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Incredibly soft, these 4 Ingredient Cake Mix Cookies are an easy recipe to make and even easier to eat! Cookies from Cake Mix? That’s right!! Just 4 ingredients needed to whip up a batch with endless flavor combinations. The sky is truly the limit when it comes to these cookies! Delicious with crockpot hot chocolate or eggnog for the holidays!
Four Simple Ingredients
One of the fastest and easiest ways to make homemade cookies is by making them with cake mix. Hello, quick and easy dessert! If you find cake mix flavors you love, you can turn them into cake mix cookies with this simple, basic method. Believe it or not, these chewy cookies only require 4 ingredients! And it’s an easy enough recipe to make with your kids (don’t worry cake mix is VERY forgiving). Here’s what you need:
- Cake Mix – this contains all of the dry ingredients needed to make these cookies. More about cake mix in the next section!
- Eggs – used for structure! Without eggs, the cookies would spread like crazy!
- Oil – this is mainly for moisture. Any light-colored oil will work here (canola oil, avocado oil, vegetable oil, etc.). Oil is also our secret weapon for soft cookies. Melted butter also works in a pinch.
- Vanilla Extract – this is for a little extra flavor that helps these cookies taste homemade. It’s optional, but I think makes a difference.
These are the basic ingredients to make these easy cookies but I’ve also come up with different flavor combinations you can find below.
Customizing Your Cookies
One of the best parts about making Cake Mix Cookies is customizing them! You can do this by changing the cake mix flavor and/or adding mix-ins!
Use a Different Flavor Combination of Cake Mix
Any flavor of cake mix will do to make these cake mix cookies! I stuck to the Betty Crocker 15.25 oz boxes and as you can see above, I bought three different flavors of cake mixes. A basic plain white cake mix, rainbow chip cake mix, and chocolate cake mix! As long as you’re using a 15.25 oz box of cake mix, this recipe will work perfectly, regardless of flavor. Here are the common flavors I have found in local grocery stores in my area.
- lemon
- red velvet
- carrot cake
- spice cake
- strawberry
- funfetti
- german chocolate
- butter pecan
- yellow
- vanilla
- cherry chip
- dark chocolate
Try Adding Some Mix-Ins
The sky is almost the limit when it comes to adding in different items to make your cookies special and just the way you like them. Lots of chocolates, sprinkles, nuts and goodies to choose from. If using add-ins, I typically say measure with your heart, but if you want an exact measurement, I use between 3/4 cup to 1 cup.
- chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, or dark)
- white chocolate chips
- peanut butter chips
- butterscotch chips
- chopped candy bars (butterfingers, dark chocolate, twix, snickers, reese’s cups)
- reese’s pieces
- m&m’s (plain, peanut, peanut butter, mini)
- sprinkles (use different colors to fit an occasion. Red, white, and blue for Independence Day or green, and red for Christmas, red and white for Valentine’s Day)
- nuts (almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts, etc.)
- coconut shreds
- citrus zest (orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit)
- dried fruit (strawberry, raspberries, blueberries, apricot)
- mini marshmallows
- chopped graham crackers
- chopped candy canes
- pumpkin spice + cinnamon
How to Make 4 Ingredient Cake Mix Cookies
There is no need for the creaming method for these Cake Mix Cookies! Simply dump all the ingredients into a bowl and mix away. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl and mix out all of the lumps, though a few small lumps are totally fine! For full recipe details check out the printable recipe card down below!
Preheat Your Oven + Prep Baking Sheets
Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line two light colored baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Make Your Cookie Dough (with a Cake Mix!)
In a large bowl, stir the dry cake mix together with 1/3 cup oil, eggs and vanilla extract. This is where you can mix in your add-ins to the cake batter. (See notes above about add-ins.)
With a cookie scoop, scoop, and drop dough onto the prepared baking sheet.
Bake + Cool Your Cookies
Place into your preheated oven and bake 8-10 minutes or until they have puffed up and edges are barely brown. You aren’t going for browned cookies, they should look matte (not shiny) and a little crackly on top.
Leave on the baking pan for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
Flavor Combinations for Cake Mix Cookies
Need a little more guidance for these extremely versatile cookies? I’ve got you covered! Try out these cake mix cookies:
- S’mores – add a mixture of chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and chopped graham crackers to white cake mix for summer-worthy S’mores cookies!
- Chocolate Peanut Butter – use chocolate cake mix with peanut butter chips for this classic flavor combo. Reese’s Pieces is also a good peanut butter choice.
