How To Win Friends And Influence People... the Kelsey Edition

I like to think I know myself pretty well. I know my strengths and my weaknesses. I know my spiritual gifts. I know my personality type in basically every kind of test you can take (ESFJ, yellow, tortoise... if you work in student involvement, you know what these all mean). I like to think I know how to use all of these to my advantage. 

I may not be good at a lot of things, but I do know my way around the kitchen. I'm no Betty Crocker, Mrs. Fields, or Paula Deen, but I do know what I can manage.

Granted, there have been a few unfortunate instances when my attempt at royal icing was anything but glamourous. Or when some orange rolls took a sad turn for the garbage disposal. But that's another story for another day...

Plus, this is the South. We cook and bake for every possible occasion. You know when life calls for a casserole or a quiche. Momma taught me to never show up anywhere empty-handed. And hello, I'm Baptist. Hunger is never an option. There's a reason it's called "comfort food." 

But here's the thing, I'm not one to hoard my recipes. 

Unless you ask me for my grandma's oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. Then I might hesitate. But I'll probably give it to you cause we're friends.

So I feel obligated to share with you how ridiculously easy these cookies are to make and how insanely good they are.

You'll eat the whole batch if you're not careful.

I'm talking Girl-Scout-Thin-Mints-on-CRACK kind of good.

Listen, I don't just toss that phrase around.

I was a Girl Scout. That stuff is sacred.

Okay, I quit after Daisies in kindergarten. But once you're initiated, you're in for-ev-er.

So here it is, the easiest and most delicious cookie recipe ever. You'll make friends wherever you bring these. And if you don't, then we might need to work on your social skills.

--1 box devil's food cake mix (I use the Betty Crocker kind)

--2 eggs

--1/2 cup vegetable oil

--1 Box of Andes Mint Chocolates (but you'll probably want two, because it's REALLY hard to not want to eat a few while you're unwrapping them)

Mix together the dry cake mix, eggs, and oil. (Your mixture will be kind of spongey.)

Use a cookie scooper and scoop out ~24 cookies onto a baking sheet. (Do not flatten them out! They'll do that on their own when they bake.)

Bake at 350 for 6-9 minutes.

While the cookies are in the oven, unwrap all of your Andes mints. Eat a few if you were smart enough to buy two boxes.

As soon as your cookies come out of the oven, plot an Andes mint on the top of each cookies, pressing down slightly.

Watch and wait patiently for approximately 2 minutes as the chocolate melts down. Take a spoon and swish around that chocolate so that it makes almost a frosting on top of your cookies.

Here's the hardest part: you can eat those cookies immediately, even though they're piping hot.

But I like to wait and let that chocolate set. It's much easier to transport the cookies if you're not dealing with ooey gooey chocolate. But hey, I've never heard anyone complain.

Enjoy watching people sneak off with two or three in their hands. Or an entire plateful. It's happened before.