Lemon Cookies
Posted by terrepruitt on August 14, 2014
In regards to diet and food these days there is so much information out there it can be overwhelming. There are so many schools of thought on what is healthy and what is not. I follow the school of thought that the less man made chemicals IN the food it is healthier than one full of chemicals. I also think that less processed foods tend to be healthier than heavily processed foods. Some of the processing – even when the original ingredient – is natural is just a wash of chemicals. I say all of this because I know that some would argue that some of the recipes I have posted are not necessarily “healthy”. A banana full of marshmallows and chocolate chips? No, not something I would deem as healthy, but also not something I eat every day. The following recipe is not anywhere in the realm of health and fitness . . . one could argue that it has to do with “wellness” if you are one that thinks comforting foods help with well-being. But I am not trying to disguise this as anything but what it is. It is a recipe that I used to make with my mom. It is one she passed down to me. It is one that when I used to bring the cookies places people would ask for the recipe. I don’t make them that often any longer because I do not like to eat the ingredients that make up a boxed cake mix. But I do make them every once in a while because they are easy and people enjoy them. I made them last week in honor of my mom. I took them to her Celebration of Life. They were the best ones I have ever made in my life.
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Lemon Cookies
One box of lemon cake mix
1 egg
3/4 cup oil
Preheat oven to 375° F. Mix all together. Drop dough onto a cookie sheet using a spoon. Bake for 10 minutes.
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So . . . . here are some tips.
If you have any lemons, squeeze some juice into the dough. And/or some zest.
DON’T USE ALL THE OIL. Start out with 1/2 of a cup. Stir. If the mixture seems like it needs more, then keep adding until it is a wet dough. The oil depends on the cake mix. In the “old days” it was 3/4 cup oil. But with the cake mixes that have “pudding in the mix” it seems like you can use less oil.
The more oil you use the cookies tend to come out flatter. They will puff up but one knock of the pan and they deflate. Or when they cool they deflate.
Placing them close together on the cookie sheet makes them bake “fluffier”. Farther apart makes them flatter and “crispier”.
WATCH THEM. Ovens vary and 10 minutes might be too long. What tends to happen for me is the first few pans seem to take longer than the ones after that. My oven temperature should not be getting HOTTER, but . . . I don’t know.
I know that these last ones I made were the best ever because I didn’t leave the kitchen. Normally I put a pan in and I set the timer and I leave the kitchen. And with the variations I usually bake at least one pan that has brown edges. But this time I wanted them all to be “perfect” . . . “unbrowned” . . . . so I stayed and watched them like a hawk. I turned the pan in the oven if I thought I saw one tiny tint of color. They were the most perfect lemon cookies I have ever made. I know my mom would have been proud.
I have also made these with a chocolate cake mix. Very yummy. I have also used a white cake mix and added chocolate chips. I have also used a white cake mix and added mint chips (well, the mint pieces from Andes). I think I made orange ones once. I think I have made spiced ones. I have never tried the funfetti cake mix because that came onto the market after I kind of stopped making these. Most boxed cakes mixes have partially hydrogenated oil in them and I avoid that. They USED to have High Fructose Corn Syrup in them, but I haven’t seen that on the occasion that I have bought cake mix.
A boxed cake mix is just a bunch of chemicals. I know. If I were to make a cake I would do it from scratch. But the point of these cookies is that they are easy. But, as I said, I don’t make them often. They are a treat.
In this case they were in honor of my mom.
I believe that there ARE some boxed cake mixed out there that do not have partially hydrogenated oil in them if you are interested in avoiding that. Otherwise these are really easy to make and people seem to love them.
If you try making another version besides lemon, let me know. I am a bit curious about the funfetti . . . .
Have you ever made cookies out of cake mix?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
Joan Meyer said
yummm… I’ve made these and roll them in powdered sugar before baking… but then that takes more work…
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terrepruitt said
Hmmm . . . never thought of that.
🙂
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livingoily4life said
Sounds good. I made some a couple of weeks ago with some lemon essential oil and they were so good.
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terrepruitt said
Yum!
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Joan said
Here’s another one… I like also.. maybe better/easier? 1 box lemon cake mix, 1/3 cup oil, 2 eggs… stir, drop lumps on cookie sheet. Bake 375… it says for 5-7 min (but that was if you flatten them).. I did not flatten and felt it took lots longer… 10+ min… made lots if you make the small. yummy & easy.. more dense than the other ones…
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terrepruitt said
Hi Joan,
So less oil and more egg. The would have more protein. 🙂
Really odd, to me, the last time I made these, they were so salty to me. I am guessing that the cake mix makers changed their recipe and they are more sodium laden? I don’t know, but it was weird (to me).
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Joan said
forgot to say this is for 18.25 oz pkg….. but I’ve used smaller pkg, just used a little less oil and just “large” eggs .. but the smaller in the box! :~)
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terrepruitt said
🙂 Thanks for clarifying! 🙂
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