Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Gooey Chocolate Butter Cookies

I promised you cookies, so I am going to give you one of the best cookie recipes in existence.  Inspired by Paula Deen (and her love of all things made with butter), I tried my oven mitt at the classic gooey butter cookie recipe.  Of course, everything is better with chocolate, which is why I chose to make Gooey Chocolate Butter Cookies.  Could this possibly sound any more delicious? You bet! Just add some chocolate chips into the mix!

Ingredients You Will Need:
8 Ounces of Cream Cheese (softened slightly)
1 Stick of Butter (slightly softened)
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 (18-ounce) Box Chocolate Cake Mix (the moist kind made with pudding works best)
2 Cups of Chocolate Chips
A Bowl of Granulated Sugar (about a cup will do). 

Directions:
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Step 2: Using an electric mixer and a large bowl, blend the cream cheese and butter until it is creamy, smooth, and well-blended. 

Step 3: Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat these in as well.

Step 4:  Open your box of cake mix and pour it into the creamy mixture.  Using the mixer again, beat in the cake mix to make a well-blended dough.  Finally, mix in your chocolate chips with a spatula. 

Step 5:  You can go about this one of two ways.  First, you could cover the bowl of dough and refrigerate it for about 2 hours so that it firms up and becomes easier to work with.  However, being impatient and short on time, I skipped this part and went straight to Step 6.

Step 6: Roll about a tablespoon of the chilled (or unchilled) dough into a ball.  Next, gently roll the ball around in your bowl of sugar, just enough so that it is completely coated in sugar. 

Step 7: Place each ball of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. 

Step 8: Bake for about 12 minutes.  When your cookies are done, they will remain a bit soft and gooey until they cool. 

Step 9: Once cooled, remove cookies with a spatula and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.  If they last that long!

Suggested Wine Pairing: Anthony Road’s Tony’s Red.  This luxurious red exudes a fruity essence of fresh berries, and will pair nicely with the cookies’ decadent chocolate flavors.