Gooey butter funfetti cookies are impossible to resist, made with cream cheese, butter, and Funfetti cake mix. These are the best cake mix cookies, and they’re SO easy to make!
If you love funfetti desserts, try my recipes for confetti cake and confetti cupcakes!
Easy Funfetti Cookies Made With Cake Mix
I love baking from scratch, but sometimes, some recipes just aren’t the same without a box of cake mix! Whether I’m making cake mix cookies or gooey butter bars, a boxed mix is a must for an irresistibly soft, gooey texture.
These ultra-yummy funfetti cookies are the best of both worlds. They’re moist and chewy like a gooey butter cookie and bursting with bright rainbow sprinkles like the famous birthday cake. All you need is Funfetti cake mix, cream cheese, butter, and a couple of other easy ingredients to make this family favorite!
Why You’ll Love This Cake Mix Cookie Recipe
- Soft and chewy. Cake mix cookies are fluffy and moist, a bit like a cupcake crossed with a chewy butter cookie! The texture is next-level and they always turn out delicious.
- 5 ingredients. Make your funfetti cookie dough with only 5 ingredients (including extra sprinkles!).
- Turn any occasion into a party. With these quick and easy funfetti cookies, there’s always an excuse to celebrate! These cookies are bright and festive without the commitment of a full funfetti cake.
What You’ll Need
In addition to Funfetti cake mix, you’ll need a handful of pantry ingredients to make these easy funfetti cookies. Remember to scroll to the recipe card below the post for the full recipe details.
- Cream Cheese – I recommend using the cream cheese that comes in blocks, at room temperature. This way it combines more smoothly.
- Butter – I use butter from Challenge Dairy. Remember to take your butter out of the fridge ahead of time, along with the cream cheese.
- Egg
- Cake Mix – You’ll need 1 box of Funfetti cake mix (a.k.a. confetti cake mix, if you’re buying a generic version). You need only cake mix, you can skip any ingredients listed on the box.
- Sprinkles – We’re going ahead and adding more sprinkles, because why not. Make sure you’re choosing the right kind, see below.
- Powdered Sugar – Rolling the cookie dough in powdered sugar before baking gives these cookies the perfect melty, sweet coating.
What Sprinkles Should I Use?
The best sprinkles for funfetti desserts are the longer, rainbow-colored sprinkles called jimmies. Avoid tiny round nonpareils, which tend to leak color. Rainbow jimmies hold their shape and won’t bleed color into the batter.
How to Make Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies
These soft and chewy funfetti cookies couldn’t be easier to make. Let’s bake some cookies:
- Make the dough. First, beat the cream cheese and butter together. Next, you’ll add an egg, followed by the cake mix, and mix until combined. Lastly, fold in extra rainbow sprinkles (can you ever have too many sprinkles?).
- Chill. Place the dough into the fridge to chill. After about an hour, set the oven to preheat to 350ºF while you line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough. Take your cookie dough out of the fridge. Form the dough into balls, and roll the balls lightly in powdered sugar before placing them onto the baking sheet. Remember to leave about 2” in between your cookies, to account for spreading.
- Bake. Bake the cookies at 350ºF for 10 minutes. These funfetti cookies should be slightly underbaked when they come out of the oven. Give your cookies a couple of minutes to set up the baking sheet before moving them to a wire rack.
Tips for Success
You don’t have to be a whiz in the kitchen to bake up these perfect funfetti cake mix cookies. Keep these last-minute tips in mind for the best results:
- Use room temperature ingredients. Remember to take your stick of butter and block of cream cheese out of the fridge approx. 30 minutes ahead. Room-temperature ingredients combine easier into the dough and the cookies will bake more evenly.
- Chill the dough. Make sure that you don’t skip chilling your funfetti cookie dough. Chilling is important to keep the dough from spreading too much in the oven, for plump, fluffy cookies.
- Line the baking sheet. Not only does it make for easier clean-up, but lining the pan with parchment paper (or a silicone baking mat) prevents the cookies from sticking and browning on the bottoms.
- Don’t overbake the cookies. Your cookies will look a little soft in the middle when they come out of the oven. This is exactly what we’re going for! Underbaking is the secret to soft, melt-in-your-mouth funfetti cookies, and the cookies will continue to set up as they cool.
Common Questions
Yes! To get a head start on your cookies, instead of chilling the dough as a whole, roll out the dough balls (leaving off the powdered sugar) and refrigerate them up to 1-2 days ahead of baking.
Also yes. Pre-freeze the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and then transfer them to a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. You can roll the frozen dough balls in powdered sugar and bake your cookies right from frozen, adding an extra minute to the baking time.
These funfetti cake mix cookies will be at their freshest within 3 days from when they’re baked. Make sure that you store them airtight. See below for detailed instructions on how to store the baked cookies.
Easy Variation Ideas
Since the base of these funfetti cookies is a boxed cake mix, there are so many possibilities for variations. You can use another boxed cake mix, whether it’s Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, or Duncan Hines – any flavor goes! Try these easy ways to adapt this cake mix cookie recipe, and just stir in the sprinkles as usual:
- Chocolate Funfetti: Swap funfetti cake mix for chocolate cake mix.
