I respect people who have different opinions than my own. If there’s anything I’ve learned in the past few years, it’s that I know very little. I’ve learned that you really should stick to the recommended dosage on the cough medicine bottle, that diet and lack of sleep does contribute to daytime fatigue and that wearing volleyball spandex shorts when you’re playing in a basketball game can look very odd to a lot of people. One thought I do like to express loudly and frequently is my love for my hometown, St. Louis, MO. One of the many ways I do this is by feeding people what St. Louis has to offer-figuratively, as well as literally. These gooey butter cookies are my go-to food to get people a little more excited about STL since they’re a St. Louis specialty.
Gooey Butter Cookies
from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix (I recommend using butter cake mix)
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add cake mix, and stir until well blended. Roll into 1 inch balls and roll the balls in the confectioners’ sugar. The dough will be very sticky-place it in the fridge to make it a little easier to roll the balls. Place 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes in the preheated oven. Do not overbake! The cookies are called gooey for a reason. Remove from baking sheets to cool.
It took me leaving home and living in Chicago (and briefly NYC) to see what all St. Louis has to offer. Now I can’t get enough out of my visits there. My friends couldn’t get enough of these cookies. Think there’s money in being a city’s cookie ambassador? It sounds like a sweet job.
What dessert comes from your hometown?
