As a Dessert Team member I am required to choose a mouth-watering, family recipe dessert - bonus points for prettiness. All of the family recipes will come together on their special day to join in a union of sugary deliciousness, probably looking as fantastic as this:
I have chosen to bring The Graham's Gooey Butter Cookies to the table. If you haven't heard of gooey butter cookies, or gooey butter cake, before, then let me be the first to tell you... your taste buds haven't yet lived. Seriously.
As far as modern historians can tell, gooey butter cake/cookies originated in St. Louis, Missouri. Probably around the same time as toasted ravioli and provel cheese (an entirely different post). So, I figured, these cookies are not only the most delicious things in the world (I'm pretty sure the combination of ingredients magically turns the dough into sugar crack), but they are a great way to represent St. Louis.
So! For everyone on dessert teams, and for all of you pondering a creative alternative to the traditional wedding cake (go dessert tables!), here is the Graham recipe for gooey butter cookies:
8 ounces cream cheese (1 package)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 18.5-ounce package yellow cake mix
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter - this is the key, melted butter will not yield the most delicious result.
Then, stir in the beaten egg and vanilla. Little by little add the cake mix, and stir until blended. Roll into 1" balls and then roll the balls in the powdered sugar. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes. Remove cookies and sprinkle a little extra powdered sugar on top while cooling.
Devour.
-Laura