I have to give these a 5 for ease of prep, versatility of recipe, few ingredients, presentation, and taste! I used a D.H. devil's food mix, and perhaps it was that particular mix, but it tasted just like I made these with Hershey cocoa powder. There was not one hint of cake mix taste that sometimes can occur with yellow and white mixes. They present so well with the cracked tops. The dough is stiff so thanks for the headsup on not mixing with a mixer. I just creamed my shortening and beat in eggs and water with electric mixer then added mix by hand. The dough is stiff enough that it is very easy to work with especially if using a cookie scoop; just scoop them into the powdered sugar and roll them around; no messy fingers. I didn't even bother to chill the dough; if pressed for time I don't think it needs to be. The cracked top looks just like a blacktop highway that has crumbled from an earthquake. Perhaps that is why they are called this? I'd not hesitate to put these on a christmas cookie tray they are just that attractive and good.
These are easy. I used a chocolate cake mix and butter instead of shortening. They came out picture perfect. The taste is kind of bland. Maybe some chocolate chips would jazz them up.
This is a good and easy recipe. I used a lemon cake mix and the cookies disappeared quickly. I will make these again and eager to try other flavors.
Great cookies! I preheated my oven (I assumed I was supposed to) and didn't have any problems. The batter is VERY thick so definitely use only a spoon to mix it or be ready to scrap your beaters. Bake them until the sugar has almost disappeared and they'll be perfect.
i absolutely LOVE this recipe for its ease and its versatility. I've even used butter instead of shortening, and it came out great! i've done it with strawberry cake mix for strawberry cookies. for the chocolate ones, i've even placed some halved andes mints on the top, let it melt, and spread it around for chocolate mint cookies. it's the best! thanks for the recipe!
VERY simple cookie that packs a lot of punch! I used a devil's food cake mix and they turned out great! Only one word of warning: they crumble easily so I would't use them for a cookie exchange. I did and found that they fell apart much quicker than the other cookies.
These are FANTASTIC! They will still be very soft when you take them out of the oven but they become less soft as they cool - don't leave them in too long or they'll be hard when they cool. I took 3 dozen to about 15 college students and they were GONE in no time!
I used butter pecan cake mix in this easy, easy recipe and it was great. Makes a very chewy cookie. I can't wait to try it with chocolate mix! There are better homemade cookies, but not this easy...
I made these the other day and we absolutely loved them!! They are so easy! I didn't chill them at all and they were not hard to handle at ALL. Then after I rolled them into balls I put half of a pecan in the middle of each one which added even more to the already good cookies. I have never seen such an easy cookie recipe.
I am so sorry to rate these poorly. They didn't rise theywere hard and burnt. I even let them sit in frig for an hour! Very sticky too. What I could scape out of the an tasted ok. I used chocolate devils food cake. Sorry:(