- Almond Joy – combine toasted chopped almonds, coconut shreds, and chocolate chips with either chocolate or white cake mix.
- Lemon – for a lemon overload use a lemon cake mix and add in lemon zest!
- Carrot Cake – use carrot cake mix and add white chocolate chips. Or consider making cookie sandwiches with cream cheese frosting in between.
- Berry Cookies – mix dried fruit, any sort of chocolate chips, and cake mix together. Think of a chocolate cookie with dried strawberries and white chocolate chips in it, so pretty!
Storage Directions
Store cookies in an airtight container or resealable bag for up to 3 days. Because cookies store well, these are a great dessert to make ahead.
Pro Tip: Want to keep cookies soft? Store cookies with a piece of bread in it for up to 3 days. The cookies absorb the moisture from the bread.
Cake Mix Cookies FAQ’s
If you’re using a Betty Crocker cake mix that says “Super Moist”, it already has pudding mix in there. If not, you can add a small box of pudding. It will add to the flavor, moistness and be a more dense texture.
I would say no, because it’s already in the mix. However, I can’t say for sure because I haven’t made them that way.
Yes! If you want to freeze these cookies after baking, I would suggest allowing them to cool completely to room temperature before placing in an airtight container or resealable bag. Cookies should stay fresh in the freezer for 2-3 months.
If you want to freeze the dough, you could roll out into balls and place on a cookie sheet and into the freezer until frozen (this keeps them from sticking together), then transfer to a container or bag for storage in the freezer.
As long as it’s a lightly colored and flavored oil, it’ll work just fine. I’ve never tried it with applesauce, but you are welcome to try. The texture is what would most likely suffer. You can also use melted butter in place of oil if you’re in a pinch.
More Cookie Recipes to Try!
If you loved this recipe, you’re going to love all of my other cookie recipes! Here are a couple of my favorite recipes to try first:
- Soft Baked Peanut Butter Cookies
- Amaretti Cookies
- Perfect Shortbread Cookies
- Coconut Cookies
- Chocolate Fudge Cookies
- Carrot Cake Cookies
- Actually Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
- No Bake Cookies
More Favorites from Lauren’s Latest
Experiment away friends and make these easy cake mix cookies! They’ll truly be the best you’ve ever had. These are one of my go-to recipes for birthday parties or Christmas cookie exchanges. The printable recipe card is below, enjoy!
If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.
4 Ingredient Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounce Betty Crocker Cake Mix 1 box, in any flavor
- 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir cake mix together with oil, vanilla and eggs.
- Scoop dough into 24 even balls and place onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 4 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Can you use a gluten free cake mix for this?
Is there a way to make this into a chocolate biscotti COOKIE? (not the bars) Thank you
These cookies are amazing! I am floored how good they are!
For me I’m going to experiment with all kinds of cake mix!!
I doubled the recipe with melted butter instead of oil. Added crushed candy canes. Then I rolled each ball in sugar and baked. Was sure to under bake slightly. They turned out amazing!!! Crisp edges and soft inside. The dough was a great consistency like regular cookie dough
Can you use instant pudding in cake mix
If you replace the oil with applesauce they puff up real big and have a more cake-like texture.
I’ve been baking a lot recently and making these cookies was really easy!
I made 18 bigger cookies and put them in for 15/16 minutes. Worked amazing!
Used this recipe with yellow cake mix, pumpkin spice and cinnamon (measured with my heart) 🥰 the batter turned out very sticky but the outcome tasted amazing
When you use add ins, how much?
I used about 3/4 a cup of add ins , white choc chips , chopped up Reese’s pb cups , and m&ms . I’d say anywhere from 3/4 of a cup to a full cup of ad ins is probably good .
I tried this recipe and made double chocolate chip cookies using the bc chocolate fudge cake mix and also made bc rainbow bit cake mix cookies with m&m’s and they both turned out great. I’m made my cookies for each about 12 so they were bigger, I just doubled the bake time and the baked good. They weren’t raw or burnt like the last time I tried making cookies!
Would like to see more cake mix cookie recipes that can use fruits. ie:: berries and peaches, and other fruits.
I made adjustments because of the size of the box. Just wanted to share – I used the 10.58oz of funfetti cupcake batter. I adjusted the recipe at: 1/4th cup of oil, 1 egg, 1 tbsp of yogurt, 1 tsp of vanilla – it came out great.
This recipe is amazing 😋
Will this work with Angel Food Cake Mix?
ooh, probably not!
I used a BC Red Velvet cake mix. I subbed non fat Greek yogurt for the oil and added dark chocolate chips. Delicious 👍😃
What if I’m using a cake mix that only uses water. Do I still at eggs and oil or no because it’s already in the mix.
