Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

I made these yesterday afternoon. This is a Paula Deen recipe. I was attracted to this recipe because Hubby and I had her gooey butter cake at her restaurant, the Lady & Sons, in Savannah. These turned out pretty well - good, but not as gooey as I expected. I think I probably expected a little more wow.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
1 (18 ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix (I used extra moist devil's food)
1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature (I used reduced fat)
1 egg
1 stick of butter, room temperature

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.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner’s sugar (Note: the batter is very sticky so I kept flouring my hands, which made the process alot easier). Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes (I think 10 minutes is better).

The cookies will remain soft and gooey. Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies (I ended up with a little over 3 dozen)