Don't get all excited, but I posted a recipe. I never do this and you shouldn't expect this on any kind of regular basis from me. Mostly because I'm not a great cook and I just throw things together (consider that Disclaimer #1). But this one is nice little shortcut for those busy holiday seasons when you want cookies but have no idea how you're going to magically pull six extra hours out of an already packed season, or really, for any time you want homemade cookies and you want them now.

Disclaimer #2: I didn't come up with this idea; a quick search on Pinterest pulls up tons of options, but here's the basic gist:

Cake Box Cookie Recipe

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, then gather the following ingredients:

• 1 box of cake mix (or brownie mix), any flavor
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil (I use either vegetable or coconut, depending on the cake mix flavor)
• A few tablespoons of flour
• 1 tsp extract - vanilla, peppermint, coconut, etc. (optional)
• Optional Add-ons
  • Fillers like chocolate chips, nuts, candy canes, etc.
  • Powdered or granulated sugar for rolling
  • Icing (from a jar, because we're being lazy here and it's all about shortcuts),
  • Sprinkles

Mix the cake mix, eggs, and oil until blended. If you're using an extract, add it with the oil and eggs. Add flour by the tablespoon until the dough is slightly sticky and you can easily roll it into balls. Add chocolate chips, crushed candy canes, nuts, etc. 

Roll dough into spoon-sized balls. You can coat them with powered or granulated sugar at this point as well. Place on cookie sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes. 

And you're done! 

Look at all that time you saved (not to mention the cleanup time, too)! These are so easy and you really can do it with any cake mix flavor. Plus you can get creative with your add-ons and flavors, too. So easy.

This was a life-saver this year when I wanted to make cookies, but just didn't feel like we had the time to spare for a whole day of baking. I made three batches this year - chocolate chocolate chip, gingerbread chocolate chip, and coconut sugar cookie with icing and sprinkles. Delicious and I got them all done, including prep and clean-up, in less than 2 hours.