It was an angry letter from a loyal reader. Written in bold strokes with bright red ink, some of the sentences were underlined -- some twice.
Why hadn't I tried her recipe for chocolate cookies? Not only are they easy, she wrote, but they are a lot better than most of the recipes that appear in the newspaper.
Dumbfounded, I scanned the recipe. Chocolate cookies made with chocolate cake mix, chocolate chips, vegetable oil and eggs. Better? I didn't think so, but I decided to find out.
It took about eight minutes of preparation time and those beauties were in the oven. After about 10 minutes of baking, they were ready. Rich chocolate smells filled the kitchen as the large, cakelike cookies emerged from the oven. My daughters gobbled them up and gave them rave reviews.
With a new attitude, I began saving recipes for cookies made from cake and brownie mixes. Thinking of mixes as simply "flavored flour," I started turning out drop cookies, rolled cookies and bar cookies -- all based on box mixes.
Crisp Little Lemon Cookies, made with lemon (pudding-included) cake mix and crisp rice cereal, are delicious. For a decadent treat, use them as "dippers" for lemon curd, found in many gourmet specialty shops and some supermarkets in their import specialty sections.
Polka Dot Brownie Cookies, dark fudgy cookies laden with white chocolate chips, are outstanding. For added glamour, dip half of each cooled cookie in melted chocolate and place on waxed paper for chocolate to harden. Yum.
German Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are a soft cookie version of the German chocolate cake. They are somewhat fragile but delicious with ice cream or frozen yogurt.
Apricot Almond Squares, made with a yellow or white (pudding-included) cake mix, make a delicious, layered bar flavored with apricot preserves.
A combination of chocolate and peanut butter is an all-time favorite with many cookie lovers.Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies use a devil's food cake mix and peanut butter chips. For chocoholics, layer a little chocolate frosting between two cookies to make chocolate cookie sandwiches.
Reader's Easy
Chocolate Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
1 box devil's food cake mix
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Mix until blended. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 1/2 inches apart.
