Baking up some love

I'm a total Pinterest addict. I love going on there and finding new recipes and ideas for all sorts of things. While perusing Pinterest recently I came across a recipe for strawberry chocolate chip cookies. They are bright pink, and so perfect for Valentine's day! Sally's baking addiction is the blog where the recipe came from...http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/01/23/strawberry-chocolate-chip-cookies/. 
I've never made cookies using a cake mix before, so this was something totally new for me. 

So here are the ingredients....

 

In her blog, Sally uses Duncan Hines cake mix, which I usually prefer and buy that brand as well. But when I went to the store, they were out of Duncan Hines strawberry cake mix, so I chose Pillbury. Honestly, it probably doesn't really make much difference. I also am a sucker for Ghirardelli baking chips. I love their chocolate so they are my favorite baking chip to use (I've made awesome cookies using the 60% cocoa chips before). Instead of buying the semi-sweet ones like the recipe calls for, I got the milk chocolate this time. 

When you mix together all the ingredients you get this really pretty bright pink dough....

 You will notice the Ghirardelli chips are larger and flatter than other brands. I think they melt better, but I could be biased on that. So I use an ice cream scoop to place my cookie dough on my baking stone, this way the cookies all come out about the same size.

Here they are, ready to go into the oven! Sally says to bake them for 10 minutes and not to let the cookies brown. I did that with the first batch, but found they were still too gooey in the middle, and since I didn't want to subject my children to undercooked cookies, I put them back in for 3 more minutes. They browned slightly, but came out great none the less.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 2 dozen cookies

• 1 box (18.25 oz) strawberry cake mix (like Duncan Hines)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable/canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and baking powder. Set aside. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla by hand. Add the egg mixture to the cake mixture and stir to form a dough- stir vigorously until all of the pockets of dry cake mix are gone.  Gently mix in the chocolate chips.
Drop rounded balls of dough, about 2.5 Tablespoons each, onto prepared baking sheet.  Stick a few more chocolate chips on top of the cookie dough balls if you want them for looks, if desired.  Make sure the balls of dough are taller than they are wide. 
Bake for 10 minutes – do not let the cookies get brown.  Allow to cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes; they will  be very soft at first. As they cool, the tops may settle down; press them down gently with your fingers if they are not sinking much. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container, for up to one week.

 I copied and pasted the recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction.

So there you go, beautiful pink cookies for Valentine's day! I thought they were pretty tasty. My kids loved them and have been asking for more all evening long. Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Baking!