vanilla dipped chocolate cake cookies

These are the easiest "black and white" cookies ever. I made the batter, baked the cookies, and dipped them all in less than 1 hour. Not kidding. And then the whole batch was demolished in about 5 minutes.

Okay, you know that emergency boxed cake mix sitting on the shelf? (You can stop judging me because you thought I was better than that. I'm not. In fact, I have one-- usually two-- at all times.) Well, this is where that premade cake mix will come in handy. And it will become something totally different than what's instructed on the back of the box, so I think it's totally acceptable.

Dipped Chocolate Cake Cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 package chocolate cake mix (I used Devil's Food cake mix)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 1/2 cups vanilla, white candy melts wafers
1/4 cup rainbow nonpareils sprinkles

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until even consistency. Then add the egg and cake mix until everything is well incorporated and there is no visible dry.
3. Portion 1 to 1 1/2-inch balls of dough onto the lined baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. I use an small ice cream scoop to make this easy.
4. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating in between. 
5. When the cookies are done, allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 3-5 minutes. Then transfer cookies to a wire cooling rack.
6. While the cookies are cooling, place the candy melts into a microwavable bowl. Melt by heating in 30 second intervals, stirring after each heating. When the candy melts are almost melted (still a little lumpy), stir for a longer amount of time until melted completely. This will help to overheating the candy melts. 
7. Dip the cooled cookies halfway into the vanilla candy melts. Immediately sprinkle the rainbow nonpareils sprinkles-- as little or as much as you like!
8. Place cookies back onto the cooled parchment-lined baking sheet. The candy coating will harden and set. To quicken the process, you can pop them into the refrigerator for 2-3 minutes.
9. Then they are ready to eat! They can also be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

What's awesome about these cookies is you can use your favorite cake mix and candy melt flavors. The vanilla candy melts taste just like white chocolate. But white chocolate can be a fussy. Candy melts are designed to be melted down, altered, and quickly harden back into their solid form. I used the rainbow nonpareils, but you can use pretty much anything that can be broken down into small crumbs-- think Oreos, graham crackers, etc. Just go for it. And have fun!