Birthday Cake Monster Cookie Sandwiches

I'm on a cake batter kick. I had THE BEST cake batter ice cream from Hudsonville Ice Cream. It has pieces of yellow cake and real butter cream frosting in it. They serve it at the cafeteria in the children's hospital. It's probably a good thing that I work at night when it's closed. Otherwise I would go there for my lunch break everyday and get some. The two hospitals are connected, so I definitely did that when I was still on day shift for orientation.

So there's ice cream. And you all know how much I love cupcakes and cookies. Then I found this recipe for birthday cake monster cookie sandwiches... It's soooo good! It's kind of similar to the monster cookie recipe I posted recently, but some of the oatmeal is replaced with yellow cake mix, giving the cookie that cake batter flavor. Add some sprinkles, frosting, and m&ms and you've got a birthday cake in a cookie. Isn't that fun?

Want to know what's not so fun? Joe's gone this week and next week for work :'( I'm trying to be thankful because it's a great job, but I really miss him. Who will help me eat all the cookies? It especially stinks because I work this coming weekend when he'll be home. So I'll be sleeping and working when he's actually here. Boooo.

Last weekend we went to visit Joe's family in the thumb of Michigan. While visiting with his grandparents, Grandpa said something like, "yeah these are tough days" but you'll get through it and it's worth it (is what he was saying by that). Grandpa used to work 12-16 hour days plus farm work before and after his shift. So I guess he knows the struggle. He and Grandma are the cutest thing. I love visiting with them and seeing them interact. I'm kind of looking forward to the days when Joe and I are grandparents, encouraging our grandkids and watching them grow.

But these cookies.. I cut the recipe in half and it made about 16 sandwiches I think. I also kept the cookies in the fridge and they stayed delicious for a week. Here's the full recipe:

The Goods:
1 C unsalted butter at room temp
1 C sugar
3/4 C brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp butter extract
1 1/2 C flour
1 C dry yellow cake mix
1 C quick oats
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 C chocolate chips
1 C M&Ms (any kind you like, I used milk chocolate)
3/4 C sprinkles (I used less)

frosting:
1 C unsalted butter at room temp
4 C powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp heavy cream (or milk but cream is better)
additional sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine butter with both sugars. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add eggs and extracts and beat until combined. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cake mix, oats, salt, baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, beating until combined. Stir in chocolate chips, M&Ms and sprinkles. Spoon dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Try to keep cookies the same size. You could use something like a 2 tablespoon measure. I made my cookies a little smaller than that. Bake for about 12 minutes. Cool completely.
For the frosting: Beat the butter for a few minutes until it's light and fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar, vanilla and cream. Beat until smooth. You can add more sugar if it's too thin or more cream if it's too thick.
I have a frosting decorator from Wilton, but you can use a zip-lock bag too with the corner cut off to decorate the cookies. Pipe the frosting around the edge of one cookie and over the whole cookie. Top with another cookie and lightly push down. You can roll the frosting in more sprinkles if you want.

Go to chocolate chip cookies and a little adventure

Chocolate chip cookies may seem boring to the dessert enthusiast. But let's face it, everyone loves a good chocolate chip cookie. It's a staple. A favorite. Comfort food. I dare say, it's a necessity for every household to have a go to chocolate chip cookie recipe. So I would like to share mine. These have turned out every time. There's a surprise ingredient that makes this recipe stand out among all the others. Pudding mix! French vanilla pudding mix to be exact. If you've never had pudding cookies, you really should try this recipe. It ups the vanilla taste and it helps give the cookie a softer texture.

I like a softer, chewier cookie. So sorry to those of you who like 'em more crunchy. But if you really want, you can replace the shortening with more butter. I use a half and half mix of butter and shortening to get the perfect cookie texture (I think). The more butter you use, the more crunchy the cookie will be. The more shortening you use, the softer it will be.

I probably make these cookies once a month. They never disappoint :) Before I share the recipe, I want to share a few photos from a walk I took last week.

I love living near the Great Lakes. They offer so much beauty. Beauty that changes every day. I can't wait for summer when we can spend more time at the beach! These pictures were taken at Rosy Mound Natural Area. The Michigan side of Lake Michigan is unique for it's sand dunes. This park has educational signs to teach you all about the dunes if you like that kind of thing. Check it out sometime!

Anyway, here's the recipe

Chocolate chip cookies

2 1/4 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 C butter, 1/2 C shortening

1/4 C sugar

3/4 C packed light brown sugar

1 pkg (4 serving size) Jell-O instant pudding an pie filling- french vanilla

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 C chocolate chips

Mix flour with baking soda and set aside. Combine butter, the sugars, pudding mix and vanilla in large bowl; beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture, then stir in chocolate chips. (Batter will be stiff) Drop by spoonful onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 300 for 16-20 minutes.