Combine your favorite mix-ins, like chocolate chips, M&Ms, and sprinkles, with the cake mix of your choice to make the easiest cake mix cookies! Only three ingredients and quick to make, this cookie-baking trick is perfect for customizing for any holiday or occasion.
All you need are three ingredients, plus your favorite mix-ins, to make the best cake mix cookies! Using a cake mix is one of my favorite baking hacks (and not just for cookies, if my cake mix brownies have anything to say).
This is my original cake mix cookie recipe that’s inspired countless others on my site. I’ve included some fun variations below, and I love getting creative with different flavors, from funfetti cookies to strawberry cake mix cookies and birthday cake chocolate chip cookies.
The Only Cake Mix Cookies Recipe You’ll Ever Need
- These cake mix cookies are soft, tender, and chewy.
- Using a box of cake mix cuts the recipe down to only three ingredients. Add any mix-ins you’d like.
- The cookie dough comes together in one bowl, without a mixer.
- Mix the dough, spoon it onto a baking sheet, drop cookie-style, and bake.
- There are endless flavor combinations. Switching up the flavor is as easy as switching the cake mix. Use one recipe to make vanilla, chocolate, pumpkin cake mix cookies, or red velvet cake mix cookies.
What You’ll Need
We have delicious cookies to bake, so I’ll keep this quick! If you have a box of cake mix in the pantry, chances are you have everything you need to make a batch of chewy cake mix cookies (see the recipe card for the exact measurements).
- Cake Mix – I like vanilla cake mix best in these cookies, so that’s what I’ve used here. Feel free to swap this for any cake mix flavor you’d like.
- Eggs – Egg size matters! Make sure to use large eggs (not small or extra-large) for this recipe.
- Oil – I use vegetable oil; however, any light colored oil will work, such as canola oil or corn oil.
- Mix-ins – So many possibilities, from M&Ms to sprinkles. See my Mix-ins section for ideas.
How to Make Cake Mix Cookies
Making cookies from cake mix is easy to do in one bowl, and you really only need to measure out the oil. Everything else can be dumped right in. Here are the steps.
- Combine the ingredients. Add your cake mix, eggs, and oil to a large bowl. Mix gently until smooth.
- Add the mix-ins. Next, fold in your chosen extras. I used M&Ms here.
- Portion and bake the cookies. Portion the dough onto a lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches in between to account for spreading. Bake these cake mix cookies at 350ºF for 9-10 minutes, until they’re golden at the edges. Cool the cookies on the pan for a few minutes, then move them over to a wire rack.
Adapting to Different Cake Mix Sizes
I’ve found some stores are phasing out 18-ounce boxes of cake mix for 15-ounce boxes. If you can’t find an 18-ounce cake mix, an easy fix is to supplement a 15-ounce box with ¼ cup of all-purpose flour.
Luckily, cake mix is forgiving in this recipe. Don’t mind a thinner cookie? Simply swap the 18-ounce box with a 15-ounce box without any further changes to the recipe. Your cake mix cookies will still turn out fine; they may just spread a bit more.
Tips for the Best Cake Mix Cookies
- Avoid overmixing. Fold the dry cake mix with the wet ingredients just until everything is combined, but don’t overmix. Overmixed cookie dough leads to tough, dense cookies.
- Line the baking sheet. Lining the cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat liner prevents the bottom of the cookies from overbrowning. It also makes clean-up a breeze!
- Use a cookie scoop. I love my large cookie scoop for portioning big, thick, chewy cookies. It makes it super quick and easy to scoop out cookies that bake up to be the same size. One large cookie scoop equals approximately 3 tablespoons of cookie dough.
- Don’t overbake the cookies. Cake mix cookies are done when they’re lightly browned at the edges and soft in the middle. They’ll finish firming up as they cool on the baking sheet. If your cookies are completely set or browned all over when they come out of the oven, they’re overdone.
- There will be some variation in the texture of the cookies, depending on which cake mix you use. For example, a vanilla cake mix vs. chocolate cake mix may yield thicker or thinner cookies, cookies that spread more, etc.
Cake Mix Flavors
I use a vanilla cake mix, but these are more suggestions from the baking aisle.
- Red Velvet
- Yellow Cake
- Funfetti
- Chocolate
- French Vanilla
- Carrot Cake (see my carrot cake mix cookies)
- Spice Cake
- Pumpkin
- Lemon
- Strawberry
Best Mix-ins for Cake Mix Cookies
Cake mix cookies are truly the “choose your own adventure” of cookie recipes! You can leave these plain, like sugar cookies, or mix and match your favorite add-ins with any of the cake mix flavors mentioned above. I suggest keeping the total amount of mix-ins to 1 cup or less, so as to not overload the cookie dough.
- Chocolate chips: Semi-sweet, milk, dark chocolate chips or white chocolate chips.
- Other kinds: Peanut butter chips, butterscotch, toffee bits, or cinnamon chips (love these with spice cake mix!)
- Sprinkles: Add up to ½ cup of sprinkles, and adapt the colors to different holidays! Red and green for Christmas, pink and red for Valentine’s Day, or red, white, and blue for the 4th of July.
- Candies: M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces, peppermint candy, chopped candy bars, like Rolo, and chopped Mini Oreos.
- Fruit and nuts: Chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, dried fruit, and toasted coconut.
Some of my favorite cake mix and add-in combinations include red velvet cake mix cookies with white chocolate chips, chocolate cake mix cookies with peanut butter cups, and vanilla cake mix with Fruity Pebbles cereal! Drop a comment below with your combinations. 🙂
Storage and Freezing
- At room temperature. Store the cooled cake mix cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. You can stretch their shelf life by another day or two in the fridge, but I recommend bringing the cookies back to room temperature when serving.
