German Chocolate Cake Cookies

This is another installment of the cake-mix cookie recipes. I've been meaning to make cookies from scratch, but I needed a dessert in a hurry recently and these were perfect. They turned out just as good as the original and the spiced cookies.

German Chocolate Cake is typically a delicious but not overly rich chocolate cake with pecan-coconut frosting. I selected the German Chocolate Cake mix as opposed to a Devil's Food or Chocolate Fudge because I knew it would be a little less moist and fudgy, making a better cookie dough.

You will need:

• 1 box of German Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1/2 cup of shredded, sweetened coconut*
• 1/2 cup of pecan pieces or halves
• 1/2 cup of skim milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate mini morsels (use dark chocolate. A milk chocolate will be too sweet)
• 1/4 cup of Butterscotch chips

*Don't lose the coconut. Trust me on this, okay? If you remove it, you'll just have an unremarkable chocolate cookie instead of a German Chocolate Cake cookie. Not everyone likes coconut. My boyfriend does not like coconut but he loved these cookies. It's very important for the flavor of the cookie. It helps keep the cookies moist and is heavenly with pecans. You will not be able to pinpoint the coconut at all. If you use a food processor, you won't even notice the texture, which is mostly lost within the batter and the baking, anyhow.

Combine mix, egg, milk, oil, coconut, and half of the pecans in a food processor or electric mixer. When thoroughly mixed, gently fold in chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and the remainder of the pecans. Chill in refrigerator for a full hour or freeze covered for 30 minutes. I know you'll be tempted to bake them immediately, but chilling the dough makes for taller cookies.

When chilled, bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Don't overcook. Cake flour burns easily. You are better off taking them out sooner than later. Like steak, cookies will continue to cook for a minute or two as they cool. Enjoy!

P.S. It's not really a German recipe.