Red velvet cheesecake cookies

In addition to my chicken (successful or not), broccoli, and smoothies, I also made these cookies this past weekend. 

Don't these look great?

That's obviously not my picture because we've seen what mine turn out like. I found this recipe on one of the blogs I read and this is her picture (click on the link under it to see her blog). Below is my attempt at creating something that looked equally as delicious (which I don't think I achieved but they tasted great, ha!) 

I usually don't even pay attention to recipes that use box mixes (yes, I'm a snob but my grandmother and father taught me to cook and a box of cake was NEVER included!) but the blogger said that you couldn't even tell and that it was worth it. 

Ingredients

This is the batter after refrigeration. Doesn't it kinda look like a heart? So gross, but delicious when finished!

The original recipe warned about the cookies getting really big and spreading out so I cooked four at a time. That picture is of a normal sized cookie sheet so they really are huge!

This is where it got tricky, the original recipe said to drizzle the white chocolate but mine was way too thick to drizzle so I dipped half (kinda like the black/white cookies? No?)

And this was the final product. Not bad, eh?

The cookies turned out great! These were a little messy with the batter and the cheesecake but the final product was definitely worth it. If I make them again I'm going to try and figure out a different solution for the white chocolate. I will also admit that for a box cake recipe, it was very good!

Red Velvet Cheesecake cookies

Original Recipe

ingredients:

For the cookies:
1 box red velvet cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cheesecake filling:
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature *I used 1/3 less fat
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the white chocolate drizzle:
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted

directions:

1. To make cookies, in a large bowl combine cake mix and flour. Whisk until clumps disappear. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake mix, flour, eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. The dough will be oily. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

2. To make the cheesecake filling, using a mixer, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Using a teaspoon, scoop out cheesecake filling and place on a plate. Continue scooping out cheesecake filling into teaspoon balls until you have 10. Place plate in the freezer and freeze for at least two hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. To assemble the cookies, take about 1/4 cup of red velvet cookie dough and flatten in your hands. Place a teaspoon of cheesecake filling in the center and wrap the cookie dough around the filling. Gently roll into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet. Scoop onto lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheets. Only bake 3 cookies at a time. The cookies are large and will spread. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies begin to crackle. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

4. Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl or over a double-boiler. Drizzle the white chocolate over the cooled cookies. Let the cookies set until the chocolate hardens. Serve and enjoy!

Note: if you are going to store the cookies for more than a day, you may want to keep them in the refrigerator. You can make the cookies smaller. Just use less dough and filling. You want to make sure you completely wrap the cookie dough around the filling before baking-so it doesn't leak. Enjoy!