SHARON'S CREAMSICLE COOKIES

 I misplaced Cafe Treats Baker Sharon's recipe for her Creamsicle Cookies so I am a little late in sharing the recipe. She made them for the last Sunday in May when we were gone to southeast Arkansas for my family reunion. They were all eaten so there were no leftovers that I was able to eat, but I was assured they were delicious. 

When I started this post and realized the picture that I had of Sharon's cookies was blurred, I decided I would just have to make them for myself. I needed a recipe for our Sugar-Free option for the Cafe Treats and realized I could just use a yellow cake mix instead of a vanilla cake mix and make them for my Sugar-Free treat. It would be easy to get a box of orange jello that was zero sugar and I already had the powdered sugar that was sugar-free. So this past Saturday morning, I set about making Sharon's recipe with my changes in parentheses. I also used my tablespoon sized cookie scoop instead of the 1-1/2 tablespoon size so I could get more cookies. My version made 4 dozen cookies delicious cookies.

PRINT RECIPE.

CREAMSICLE COOKIES

1     box vanilla cake mix (I used a Zero Sugar yellow cake mix.)

1     (8 - oz) block cream cheese (room temperature)

1/2   cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (room temperature)

1     large egg

1     teaspoon orange extract

1/2  teaspoon orange gelatin (dry granules) (I used 1/4 teaspoon of the zero-sugar orange gelatin.)

11   oz bag white chocolate chips (I used no-sugar-added white chocolate style baking bits that were stevia sweetened.)

1/2  cup powdered sugar (I used a zero-sugar powdered sugar.)

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter for 1 minute or until smooth with no lumps with an electric  mixer on medium-low speed.

Add the egg, orange extract, and orange gelatin and continue to mix for an additional 1 - 2 minutes,

until mixed up well.

Add the cake mix and mix at low speed for 1 - 2 minutes.

Batter will be very thick.

Add the white chocolate chips and stir until

evenly distributed.

Using a 1-1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out cookies and place on the prepared cookie sheet close together but not touching. (I used a 1 tablespoon scoop to make more cookies.) Place dough balls in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.

Just before the 30 minutes is up, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place powdered sugar in a small bowl. Once cookies have chilled, (I actually chilled mine for 45 minutes because I got busy with something else.)

roll them individually in the powdered sugar and

place on the second baking sheet.

Bake 10 - 12 minutes. Cookies should be set in the center and have a beautiful crackle look from the powdered sugar coating. (You can see the powdered sugar baked into the cookies so I didn't have a crackle look to mine. Also this pan cooks hotter and so the chips that ended up baking on the edges burned slightly. I need to remember to reduce the temperature by 25 degrees the next time I use it and see if my end result is better.

Anyway the burned parts peeled off easily.

The next ones I baked on a different pan and I didn't have that result.) Allow to cool.

May be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or 5 - 6 days in the refrigerator.