Devil’s Food Cake Cookies with Peanut Butter Filling

These were inspired by the milk chocolate cookies with peanut butter filling that I made over the summer. I wanted to make a softer and faster version of them for Christmas Eve. So I made the cookies with devil’s food cake mix and the same peanut butter filling from the original recipe.  I used a ziploc bag to pipe the filling on quickly. Very easy dessert recipe for anyone who is a fan of chocolate and peanut butter!

Ingredients

For the cookies:

1 box devil’s food cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

For the filling:

2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

4 tbsp confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix, oil, and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls, then gently flatten them in your palms. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.   Bake at 350 degrees for 6-7 minutes. To make the filling, beat together the butter and the peanut butter. Sift in the confectioners’ sugar; beat until fluffy. Spread the filling on the flat side of half of the cookies and sandwich with the remaining cookies.

Filling recipe from: Every Day With Rachael Ray

Cake Mix Sugar Cookies

While I love the homemade cookies I made last Christmas, I just didn’t have the time for them this year since we were hosting a Christmas Eve party which I prepared for while also taking care of Shania, Austin, and Landon. Everything else I made was from scratch so I had to take a short cut somewhere! These are so easy and delicious.

Cake Mix Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

1 box Pillsbury white cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

granulated sugar, sprinkles and/or frosting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix, oil, and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten to 1/4 thickness with the bottom of a glass dipped in flour. Sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles.  Or bake plain and top with frosting later. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are a light golden brown.

Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars

These are made using the recipe for lemon sugar cookies and just spread into a pan instead of rolled into balls for cookies. Just a faster way to get the same great taste and texture of the cookies.

These take about 12 minutes to bake in my oven at 350 degrees.  Instead of sprinkling these with sugar, I make a simple glaze using confectioner’s sugar and warm water. Slowly drizzle water into a few cups of sugar, mixing as you add it, until you get a nice glaze to drizzle over the bars while they are still warm.  Let set for a few minutes before cutting.  

Strawberry Cake and Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

I made a strawberry cake that started with white cake mix several years ago.  This year, Shania asked for a strawberry cake for her birthday and I realized I’d lost the recipe!  This Paula Deen recipe is very similar to the one I made before and was delicious! Do not buy a strawberry flavored cake mix. This is just as easy but so much better.

Strawberry Cake

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
• 1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin
• 1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• Strawberry cream cheese frosting, recipe follows
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
• 7 cups confectioners’ sugar
• Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

For the frosting:

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.

Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.

Funfetti Cookie Bars

Pillsbury’s Funfetti cake mix is my favorite mix, hands down. It’s one cake mix that I don’t have to add anything to. A few years ago, I discovered Funfetti cookies. The recipe has been on the side of the box for years. I don’t know what took me so long to try them! They are divine.

A couple months ago, I was craving something sweet at the lakehouse and there was a box of Funfetti mix there that I’d bought a while back and never used.  To be honest, these bars came about because I was too hungry and too lazy to make the cookies.  It takes a while to roll the dough into balls, flatten them out, etc.  So, I made the dough the same way and just spread it all on a cookie sheet. Within 15 minutes, I had my dessert! 

Whether you use Funfetti mix to make cake, cupcakes, cookies or bars, you just can’t go wrong. It will always make you happy! 🙂

Funfetti Cookie Bars

Ingredients

• 1 package Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix
• 1/3 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• flour
• Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Funfetti Vanilla Frosting

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine cake mix, oil and eggs until well moistened. Spread dough evenly onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle a little flour on  the top to make this easier. When making cookies, you do not need to grease the sheet but for cookie bars lightly spraying the pan helps, particularly around the edges. Bake for about 8-9 minutes. Watch carefully- they bake fast! Allow to cool before frosting. If you use sprinkles, add them immediately after frosting.

Chocolate Chip Cake Bars

Ingredients: 1 package yellow cake mix 2 eggs 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup butter, melted 1/4 cup water 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (omitted)

Directions: In a large mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Spread in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Yield: about 3-1/2 dozen.

