Sugariest Sugary Cake Cookies

Actually, the title is somewhat misleading. The cookies aren’t sugar cookies per se, but oatmeal cinnamon laced with vanilla.

I was searching around for something to bake with ingredients I already had and stumbled upon a box of white cake mix and the internet. I found a basic recipe for cookies made with cake mix and (as usual) added my own flair.

The original recipe:

1 18 oz. box of dry cake mix
1 egg
1/2 c. butter, softened

Mix ingredients together, adding water (sparingly!) to yield a sticky dough. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350deg for 12-15min.

My additions:

1.5 c. quick cooking oatmeal
4 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. cinnamon
pecans, halved

Fold in oatmeal, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Drop as before onto cookie sheet but before baking press one pecan half into the center of each dough ball.

For obvious reasons, my dough was thicker with the oatmeal added, making these more of a shaped cookie for me. My additions yielded incredibly sweet, thick cookies with a crunchy outer crust and tender insides.

I personally felt that these cookies were excessively sweet, a taste likely due (at least in part) to the added vanilla. The pecans were mostly for looks and out of laziness. I didn’t really feel like chopping pecans! =]

I enjoy baking, so I had picked up vanilla and cinnamon months back on sale. They’re off-brand and less potent than usual, so my amounts may be overwhelming with higher quality ingredients. The oatmeal was bought for a similar reason; I hate eating straight oatmeal but I love oatmeal cookies. Finally, I’m incredibly lucky to be blessed with a family in rural Mississippi. The pecans come from my grandmother, who picks and shells millions of the nuts from a neighbor’s trees -for free!

A final caveat: I was literally rummaging around cabinets and shakering into the bowl while making these. My additions are definitely inexact measurements!