Did you know you can turn a box of yellow cake mix into soft, chewy cookies in about 20 minutes? This easy cake mix cookies recipe is no-fuss and works with Duncan Hines or any yellow, white, or vanilla cake mix. You can stir in chocolate chips, sprinkles, or nuts, or finish them with a layer of frosting or ganache.
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I bake from scratch, the old-fashioned way, most of the time. It turns out that some pre-made ingredients render very good desserts everyone loves.
Since posting this easy peach dump cake that uses a box of cake mix for the topping, they have found their way into this blog. And my eyes opened wide at how wonderful it turned out.
I was curious about trying out what a friend called the "Duncan Hines cake mix cookies", because of the brand of cake mix she used. As much as I love a good homemade cookie, sometimes I don't have the time or energy for it. Because, as easy as they are, they're more laborious than this recipe today.
Can I use white or vanilla cake mix?
It's the question I get asked the most. And yes! Vanilla and white cake mix cookies use the same method as yellow cake mix cookies. White mix gives you a paler color and a slightly lighter flavor. Both are great canvases for add-ins and toppings.
Sandwich cookies: these easy cookies are thin with a soft texture, perfect for filling with ice cream or different types of frostings and buttercreams.
Dress them up: pipe or spread cream cheese frosting (funfetti cake mix cookies) or chocolate ganache on top (like these chocolate cake mix cookies).
Testing notes
Paula's baking tips that make a difference.
Cake mix brands: no matter which one you use, they may have slight variations in ingredients and texture, but the overall process should remain the same.
Overmixing the dough might result in heavy, tough cookies. Use a hand whisk, a rubber spatula, or the lowest speed using an electric mixer. When it's all incorporated, stop mixing.
Check the package weight, as cake mix sizes vary by brand and country. If your box contains more than the recipe calls for, measure or weigh the amount needed rather than using the whole box.
I always recommend doing a test bake. Bake two or three cookies first and check the baking time to ensure you don't over- or underbake them. Also, see how much they expand and adjust accordingly if needed so they don't touch during baking.
Keep the dough thick and scoopable. If you feel they're too oily, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of extra flour to the dough.
Flat or spreading cookies: the dough might've been too warm or the oven temperature too low. Try chilling the dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before baking. Additionally, ensure your oven is preheated to the correct temperature in the recipe.
Dry or crumbly texture: you may have overbaked them or used too much cake mix. Follow the recommended baking time in the recipe and check for doneness by looking for lightly golden edges and slightly underdone centers.
Variations & substitutions
- Dry cake mix: change the flavor of the mix and get different-flavored cookies. Use red velvet, orange, strawberry, spice or other you like.
- Add-ins: chopped nuts, chocolate chips, butterscotch or peanut butter chips, candy pieces, and sprinkles are just some extras you can add to cake mix cookie dough before baking.
- Butter: instead of oil, use the same amount (in volume ½ cup) of melted butter.
This is a 2-step, mix-and-bake type of recipe.
Mix
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Integrate well with a spatula or the lowest speed of an electric mixer, but don't overmix.
Cookie dough
The final dough is shiny, smooth, and very dense. At this point, you can bake the cookies or cover and refrigerate the dough for 2 days.
Scoop and bake
Use a cookie scoop to get even-sized cookies. You can also use a spoon and drop mounds.
Leave roughly a 2-inch separation between each (depending on the size), so they can spread comfortably during baking. I use the small cookie scoop of this set, which is 1.57 inches (4cm) in diameter for regular-sized cookies.
More yellow cake mix recipes
If you have extra boxes of yellow cake mix, try these:
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Yellow Cake Mix Cookies Recipe (3-ingredients)
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounces yellow cake mix, or white cake mix
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil, I use sunflower
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Combine 15.25 ounces yellow cake mix, 2 eggs and ½ cup vegetable oil in a mixing bowl. Stir until all the ingredients are well combined. The mixture will be thick, shiny, and sticky.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease it.
- Scoop spoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them a few inches apart. You can also use spoons to drop them.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden brown. The cookies may appear slightly undercooked in the center, but they will firm up as they cool.
- Let cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire rack, until you can easily and carefully remove them from the baking sheet.
- Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Repeat the process with the remaining dough until all the cookies are baked.
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, you can store them in an airtight container for up to a week. I like metal tins.
Marty says
I had to do some searching to find this recipe using a lemon cake mix. Glad I found your recipe, it baked up beautifully! I guess I used the wrong size scoop because I had 40 cookies instead of 24. That was still OK because they were still awesome tasting and there were more of them to eat! I did have to bake them for about 14 minutes instead of 10 even though they were smaller. Great tasting lemon cookie. Thanks for the recipe, it's a definite keeper!
Yali says
Hi,i love this recipe! But....i can't use eggs!! ( Eggs alerge..) Is there something i can use insted ?? Thank you...
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Yali, I don’t know as I never tried this recipe substituting the egg.
You can Google vegan recipes with cake mix and see if you find one you like.
Marlene Gris says
Hi Paula,
I guess that I must have forgotten to send my initial review of this cookie. I used a French Vanilla cake mix and followed your instructions but added 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp of pure lemon extract and 2 tbsp of lemon rind. The cookies baked up beautifully and I sandwiched them with my homemade lemon curd. Perfect and tasty.
Thanks for this easy cookie recipe.
Marlene
Marlene Gris says
In my recent review of these cookies, I forgot to add that I also added 2 tbsp of grated lemon rind.
Marlene
Marlene Gris says
Hello Paula,
I had a French Vanilla cake mix sitting on my shelf for some reason. So decided to follow Mary Jean's lead with making these cookies. After following your instructions I added a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, a teaspoon of pure lemon extract and white chocolate chips. I then sandwiched the cookies with my homemade lemon curd. Perfect!
Thank you for this really easy last minute cookie recipe.
Paula Montenegro says
They sound wonderful! I'll definitely be trying out a version of lemon cake mix cookies very soon. Have a great week Marlene!
Mary Jean Goodman says
Hi Paula. It's me again.
99% of the time I bake from scratch but I was in a hurry so I used this recipe. I did add a package of lemon jello, lemon juice, a tiny but of lemon extract and white chocolate chips. The volunteers I bake for at the soup kitchen said they were my best cookies yet! Very funny.
Thanks again for all the good recipes!
Paula Montenegro says
Thanks for letting me know Mary. I have to try it with those additions, they sound amazing! Have a great week.