Paula Deen’s Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

Paula Deen is one of the few cooks/chefs on the Food Network that I bother to watch anymore. I don’t make a lot of her recipes (I like my arteries) but the ones I have made have always turned out well.

This one is her Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies which is a take-off from her Gooey Butter Cake. I like it with a Devil’s Food cake mix, it gives the cookies and extra rich chocolate flavor. They’re a lot like Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, but a little bit chewier.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix.

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner’s sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and “gooey.” Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners’ sugar, if desired.