Holiday Spice and Everything Nice ~ Cookies

Cookies in Cookies?  YES!!!

Tis the season for the Ruby's Musings month of sweets. Well obviously by now you have figured out that I am a bit behind with all that. I did not line up a bunch of retro recipes, I have not been up to baking non stop all day, no, truthfully I just have been a bit slow with much of anything on the holiday front, but I will not go into a list of the why's with all that, let's talk cookies! You all KNOW, I have a sweet tooth, I could eat cookies and baked goods all day , and I love it when the house smells like warm baked goods...plus when it is cold the oven helps warm things up. So when my middle daughter, Rebecca asked for my help, (which then became me doing it for her  and I did offer) , with baking cookies for her future in-laws cookie exchange party , I gladly said 'yes, of course!'.  

She told me that she had a very easy recipe and all the ingredients, she just does not have a big kitchen and her oven has been busy baking our jewelry for Housewife Chic by Ruby . She told me that the recipe was from Pinterest and was basically a dump cookie using cake mix and wait for it.... OREOS! A sort of cookies and cream flavor profile.  It contained cream cheese, a full stick of butter, chocolate and white chocolate chips as well, how could you go wrong? The cookies were indeed very easy to make, and tho the recipe called for folding in the oreos and chips, which is hard for me, and then scooping chilled dough, something that is also hard for me, lucky for me my stand mixer with a bread hook helped with part of it and hubby did the latter. The results MMMMMMMM SOOOOOO GOOOD! So then when knowing I was in a pinch for a holiday sweet and treat post I decided to do my own version , hence this post/recipe! So what is my version? Well, I substituted spice cake mix for the white cake, instead of chocolate Oreos I bought the cinnamon Oreos , and I replaced the chocolate chips for cinnamon chips and the final touch I shaved in some nutmeg. The result was originally supposed to be like a egg nog in cookie form, but the use of the spice cake mix made it more like a gingerbread cookie , YET, not. No matter what , and aside from hubby saying next time "spice it up even more", they were VERY tasty!  So you want the recipe??  Ohhh ok..... 

Holiday Spice Cookies

pre- heat oven to 350 degrees 

1 spice cake mix 

8 tablespoons of melted butter or margarine

1 egg room temp.

1 teaspoon of vanilla 

fresh nutmeg ( and other baking spices if you like) to taste

4 ounces of cream cheese, softened 

2 cups of cinnamon Oreos , crushed 

(I put mine in a bag and beat them up with a rolling pin)

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup cinnamon chips

makes 24-36 cookies* 

Combine cake mix, butter, egg vanilla and cream cheese , 

beat until a soft dough forms.  Stir in cookies and chips by hand

( tho I used a bread hook on my mixer and slowly blended), Refrigerate

dough 30 minutes to one hour.  

Then either with your hands or with a small cookie scoop 

( and we actually used a medium size cookie scoop) , roll/scoop into 24 balls ( we got 28).

 Place on baking sheet ( we used parchment paper), and bake for 10 minutes 

(* 9 minutes if you got 36) , DO NOT OVER BAKE!!  The cookies will seem underdone,

but they will continue to bake/set up as they cool.  Let the cookies rest for 2-3 minutes, and

then with the back side of a flat spatula, flatten cookies out. Transfer cookies to wire racks 

( we, because we used parchment paper, just slid the cookies, paper and all to the counter for

another two minutes before transferring to the racks.), and let the cookies fully cool and set up. 

Store in a sealed container, with layers of parchment between layers.  

All the goodies...many if like me, I often have most on hand. 

Get your aggression out on the cookies LOL 

Stage One 

Stage Two

Dough ready to be chilled 

Using a medium scoop ( but you can use your hands)
to keep them as uniform as possible and
parchment paper makes for easy clean up. 

After the 10 minute baking time and and 2-3 minute cool off.....

Smash those cookies...be sure to clean off the spatula as needed to prevent sticking issues. Now
let them cool a bit longer if using parchment paper on the counter,
then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before storing. 

Christmas lights on, a holiday special on the tv and our
choice of libations are perfect when accompanied by
a fresh baked cookie! It is Holiday Spice and Everything Nice! 

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