Cool Whip was introduced in 1967 by the Birds Eye division of General Foods. Within two years of its debut, it became the largest and most profitable product in the Birds Eye line of products. Who doesn’t remember Cool Whip growing up with those Jello-y salads mom made? Cool Whip has endured the test of time.

My neighbor gave me a gift jar of dry chocolate cookie batter to make “Chocolate Crinkles.” All I had to do was add one egg and Cool Whip. Cool Whip?  I was skeptical about the Cool Whip part. The cookies were chewy and moist just like they should be. I know now it was a chocolate cake mix and the Cool Whip gave it the crackly texture after rolling the dough in confectioner’s sugar and baking it.

Cool Whip resurfaced last week when I found a Lemon Burst Cake Mix Cookie recipe on Tidy Mom’s blog. The same procedure: add Cool Whip and an egg to a cake mix! How easy is that?

So, your well-stocked pantry can include a lemon or chocolate cake mix and Cool Whip in the freezer. You can make homemade cookies in a jif.

Photo by CIndy Dyer

Lemon Crinkles
Adapted from Tidy Mom’s Recipe

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1- 8 oz container Cool Whip
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar (for rolling)

Hint: I’m a lemon lover, so I added a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice with the pulp and 1/4 teaspoon of lemon zest.

Preheat oven to 350°

In medium bowl, beat Cool Whip, egg, cake mix, lemon juice and zest, until well blended. Dough will be thick and sticky.

Drop by teaspoonfuls into a bowl of powdered sugar and roll to coat.

Place on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. The parchment paper is essential. Let the cookies completely cool on the sheet or they are too gooey to remove.Hint:If you don’t have parchment paper then grease a cookie sheet with Crisco and flour it. Don’t use wax paper. (I can attest to that failure.)