Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Ellen Cawood

Have you heard of the “don’t mix it!” trend? It is where you take a store box cake mix and make a master piece of a dessert. You can essentially do any flavors you want to play on classics you love. I’ve seen chocolate covered strawberry, blueberry cobbler, cinnamon sugar, and many, many more combinations that sound delicious.

My best friend’s family pet passed away last weekend, and in efforts to make her day a little better I made them dinner which included one of these trendy desserts. I have to say, it was one of the best and easiest things I have ever tried. In no way shape or form is it good for anything but your soul, but I assure you that it is worth it.

Carmel Pecan Don’t-Mix-It Cake

Ingredients

• 1 roll sugar cookie dough
• 1 jar of coconut pecan icing
• 1 pack chopped pecans
• caramel sauce
• 1 box vanilla cake mix
• 1 ½ sticks of butter

Instructions

1. Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Press the sugar cookie dough out in an even layer on the bottom of a 9 by 11 baking dish. Evenly spread the coconut pecan icing on top of the cookie dough. Sprinkle the package of chopped pecans on top, followed by your desired amount of caramel sauce.
2. The next step is where the “don’t mix it” phrase really comes in. Add the entire box of dry vanilla cake mix to the top of your previous layers. Spread it out evenly, but don’t mix anything together. Thinly slice the cold butter and lay out evenly across the top of the dry cake mix.
3. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve while hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!