Doctored Cake Mix Ideas

While I bake cookies, pastry, and candies from scratch, I have yet to bake a cake from scratch. I'm sure I will someday. But for now, I doctor pre-packaged cake mixes to make them more moist and increase their flavor, so they almost taste homemade.

Caramel cupcake with chocolate butter cream and sprinkles

Doctored cake mix recipe for a more moist cake:

1 box cake mix
1  3-ounce package instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup water, milk, or buttermilk
1/2 cup oil or melted butter
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Simple mix all the ingredients together and bake according to the package directions. Some cake mix batters come out thick like brownie batter, other brands come out normal. I don't know why this is, but if your batter is thick don't worry, your cake won't come out super dense.

How to add more flavor to your cake mix:
If you want to play with the flavor of the cake, exchange the vanilla pudding for a different flavor such as chocolate or banana. You could also use a flavored yogurt such as cherry or lemon. Or add a splash or two of an extract. Personally, I usually substitute the 1/2 cup water/milk/buttermilk with a flavored beverage. You can use soda pop--think Cherry Coke--or fruit juices. I love using liqueurs. When I was in the Caribbean almost four years ago I picked up a bottle of raspberry-chocolate rum. God, how I loved using it in my baking (and adding a little to my hot chocolate) and am so sorry that it's all gone.

This week, along with Valentine's Day, is Eric's birthday. I will be making a Valentine dessert and a special doctored birthday cake for him and testing out some new decorating ideas. I'll share the outcome with you sometime this week.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

Cake Mix Cookies

I first discovered cake mix cookies when I was in junior high school. I may not have been into cooking or baking, but I did like sweets (still do!).  My mom was always buying cake mixes when they went on sale and they'd sit in the cupboards for months, sometimes years. Somewhere I found a recipe for cake mix cookies. They were super easy to make and incredibly versatile.

These days I mostly make my cookies from scratch. But sometimes I just have a craving for the ease and taste of a cake mix cookie.

These recipes makes roughly three dozens.

Grasshopper Cake Mix Cookies

Grasshopper Cookies

I had a recipe for grasshopper cake I was going to make last St. Patty’s day but decided to be lazy and turned the cake recipe into a cookie recipe instead. The outcome was delicious.

Ingredients:
1 package yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chocolate chips
12-14 drops green food coloring
2 teaspoons mint extract.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Beat the cake mix, eggs, oil, extract and food coloring together until the batter becomes stiff. Add chocolate chips. If you want cookies with green swirls instead of solid green cookies, add food coloring with the chips. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the cookie bottoms turn a golden brown.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

I’ll admit, these are one of my all time favorite cookies. Everyone I’ve ever made these for absolutely fell in love with them too. They taste just like chocolate covered cherries. Every batch disappears in a blink of an eye.

So far, the only brand I’ve found that makes cherry cake mix is Betty Crocker.

Ingredients:
1 package Betty Crocker Cherry Chip cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the cake mix, eggs and oil together until the batter becomes stiff. Stir in chocolate chips. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the cookie bottoms turn a golden brown.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies are a close second to the Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies.

Ingredients:
1 package chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup peanut butter chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the cake mix, eggs and oil together until the batter becomes stiff. Stir in chocolate chips. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the cookie bottoms turn a golden brown.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
I love coconut. Sadly, I only know two or three people (and Eric isn't one of them) who also love coconut so I don’t get to make these cookies very often.

Ingredients:
1 package white cake mix (you can also use coconut cake mix)
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the cake mix, eggs and oil together until the batter becomes stiff. Stir in coconut and chocolate chips. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the cookie bottoms turn a golden brown.

You can also add a ¼ cup of chopped almonds if you so desire.

Also check out my butterscotch cake mix cookies.

Enjoy!

~Krissy