Gooey Butter Cookies {AKA No Thanks to Cookies}

Desserts are my weakness.  Afterall, my cake-eating habits helped me to balloon up to more than 250 lbs a few years back.

I am able to substitute lower calorie desserts, like my famous Red Velvet Cake or the Arctic Zero Milkshake I love so much.  I also add in easy snacks like Skinny Cow ice cream treats and yummy Coconut Caramel Fiber Plus bars.

Now, every ONCE IN A GREAT WHILE… I make the real deal.  You know it, the recipe that has butter in it.  The recipe that is so amazing you can’t stop eating it.

Well, I made them this weekend for my grandpa for Easter.  And their name says it all:  Gooey Butter Cookies.

O-M-G!

After packing up a little over a dozen to send to my Gramps, I took the remaining leftovers to work for my sales team to enjoy.  They LOVED them, and it’s no wonder… considering how decadently delicious these cookies were!

Now, the average person may eat one or two of these bad boys and get their fix, but not someone with food issues like mine.  The good news is that I didn’t eat them for breakfast… the bad news is that I ate them all day long.  Oh-so-embarrassing to admit.  I ate FIVE of these cookies yesterday at work.  FIVE.  Considering the recipe and all the butter that’s included…. I know I’m going to wince when I figure up the calories here in a few minutes.

To this day, I still struggle with finding a way to effectively say “no thanks” to the foods that I can’t control myself around.  Being that these cookies were a new recipe from my friend Natalie, I didn’t realize how amazing they would be… and what a predicament I would find myself in.

Why the heck am I sharing this recipe if it’s so dangerously delicious??  Well, it’s Easter… and they’re REALLY that good.  A recipe I think you should have.  They kind of taste like those round cookies you can get at the grocery that are topped with colored frosting… only better.

I warn you though… make them at your own risk!

Gooey Butter Cookies

From the Fabulous Bride-to-Be Natalie

Makes 30 cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 (8 ounce) package reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter.  Note:  That’s a LOT of butter and cream cheese… thus the name!

3.  Stir in the egg and vanilla.  Note:  I always crack my eggs in a glass, just in case a bit of shell wants to creep into my recipe!

4.  Add cake mix, and stir until well blended.

5.  Refrigerate for an hour.  Note:  The batter will be REALLY creamy when you first blend it.  Placing it in the fridge for an hour will help it firm up so you can roll it into balls.

6.  Roll into 1-inch balls and roll the balls in the confectioners’ sugar.  Note:  I love to use a cookie scoop as it keeps things much neater during the rolling process.  It also allows your cookies to all be about the same size which helps for even baking and makes them pretty when you wrap them up!

7.  Place 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Note:  I placed my cookies on a Silpat, which cooked them PERFECTLY.  Not required, of course, but a nice touch!

8.  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven.  Note:  My cookies looked awesome and ever so slightly golden at 14 minutes.  Natalie recommends watching them at 10 minutes.  There’s nothing worse than burnt cookies afterall!

9.  Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

10.  Sprinkle cookies with a little bit of extra powdered sugar (optional.)

Per cookie (1/30th of recipe):

CAL 100; CARB 12g; FAT 5g; SAT FAT 2g; PROT 1g; FIB 0g; SUG 6g

WW Points+: 3; WW Smart Points: 4