From: Taste of Home

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes and Lemon Buttercream Icing

These cupcakes were kind of tart but I still liked them enough to make them again.  Next time, I will just use some water to dilute the lemonade.  This is another easy recipe that starts with a cake mix. 🙂

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 1/8 cup (9 oz) frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate, thawed*
White cake mix (yes, the boxed stuff)
3 egg whites
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Non-stick spray
Lemon Buttercream Icing

* For a less tart cupcake (and these babies do pack a punch), try reducing the amount of pink lemonade. 3/8 cup water and 3/4 cup pink lemonade will cut the tartness.

Directions
In a stand mixer, add the cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, and the pink lemonade concentrate. Mix on low for about 30 seconds and then increase to medium speed for 90 seconds (the batter will still be a bit lumpy; take care not to overmix so you don’t end up with dry cupcakes).

Spray each cupcake liner with the non-stick spray and spoon the batter into a prepared muffin pan (fill the cups between 2/3 and 3/4 full). Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick registers “done” in the center cupcake. Remove the pan from the oven and cook 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes and cool completely on a baking rack.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, make the icing and ice the cupcakes.

I used vanilla icing because I have a thing about having the same flavor cake and frosting- it’s usually too much for me. 🙂

But here is the recipe for Lemon Buttercream Icing:

3 cups + 3 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Red food color (to color icing and sugar, optional)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (optional)

Add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt, lemon juice, and food coloring (if using) to the stand mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment until combined. Turn the speed to med-high until the icing is fluffy and uniformly pink. Add the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a 2D tip and ice the cupcakes.

 

From: Confections of  a Foodie Bride

Lemon Sugar Cookies

These cookies are probably the easiest cookies I’ve ever made… and the most popular! I made Funfetti cookies (with Funfetti cake mix) one day and then later decided to try to make lemon cookies with cake mix, too. This is what I ended up with, based on the lemon cake that I make as well. You can’t really mess these up. So good! 

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 box Pillsbury Classic Yellow cake mix
• 1 package lemon instant pudding mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• granulated sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix and pudding mix.  Add oil, eggs, and extract; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten to 1/4 thickness with the bottom of a glass dipped in flour. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are a light golden brown.

Mmm…Ice cream cone cupcakes and funfetti cookies!

Ice cream cone cupcakes are very easy to make and so much fun to eat.  You make your cupcake batter as usual and put it in ice cream cones, filling them about 2/3 full.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or so.

Funfetti cookies are made with Pillsbury’s Funfetti cake mix. The recipe is on the side of the box.

Shania, Khalia and Michaela had a great time making and decorating them… and eating them! They got very excited over the toppings and sprinkles. I’d set out mini chocolate chips, mini peanut butter chips and a variety of sprinkles. I foolishly thought they would choose one topping for each cupcake. Before it was almost too late,  I realized they were putting everything on all of them! I had them stop and leave a few plain ones for the people who weren’t interested in a sugar overdose.

Baking with kids combines my two favorite things. 🙂

Cinnamon Roll Cake

I wanted to make cinnamon rolls but didn’t have the ingredients to make them.  I did have a box of cake mix in the pantry, so I made this instead. I love making a great dessert that starts with a cake mix.  It doesn’t get much easier.  This cake has become one of my favorite cakes to make- and eat!

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Ingredients

• yellow or white cake mix, prepared according to box directions
• 1 tablespoon meringue powder
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2-3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• few tablespoons warm water (I did not use an exact measurement)

Directions

Prepare cake mix according to box directions and add meringue powder. Pour half of the batter into a cake pan of your choice.  Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle half of the mixture over cake batter.  Add remaining batter and cover with remaining sugar and cinnamon.  Swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. To make the frosting, slowly add warm water to confectioner’s sugar until you get a smooth, thick glaze.  Spread over warm cake.