These are so yummy I can’t stand it. Easy and so yummy. A winner!
Made these and they are great although I had to add around 1/3 cup flour as they were way to wet. I also put the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes. Definitely going to make them again 🙂
Quick&easy. Almost like a Brownie. I added walnuts chocolate chips and coconut . Very nice .
I usually bake cookies from scratch. I was cleaning out my pantry and saw a cake mix. I wanted to try and make cookies. I saw your recipe and tried it. My husband, daughters, sons-in-law and grandkids all loved them. I used a milk chocolate cake mix and added dark and white chocolate chips. If I didn’t tell them it was from a cake mix, no one would have known they weren’t from scratch. Absolutely yummy 😋
I found your recipe t hi I’d morning while looking for cake mix recipes. I used yellow cake Duncan’s Hines moist and chopped up reese’s mini cups and Hershey special dark chocolate bar. I wasn’t sure how much to use. I opted for a 1/2 cup of each and it worked perfectly. Thank you Lauren for an easy recipe for someone who has limited time these days.
This is my new go to recipe for the future. ❤😁
Looking forward to making cookies out of cakemix.
Delicious, soft, and so easy! I used Duncan Hines devils food cake and rolled them in powdered sugar! Very yummy and so simple ! Thanks for the great recipe.
Really enjoyed making these with yellow cake mix with chocolate chips in them. And I used my Madeleine pans and they were really cute and satisfying to bite into, as I’d baked them a little longer than recommended, turning them over to brown on the opposite side, thinking they weren’t done. So they turned a little crispy on the outside. Thank you for your very easy recipe to follow.
Can you friz them?
This recipe was not good. The bake time was completely off and the cookies were under cooked and we had to throw away 3/4 of the batch, it was very dissapointing.
They should have been baked after 8-10 minutes. Did you scoop them into bigger cookies? Also, some ovens run hot or cold. You can definitely bake these longer if you noticed they weren’t baked entirely through.
Some of my family was gone for a while and i wanted to make something sweet. I heard about making cake batter into cookies but I have never tried it and I looked for an awesome recipe. that’s exactly what I got! This recipe was so good and my entire family was devouring these cookies. I used A Devil‘s cake mix and it was pretty good. Thank you so much
Added chocolate kiss in the center and used chocolate cake mix . Death by chocolate for sure. They were delicious. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I love the idea of mix-ins. Can you suggest an amount to add. I would probably add a couple of things like chips and nuts. Thanks and Happy New Year.
These cookies are delightful, and incredibly easy. There are almost endless flavor combinations. I’ve made these many times. 😋
Can I use applesauce instead of oil
Yes you can, but not adding fat will give a different texture to the cookie that some people might not like.
Can I use oil oil or applesauce instead of vegetable oil?
As long as its a lightly colored and flavored oil, it’ll work just fine. I’ve never tried it with applesauce, but you are welcome to try. The texture is what would most likely suffer.
Can I use melted butter instead of the oil?
yes!
Consider me influenced! I saw this recipe on your Instagram account and it was a no brainer to try with my kids. We made cherry chip with Christmas coloured sprinkles. Yum! I shouldn’t be surprised… in the many years I’ve been following your blog, you’ve never led me astray! Thanks for another good one!
I like cake mix cookies.
Can you use Duncan Hines instead of Betty Crocker without having to adjust amounts?
Can you freeze these cookies ?
Yes! In an airtight container for up to 3 months!
I only have 10 oz cake mix boxes can I add extra flour to stretch it to make more cookies
Yes we froze them for @ 6 weeks and still delicious!
Thank you. Yours is the only site that made any sense.
My husband used to make these cake mix cookies to take to a weekly meeting. He tried every cake mix there was. They are good but I found that if they were not eaten within a few days they were a bit grainy. Usually they didn’t last that long thank goodness
I have been making similar cookies for years from my grandma’s recipe. We usually roll ours into balls and then into sugar. So like yellow cake mix roll in a cinnamon/sugar mix so they’re like Snickerdoodles. Chocolate cake mix would be rolled in powdered sugar, etc. I don’t know why but I’ve never thought to add mix-ins to the batter before. I will definitely have to try that to the next batch I make. What I love about this recipe though is that it’s so easy and only makes a small batch. My grandma said she came up with her recipe because my dad or my 3 uncles would always tell her they needed cookies for school the next day at 10 pm the night before. She needed something quick and not complicated to make. Thanks for sharing your version. I love all your recipes.