gooey butter cookies

today was just Ugh.
i was in a major funk for the better half of the day.

energy level Low, confidence level loow, do your ears hang level LOW. mood level bleeeeeh.

FUNK.
somedays that's just the way it goes.

finally the sun was going down and i found myself standing in the kitchen chopping vegetables to the mamas and the papas.

hmm, this is rather lovely, i said to myself.. surely the activity to lift me out of funktown.

.
.
then i sliced my thumb really awesomely while chopping the chilies. Of course the chiles!

burning and blood and stinging all at once. yes, wonderful!

whatever you do just don't touch your eyes. do not touch your face, and absolutely NoT your eyes.
(comma i said to myself)

two minutes later, and where would i be but crouching my head under the faucet and hosing down my eye (and face, let's be real).

this episode, as you may have guessed, sent me into a deeper funk.
funk code level orange.

during these types of extremities, cookie dough is absolutely allowed, nay encouraged!

but i don't want you to eat too much cookie dough that you get sick and nauseous and grow to resent me.

Hence, gooey butter cookies.

from the moment i read about these, i couldn't get them out of my head. they were described as being somewhat like baked cream cheese frosting.
done.

these are not your average cookies. the texture is like whaaaat?WHOA.that's awesome.
a cookie dough lover's cookie at its finest.

puffed and gooey,
speckled with vanilla bean seeds,
rolled in powdered sugar,
and they distract you from realizing you were in a bad mood.

and now this despicable day has come and gone and i'm totally gonna forget about it. i will wake up tomorrow content, refreshed, and joyful.

and if i'm not, gooey butter cookies for breakfast!

Gooey Butter Cookies

recipe by Mathew Rice of Nightwood Restaurant 
barely adapted from lottie and doof (i also halved the original recipe)

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 8oz package  cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter

1/4 - 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (optional but wonderful!)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

confetioner's sugar for rolling and dusting

stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. set aside. in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese, butter, vanilla bean seeds, and sugar together until fluffy. add the eggs and vanilla extract. 

incorporate the flour mixture. chill for at least 30 minutes. 

preheat oven to 325. scoop roughly 1 ounce balls and toss in the confectioner's sugar. place on a baking sheet lined with parchment, a couple of inches apart. bake until they spread and puff slightly, about 12-16 minutes. they will be really soft in the center. if they start to brown, they've gone too far. cool to room temperature. 

*refrigerate and serve cookies cold out of the refrigerator...these cookies are said to taste much better cold than warm. 

mm cookie doughy.