Cooking: Under-Achiever Homemade Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I am laughing at this recipe because I have been a baking snob for so long! Can't even remember the last time I purchased a cake mix, but when I tasted these cookies at a friend's baby blessing and asked for the recipe it turned out they were cake mix cookies. With canned frosting to top if off!

This afternoon I tried them with my three-year-old Audrey, who loves to help me bake. Typically this is a delicate balance of quality time with her, giving her confidence in the kitchen, and trying to maintain the integrity of whatever recipe. Seems I usually have her as a kitchen helper when I'm cooking for company. Well this time it was just for fun and it was pure fun!

I combined a couple recipes and went with this:

• 2 boxes Devil's Food cake mix
  
• 1 cube melted butter (regular/salted)
  
• 1/2 stick Crisco
  
• 4 extra large eggs.

I mixed all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon (I learned the difficult way that these cookies can't be done in a mixer). Rolled 1" balls and dropped on prepped cookie sheet.

I baked two sheets at a time at 335-degrees convection for exactly 9 minutes. (They looked a bit underdone.) Allowed to cool 5 minutes on the sheet and then transferred to a cooling rack. When completely cool I sandwiched two together with a nice layer of whipped cream cheese frosting from a can!

Sounds crazy I know, but these are a hit and the easiest things I think I've ever baked.

Audrey and I took them to our neighborhood's Super Summer Softball game this evening and left with an empty container. Instant hit.