This post was originally published in January 2009. I’m republishing it for anyone who hasn’t read it yet because I made these cookies tonight and they are so delicious, I needed to share the love with all of you – because everybody needs to devour these cookies at least once, but preferably often.

My friends and family can attest – these cookies are delicious. I’ve been making them for a few years now and I don’t think I’ve ever made a bad batch. Seriously, this recipe is quick, easy, delicious and in my opinion, fool-proof. But I am a Cookie Goddess (I’m not bragging, it’s just the truth – some people have green thumbs, mine is covered in cookie dough). Regardless, I know anyone can make these cookies, they are that easy. And delicious…

This recipe was not my brain child, so it seems fitting that I share my good fortune with all of you. TEMDCRITUIS comes courtesy of the Half Baked Gourmet DESSERTS Cookbook by Tamara Holt. I bought it in a spur of the moment, thinking semi-home made and dessert was right up my alley. A lot of the recipes in here are good ones, I haven’t tried all of them – but this recipe people – this recipe was worth the small price of the book (I probably paid $7 for it – you can get it on Amazon for less than a dollar now – seriously). Anyway, enough fanfare – here it is, my not-so-secret recipe that dozens of friends and family have asked me for over the years, Tamara Holt calls it the Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookie – I call it delicious, easy, and a million other wonderful adjectives. Try them for yourself and please let me know how you like them!

The Easiest, Most Delicious Cookie Recipe In The Universe… I Swear!

Prep Time: 10 minutes * Bake Time: 10 minutes * Makes: About 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 package (1 pound 2.25 ounces) devils food cake mix (I’ve tried several kinds of chocolate cake mix, all are good – you can really do any cake mix, funfetti is fun, but the chocolate cake mixes come out better for me, so I stick to them)
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips (Truthfully, I’ve only measured once – I pour them in until it’s enough, and again you can use ANY kind of chocolate chip – chocolate, white chocolate, peanut butter, swirled – go nuts)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine cake mix, butter and egg. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 2 minutes (you can hand mix it, too, just use your judgement and stop mixing when it starts to look like cookie dough), scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Stir in chocolate chunks of your preference.
2. Shape the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet (I don’t know how big my balls are (my google search engine results are going to go crazy now, thanks recipe gods). They typically fit in the palm of my hand with room to spare, I suspect they are larger than the recipe calls for, because I never get 40 cookies out of the batch. And really – does it matter?).
3. Bake until cookies are set, about 10 minutes (am I the only one who bakes cookies until I can smell them from another room – this seriously works for me and I don’t know if I’m delusional. I probably under cook my cookies a tiny bit, but at the same time – my cookies are typically moist and delicious for their entire lifespan, unlike other people’s cookies that get stale and crumbly – mine do not. So there.). Cool for 1 minute on a pan (so they don’t fall apart), then remove them with a spatula and place on a wire rack to cool completely (snagging one cookie on your way out of the kitchen because they are delicious right out of the oven and you don’t really care if this one falls apart in your hand on the way to your mouth do you?).

You’re welcome.

Want to know how many calories are in each cookie? Here’s a handy tip – if you go to this calorie counting website you can hover over the tab that says FOODS and click on New Recipe. Enter all the ingredients and then how many cookies (or servings) are in the batch and it will tell you how many calories are in each cookie. Brilliant, no? For example, if I plug in this recipe and put 24 servings (assuming I make 24 cookies in my batch) then each cookie has 198 calories. Make smaller cookies, they’ll have less calories per.

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Tonight I added a little peppermint extract to my cookie mix and they were awesome. And the kitchen smells like Christmas now – it is glorious. I only used about 1/4 teaspoon and it was plenty – a little goes a long way when it comes to peppermint extract! Point is, this is a very versatile cookie recipe that you NEED to have in your baking arsenal.