If it were Betty Crocker's birthday, I wouldn't make her a cake. Instead, I'd bake up some cute and delicious Birthday Cake Cookies from her own cookbook. The problem is, it would be impossible to bake Betty anything, and this is why. In 1945, Fortune magazine named Betty Crocker the second most popular woman in America, after Eleanor Roosevelt . Ironically, Betty Crocker made it on another list; The Top 10 famous people who never existed. It's a good thing I didn't find that out when I was in college, because my Betty Crocker Cookbook was my kitchen bible and Betty was my cooking companion. How did she come to "not be?" Well, it was 1928 and General Mills was getting thousands of requests for answers to baking questions. Believing that signing the responses personally was much more intimate, the managers of the company created a fictitious Betty Crocker using a retired executive's last name, William Crocker, and the first name Betty, thought of as warm and friendly. Betty's signature came from a secretary who won a contest among female employees. Her face? An artist blended features from all the women who worked at the company at that time. So there you have it. No cake for Betty. But lots of Birthday Cake Cookies this month for me!
Birthday Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 and ¼ cups flour
- 1 and ¼ cups vanilla boxed cake mix
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup white or brown sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup sprinkles
- 20-30 Mini Oreos
Preparation
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, cake mix, and baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, cream the softened butter and sugar together until smooth.
- Add the egg and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the vanilla and beat on high until combined. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low-medium speed until just combined.
- Add the chocolate chips, sprinkles, and Oreos. Mix on low or stir by hand until the add-ins are evenly disbursed.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours. (This step is mandatory. The dough is fairly sticky, so chilling the dough is required in order to avoid the cookies from spreading too much.)
- Once chilled, preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Form dough into 1-2 inch balls and place on baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Press a few chocolate chips or mini Oreos into the tops of the cookie dough balls, if desired.
- If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 20 minutes before baking.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 9 minutes or until cookies are done and edges are slightly browned.
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