- Freeze. Once cooled, freeze the cookies in a freezer-safe container or a tightly sealed Ziploc bag for 2-3 months. Thaw them in the fridge or at room temperature before enjoying.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
Cake Mix Cookies
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
This cake mix cookie recipe is a fun, easy way to make soft, chewy cookies with only 3 ingredients. Mix and match cake flavors with your favorite mix-ins, like M&Ms, to make different combinations. My kids LOVE these cake mix cookies!
Ingredients
- 1 (18.25-ounce) box cake mix
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup add-ins like chocolate chips or M&M’s (if adding in sprinkles, use 1/2 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix cake mix, eggs, and oil until smooth. Alternately you can do this step in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mixing the ingredients on low until combined.
- Mix in desired add-ins until evenly incorporated.
- Using a medium (2-tablespoon) cookie scoop, portion the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until lightly golden at the edges.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3-4 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
- To Store: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: Freeze the cookies in an airtight container or a tightly sealed Ziploc bag for 2-3 months once they’ve cooled. Thaw them in the fridge or at room temperature before enjoying.
- Use any flavor cake mix you would like and mix and match add-ins!
- If you can’t find an 18-ounce cake mix and can only find a 15-ounce, add 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour to the recipe.
- *Nutritional information does not include mix-ins.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 119
- Sugar: 7.9 g
- Sodium: 126.3 mg
- Fat: 6.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 14.6 g
- Protein: 1.2 g
- Cholesterol: 15.5 mg
Can you use butter instead of oil?
You can, the texture will just be a little thicker.
Does anybody know if you can make the dough thick enough for piping? I’m currently on a pretty cookie kick lol
Use butter instead of oil
I just made this recipe using the Pillsbury Sugar Free Yellow cake mix! I added chocolate chips, a splash of vanilla and a pinch of sea salt. They are wonderful! This box mix was exactly 16 oz and I did not add any flour. I left them in the oven for about 16 minutes and could have gone another 1 or 2 as they were not browned. But oh so goood!!
Great recipe! Do you know if I could sub applesauce or butter for the oil? Thanks!
Great ideas here! I was playing with some of the add ins, so I thought I’d share an epic fail so nobody makes that mistake. Marshmallows. The idea is good, but it just doesn’t work. I used dark chocolate cake mix and mini marshmallows. Smells great! Let’s not judge the cookie by its cover ok? The marshmallows completely disintegrated. Still gonna eat them though!
Oh man! Thanks for the update! I’ve tried baking marshmallows in cookies and it’s always tricky…they melt all over!
Have you tried the tiny marshmallows, like what’s in our hot chocolate mix? They do make them so you can buy them, they come in a container and not a bag. They appear to melt slower and may not disintegrate. I believe they are Kraft-Jet Puffed Marshmallow bits. Might be worth a try if you can find them.
I have made cookies with those before and they work perfectly!! I buy them in bulk on amazon 🙂
Add marshmallows halfway through baking. Just take the pan out halfway through and lay marshmallows on the cookies and put back in the oven to finish. That way the marshmallows melt enough to blend into the cookie but won’t burn.
I needed a quick snack for a group of my son’s friends. But all I had in my pantry was a couple of boxes of cake mixes. So I decided to give this recipe a try. I used a vanilla cake mix and those colorful tiny round nonpareil baking sprinkles. I was slightly concerned about the texture of the cookies since the recipe calls for an 18oz cake mix, but all I can find anymore in the stores is 15.25oz cake mixes. So I made the recipe anyway without any adjustments (didn’t add flour or anything to compensate for the smaller size cake mix), and the cookies turned out wonderful. The batch produced 2 dozen cookies, and I baked mine for just 16 minutes, and they were nicely baked with a soft center. Thanks for the recipe, Cookies and Cups.
So glad you liked them! Yes, I have trouble nowadays find the 18 ounce size too, but have found the 15 ounce still works great!
I think the extra flour makes a lighter, fluffier cookie. Mine were about 3/4″ tall after baking!
The box mix I have calls for eggs and water no oil. Can I still use your recipe?
Yes, you use the cake mix dry and add the ingredients I listed 🙂
I’m so excited to try this recipe but I’m only finding 15oz cake mixes. What brand do you use??
I’ve noticed that I seem to have trouble finding the 18 ounce cake mixes as well recently! I’ve been adding 1/4 cup extra flour and have had great results!
I know this sounds like a silly question, but I only have one egg at the moment, so can I just use half of the cake mix? I’ll measure it on my kitchen scale to make sure I jabber exactly half.
Omg, jabber??? Darn autocorrect! I think I meant “just use”??? ????????
If you only have one egg you can certinaly cut the recipe in half or use an egg substitute, like 1/4 cup of applesauce, or 1/4 cup mashed banana or even 1/4 cup sour cream.
I have made this recipe with funfetti, devils food, triple chocolate, and red velvet cake mixes and I’ve loved all of them! My family and friends have too. It’s fun to be able to have freedom to choose which cake mix and what you want in the dough. I’ve tried M&Ms, chocolate chips, vanilla chocolate chips, and sprinkles! Every single one has tasted delicious and I can’t wait to try more combinations!
I love the ease of cake mix cookies! I use spice cake mix, 15oz pumpkin purée and a bag of chocolate chips. It calls for 1C but I use the whole bag. Bake 8-10 min in a 350 degree oven after mixing it all together and rolling into small balls on a cookie sheet. I’m excited to try the red velvet variety mentioned above! So easy for the annual cookie swap.
Thanks!
Did you ad the oil and eggs too?