Moon Rocks

I have a few recipe books that I absolutely adore. One of them is from the "3 Books in 1" series - Cookies, Bars and Muffins. My good friend Jen gave me this book for Christmas 2006, and I've gotten a lot of use out of it. You'll likely see me post a lot of recipes from that book on this blog.

Julia borrowed the book when she was looking for a cookie recipe for a Christmas cookie exchange. She tried a cookie called "Moon Rocks." The cookies were yummy, but they were flat, and she knew why - the recipe called for cake mix with pudding in the mix. She wasn't using cake mix with pudding in the mix.

For Julia's Signing Day, I decided to recreate the Moon Rocks. I made sure I got a cake mix with pudding in the mix. It was fun - if you want to work out some aggression on a cookie, this is your answer. You get to smash up some pretzel sticks! But that's where my recommendation of this cookie ends. I don't know why, but it was one of the most dry, almost stale tasting cookies I've ever made/eaten. It might have been a fluke, but it just didn't taste fresh.

My sister had told Meghan and I she wanted us to send her samples of our baked goods. We told her if she joined the blog as a "follower" (see the section on the lower right side of our blog - hi followers!) we would send her food. I threw a few of these cookies in to a plastic bag and mailed them to her to thank her for supporting the East to West Bakers. I had little faith that they would not end up crushed and squished merely because I didn't really pack them all that well. Marti reported that they were, in fact, "pulverized." But, she admitted, they were also rather dry. "But still delicious!" she said.

But dry.

I don't like dry cookies. And I'm not quite sure why this recipe produced dry cookies. I will share it with you for the mere reason that maybe you will recreate them and they will be grand and you can tell me what a silly blogging baker ninny I am.

Ingredients:

1 package (18-1/4 ounces) devil's food or German chocolate cake mix with pudding in the mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

2 cups slightly crushed (2-1/2-inch) pretzel sticks

1-1/2 cups uncooked old-fashioned oats

1 cup swirled chocolate and white chocolate chips or candy-coated semisweet chocolate baking pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend cake mix, eggs and butter in large bowl. Stir in crushed pretzels, oats and chocolate chips. (Dough will be stiff.)

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.


Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Let cookies cool on cookie sheets 1 minute; transfer to wire racks to to cool completely.

Source: Favorite Brand Name 3 Books in 1: Cookies, Bars, Muffins