If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, a Kentucky Butter Cake is a butter-based cake where a sweet buttery sauce is also brushed on from the outside and allowed to soak in, so the whole thing is moist and sweet and, well, buttery. These cookies take their inspiration from that cake, and they’re just as delicious and buttery, only more delightfully bite-sized and quite a bit quicker to make.
There’s no rolling out or chilling of dough to worry about here – these are a simple drop cookie that only take a few minutes to mix up. The base of the batter is actually white cake mix, which might save you a couple of minutes, but really is there to keep these cookies soft and cakey. (Crispy cookie aficionados, you’ll just have to give these a fair chance, okay?)
These might seem underdone when it’s time to pull them out of the oven, but they’ll set a bit as they cool. They’re meant to be soft and tender and buttery, so resist the urge to let them get golden brown.
As they cool, you’ll make up a quick glaze which is largely made up of – you guessed it – butter. It’s a beautiful golden liquid that you’ll spoon over each cookie before you top with it a little dusting of powdered sugar. A little goes a long way, just a teaspoon or so per cookie will do, or else you’ll have a pool of sweet, buttery liquid surrounding all of them. But there are worse problems to have, I suppose.
INGREDIENTS
1 box white cake mix
2 eggs, beaten
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the glaze:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Powdered sugar, for dusting
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, and melted butter. Mix until well combined.
Using a tablespoon sized cookie scoop, drop dough onto prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
Bake in preheated oven for 7-8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cook on baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies might look underdone, but they’ll continue to cook on the baking sheet.
While the cookies cool, make the glaze.
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the butter, sugar, water, and vanilla. Cook until sugar has dissolved, whisking constantly, 4-5 minutes.
Spoon glaze over cooled cookies. Let set and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!