Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

By now everyone is probably aware of my affection for Giada de Laurentiis, but did you know that I absolutely adore Paula Deen. In a grandmotherly kind of way. I love watching her show because of the butter, cheese, and ultra-fattening food, but when I hear her talk, I can close my eyes and see my grandmother. Here's Paula Deen's Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies. This was a very easy recipe to make. Just butter, cream cheese, egg, and cake mix. Nothing too complicated, and they are delicious!

- 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 stick butter, at room temperature
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
- Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.