Nothing says ‘home’ like fresh-baked cookies! Having a plate of homemade cookies to offer friends over of cup of tea or coffee is the epitome of hospitality. Need a quick after-school snack, or what about that last minute notice for the school Bake Sale? What you need is a recipe for cookies that only contains 3 ingredients!
Sure, there are cookie mixes that are easy, and ready-made cookie dough is quick to bake. But your choices are limited to simple varieties, such as sugar, or chocolate chip.  Factor in the cost of the convenience, and then realize that you’ll only get around 18 cookies for your efforts. Around my house, 18 cookies won’t last more than 24 hours.
So what is this secret, magic recipe that lets your produce a variety of cookies with a minimum of 3 ingredients?
Cake mix. Available at any supermarket, in a wide variety of flavors. Chocolate, lemon, spice, any flavor you want to try. Just as a cake mix contains every dry ingredient you need to make a cake already measured and sifted, it can be a time-saving cookie mix as well. All you have to do is adjust the amount of fat (oil or butter) and the number of binders (eggs).
And it’s more economical because you’ll make nearly twice as many cookies as you’d get with a cookie mix, for less money.
There are 2 basic equations for making cookies with a cake mix. The difference lies in whether you want to use butter/margarine or oil as your fat, which will determine the number of eggs you’ll need. Also, if you add any additional ingredients, such as peanut butter or applesauce, you will need less oil or butter.
Basic recipe #1
I box (18.5 oz) cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
In a large bowl, add the oil and eggs to the cake mix, mix until completely blended into a dough-like consistency. Drop from tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned. Makes approximately 3 dozen.
Basic recipe #2
1 box cake mix
1 stick butter or margarine
1 egg
In a large bowl, beat softened butter/margarine with egg. Add cake mix, and blend completely into a dough-like consistency. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Makes approximately 3 dozen.
And that’s the three ingredient recipe. Now you can get creative by adding just one more ingredient. Flavored baking chips, dried fruit, candy pieces, and nuts are just a few options that are easy to add.
Suggested add-ins and flavors:
Chocolate cake mix and peanut butter or chocolate chips
Spice cake mix and raisins, dates, or craisins
Butter pecan and chopped pecans
You can even make use white and yellow cake mixes to make family favorites like Snickerdoodles and peanut butter cookies.
Snickerdoodles
Using one of the basic recipes and a white cake mix, roll the dough into balls, then in a sugar/cinnamon mix (1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon) before baking as usual.
Peanut butter
Using a yellow cake mix, add 1/3 cup crunchy or creamy peanut butter and reduce amount of oil to 1/3 cup. Mix peanut butter with egg, then oil before adding mix, then bake as usual.
These are just a few of the cookies I’ve made using cake mixes. All my cookie monsters have declared them delicious, and I’m declaring this recipe the best ever!
