giving people less bang for their buck… Don’t get me started on Corporate America…) I would have to wing the recipe to a certain degree.
I know… ‘Uh oh’.
Thus, the following section will be the story of all the things that went wrong when trying to attempt these ‘easy bake’ cookies. However, feel free to skip a section to just get the recipe and the materials needed.
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WHAT YOU SHOULD PROBABLY NOT DO:

So I started out dumping the cake mix into a large bowl. Then I dumped about 3/4 of the cup of pudding in. I picked up a whisk. This is where my trouble began. Use a wooden spoon ladies and gentleman… Trust me.
This caused me so much grief. I followed by adding a couple drops more than 1/4 cup of canola oil. And then I pre-whisked an egg and added it. I was having way too much trouble trying to transfer the dough back and forth from my tablespoon to my whisk. I even pulled at a prong of the whisk and had to reassemble it. Shhh don’t tell my mommy. Anyways I ended up resorting to wo-manhandling the dough with my bare hands. Don’t worry I washed them in between every step… You’re not the only germaphobe. Think atta gunding for roti making (English translation: kneading the dough).
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Next, I meant to add a teaspoon of vanilla and ended up dropping an indiscriminate amount into the bowl. Oh well…
Then, I added some chocolate chips and mixed.
Refrigerate for 20 min (to make easier to work with)
And that’s when I noticed the box with a cookie recipe on it… SAY WHAAAAAA?!?!?
It even tells you to use a wooden spoon. The recipe is different and has a different temperature recommendation than many of the sites online (which usually recommend 350 degrees). So I ended up settling for the 360. I know… Clever.
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After I pulled out the cold dough, I decided that I wanted to sprinkle some dark brown sugar on the cookies cause hey why not…
So I attempted making shapes.
First, I just scooped out globs covering my tablespoon and then started flattening them.
Then I decided… Nah, probably too big. Next, I made squares akin to the ‘ready to bake’ Nestle Tollhouse cookies.
Finally, I decided to scoop out half a tablespoon, roll them into little balls and flatten by making a pound sign with my fingers.
Luckily they weren’t sticky. Why?
Because they were refrigerated.
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Last but not least, I sprinkled some dark brown sugar on top and BAM!
Done Son!
Although I kinda ended up baking them too close together... Oops.
They smelled like brownies though…
And they tasted like them too. 🙂
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RECIPE: BOXED CAKE BROWNIES (shaped like cookies)

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Materials:

  • Box of cake mix (I used a chocolatey one that was 16.5 oz)
  • 1 Egg
  • 3/4 cup readymade pudding (I used a sugar free chocolate one made by Jello)
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tsp oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • Handful of semisweet chocolate chips
  • Handful of brown sugar
  • Large Bowl
  • Wooden Spoon
  • Tablespoon
  • 3 baking trays
  • Wax paper
  • Plastic wrap
  • Oven
  • Refrigerator

Directions:

  1. Add the egg, pudding, and vanilla extra to the large bowl keep stirring until properly mixed.
  2. Slowly add the cake mix to start creating dough. Don’t stop stirring until all the mix has become dough.
  3. Add the chocolate chips and mix well.
  4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes. This will ensure the dough is easier to work with.
  5. Preheat oven at 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare baking trays with sheets of wax paper to allow for easy clean up afterwards.
  6. Pull out the chilled dough. Scoop out about heaping half tablespoon, roll into a ball & flatten by imprinting a hashtag with two fingers. Repeat this process to create between 25-30 cookies.
  7. Make sure the cookies are evenly spaced so you don’t get smushy sides like in the picture above.
  8. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Among other things, bake time will depend on the altitude of your location and the strength of your oven. So just watch after the 8 minute mark, for nice brown edges.
  9. Once you remove the tray, let the boxed cake brownie/cookie thing cool for about a minute. And Voila! HAPPY MUNCHING!!! 🙂

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Revisiting Childhood Christmas Parties

When my boyfriend brought me loads of extra Dairy Milk for Christmas, I knew what had to be done…

CHOCOLATE COVERED OREOS.

Background: As a child, I would look forward to christmas parties at friends’ places, solely for the prospect of 1) getting to hang out with my friends 2) getting to do hands-on activities 3) eating loads of junk food.

On the rare occasion, that we got to melt chocolate, dip treats into them, and anxiously wait until they dried, it was a combination of all three. Basically, every child’s dream.

 

Present Day: For the past couple of days, I’ve been super excited at the idea of doing this at home all on my own…

When I was younger, I wouldn’t really be encouraged to do things in the kitchen, mostly because I was clumsy. I haven’t lost all my clumsy, but I think the consolation prize for my parents is that I can clean up messes on my own. In my mind, I’m a grown woman and I do what I want. 😉

So although many of you have probably accomplished this in your lives, it doesn’t hurt to share my experience doing it. Now does it?

 

What you need:

  • a sheet of wax paper
  • 4 oreos
  • Quarter of a chocolate bar (i.e. 8 squares from a 200g Dairy Milk)
  • a spoon
  • a bowl
  • a microwave

 

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Directions:

  • Break up the milk chocolate into the smallest pieces you can manage
  • Place chocolate in bowl
  • Microwave in 12-15 second spurts & mix well after each stint until chocolate is completely melted (I only had to do warm it up for a total of 45 seconds)
  • Drop your oreo in the bowl and swirl it around.
  • Flip it with the spoon.
  • Spoon chocolate to cover any sides that have been missed.
  • Take the fully chocolate-covered oreo and stick it on the sheet of wax paper.
  • After you have completed all of the covering, either be patient and wait for them to dry, or stick them in some tupperware and pop that in the fridge.
  • When the chocolate is solid, ENJOY!

 

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