Spice Cake Cookies

Every year for her birthday Nonni gets her favorite spice cake. To me this means she would like the cookie version (or any sweet with lots of spices). So a couple years ago I found a from-scratch cookie version and gave it to her in the form of a jar for her Christmas gift (you know what I'm talking about - the dry ingredients for a baked good are layered in a jar with the recipe attached and all you have to do is empty the jar, add the wet ingredients, and bake). Not sure it went over well. So this year I decided to make the cookies. I thought I had pinned a from-scratch recipe but all I could find was one with the spice cake mix. Which was perfect since that's what Auntie Vicki uses to make the cake. And it's just how I like to use box mixes nowadays.

Spice Cake Cookies (source)

Ingredients

• 18.25 oz box spice cake mix (or whatever size you can find. All I could find was 15.25 oz)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line two cookie sheets with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Place granulated sugar in a shallow bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil, eggs and vanilla extract until there are no large lumps left. (At this point I HIGHLY suggest putting the bowl in the fridge for an hour. Makes the dough easier to roll in the next step.)
3. Roll 1 heaping tablespoon of dough into balls and coat in granulated sugar. Place on cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches for spreading.
4. Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the tops have cracked and the tops look set (the centers will still be gooey). Let sit for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
5. Serve warm or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Nonni texted me a couple days after Christmas (because she's a modern nonna) and told me how much she loved these and what a great idea they were.