Adventures in Baking: Orange Creamsicle Cookies

There is one thing you need to know about me. If I come across a delicious-looking recipe while I’m scrolling through my social media feed, I will be making it. Especially if the recipe has minimal ingredients, easy-to-follow instructions, and is a dessert.

At the beginning of the month, I came across a recipe from @dowellcooks for Orange Creamsicle cookies. The recipe itself was very easy to follow with minimal ingredients, but what caught my attention was using cake mix as the base for the cookie. Plus, I am a sucker for creamsicle, so making these was a no-brainer.

The recipe:

• 1 box of vanilla cake mix

• 1 box of orange jello mix

• 1 softened stick of butter

• 2 eggs

• Orange zest (optional)

• 1.5-2 cups white chocolate chips

I did make two substitutions to this recipe. I swapped the vanilla cake mix for a sugar-free yellow cake mix, added a splash of vanilla extract, and used a sugar-free orange jello mix. In my opinion, it didn’t take away from the flavor or overall sweetness of the cookie. I also didn’t use any orange zest because we didn’t have any oranges in the house, and I forgot to add them to the grocery list.

The steps:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F

2. Whisk together your cake mix and jello mix until fully combined. Next, add in the butter and eggs and mix until you get a cookie dough consistency

3. Fold in your white chocolate chips and roll your dough into balls, and place on a baking sheet.

4. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until set

Overall, this was a very easy recipe to follow. The dough turned a nice, bright orange color, and it smelled great. I will say, this dough was VERY sticky, so I had to use two spoons and create dough blobs instead of dough balls. I also topped each blob with a few additional white chocolate chips to make sure they were present in each cookie. As far as baking time, I cooked these for almost 20 minutes, but that was out of a fear of serving underbaked cookies.

The adventure began after the baking process was done. I figured these cookies would be more cake-like given the use of the cake mix, but what I didn’t expect was the full-blown identity crisis. The cookies looked like cookies, but the texture was interesting. It was like the cookie and cake fought in the oven and decided in the end to call it a draw. But don’t let that deter you; the flavor was exactly like orange creamsicle ice. They were sweet and citrusy and made me excited for summer. They also made me think of my grandma, which made them even more special to me.

These cookies received not only the approval of my husband and me, but also got a thumbs up from my husband’s secretary, my co-worker, and my co-worker’s mom. I rate these cookies an 8 out of 10 and will be making them again. They also inspired me to find other cake mix cookie recipes, and I already have one waiting in the wings.

If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! And please feel free to share any recipes you think I should try to make in the future. I am always looking for inspiration.

Happy baking!

***

Thanks for reading! Please follow Bona Fide Me on social media!

Facebook - Bona Fide Me

Instagram/Threads - @bonafidemeblog

TikTok - @bonafidemeblog