- Lemon Funfetti: Use a lemon cake mix for a zesty twist on funfetti cookies.
- Strawberry Funfetti: Make sprinkle-filled strawberry cake mix cookies. They’re perfect for summer baking.
- Add-Ins: Stir in white chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips for a chocolatey twist.
How to Store
Store these funfetti cookies airtight on the counter for up to 3 days. If you’d prefer to keep your cookies in the fridge, I recommend taking them out to serve at room temperature.
Can I Freeze Funfetti Cookies?
Yes! The baked cake mix cookies can be stored airtight and frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost the cookies at room temperature whenever you’re craving something spinkly and sweet.
More Funfetti Desserts
- Funfetti Shortbread
- Unicorn Bars
- Birthday Cake Pancakes
- Cake Batter Blondies
- No Bake Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
Funfetti Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: About 30 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Gooey butter funfetti cookies made with cream cheese, butter, and Funfetti cake mix. This is the best cake mix cookies recipe packed with rainbow sprinkles, and it’s SO easy to make!
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 egg
- 1 box Funfetti cake mix (15.25 oz)
- 1/4 cup sprinkles
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- In bowl beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth, add in egg and continue mixing, scraping sides as necessary.
- Add in the cake mix and beat until combined and finally stir in extra sprinkles.
- Chill dough for about an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350° Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Form dough into 1 inch balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on prepared baking sheet 2″ apart and bake for about 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to wore rack to cool completely.
Notes
store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 121
- Sugar: 7.5 g
- Sodium: 123.3 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 13 g
- Protein: 1.3 g
- Cholesterol: 22 mg
I realize this post is 3 yrs old, but I wanted to let you know I stumbled across this recipe & HAD to make them for our children’s table for Easter Brunch. Everyone loved them! The little ones were having to shoo away the adults!
I follow a gluten free diet (90% of the time). So I made the gf version this week. I mistakenly picked up the gf funfetti cookie mix but it worked perfectly. My husband said they were better than the original ones!
OH that’s so great to hear!!
These are absolutely delicious! I love the fact that they aren’t so sugary. They have a very nice flavor and texture. They were loved by everyone who tried them! I also used a gluten free funfetti cake mix, and nobody knew 😉
I’ve been wanting to make these for a while now, but when my dog woke me up by peeing on me this morning, I decided I needed a pick me up. Well, I’m not sure if I did something wrong or if my mixer just sucks but the dough was really sticky. It got stuck on the mixers whisk things and was really hard to get off. It was also really thick and hard to mix by hand. Maybe it was because the cream cheese was the whipped kind and it was a little cooler than room temp. Anyways, they ended up needing a little more time in the oven, but they taste great! I did add a little extra sugar to make them even sweeter (:
It IS a sticky thick dough. I think you would have better luck using the flat beater or dough hook attachment. Then scoop that sticky batter in a ziplock bag & refrigerate. The directions say an hour but 2+ hours or even overnight has far better results. Before rolling them into balls “flour” your hands with powdered sugar. I hope my tips via trial & error help!
IT SEEMS MY QUESTION GOT LOST OR FLEW AWAY,,,,,I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THIS COOKIE USING FLOUR AND WHAT EVER INSTEAD OF CAKE MIX,,,I FIND CAKE MIX A BIT FUNNY WHEN I MADE THESE ONCE BEFORE, BUT NOT YOUR RECIPE,,,,I KNOW THE BOX MIX IS EASIER BUT NOT AS GOOD AS NONE CAKE MIX,,,,,
I MAY HAVE MISSED IT IN THE LIST BUT, HOW DO I DO MY OWN CAKE MIX ?? CAKE MIX SEEMS TO HAVE A HARSH TASTE FROM THE CHEMICALS,,,,,AND THIS LOOKS LIKE TOO MUCH OF A BEAUTIFUL TASTY COOKIE TO RUIN WITH PACKAGED CAKE MIX,,,,
For whoever has made these you let the cream cheese and butter get to room temperature correct? ? Thanks
Yes.
Thank you . you can let them sit out because everything is cooked. They won’t spoil because of the cream cheese right ? Thanks so much
They’ll be fine at room temperature 🙂
Do I have to use the butter challenge butter or can I use any type butter.
Nope! That’s just the brand I used 🙂
Sorry, these cookies were terrible. Easy yes but if you’re looking for a cookie that
tastes good, this isn’t it. If you don’t want to take the time to make real cookies then
go out a buy them…this short cut isn’t worth it.
A GOOD STORE BOUGHT COOKIE IS NEVER AS GOOD AS A BAD HOME MADE COOKIE,,,,OF COURSE, HOME MADE COOKIES ARE NEVER BAD
I have made these several times for friends and family. Everybody absolutely loves them! They just melt in your mouth and are so easy to make!
Just wondering…do these cookies need to be refrigerated once made ( because of the cream cheese )?
nope! they’ll be fine!