I ran short on time to prepare Monday baked goods for work and was forced to use the boxed stuff.  I felt dirty at first and compromised by using the box brownie mix in a novel way.  I’d switch from oil to butter, add water and make cookies instead of brownies.  I even had a packet of caramel to add to the top to make them look like those adorable (type of cookie where there’s stuff in the center) that everyone likes.  I made thumb depressions in the cookie blanks, added the caramel, threw it in the oven at 350°F for 14 minutes and celebrated my victory by going to town on the beaters.

I pulled them from the oven left them to cool for an hour and came back to…. donuts.   Apparently, the caramel prevented the centers from cooking and with additional weight of the sauce the centers dropped through the grating of the cooling rack.  So, tomorrow I will go to work with not one but two goodies.  First, the donut cookies with their hole slightly creamed with caramel, and second the slightly under cooked centers that I’ve come to call caramel hats.

Stupid like a fox.