Last Updated April 25th, 2024 at 12:47 pm by Lisa
Cake Mix Cookies are an easy recipe baked in 11-minutes and just 4-ingredients. You can mix in candies, sprinkles, or chocolate chips.
What is so fun about these gooey butter cookies is that any boxed cake mix works! I used vanilla in this recipe, but any other flavor you have or buy will work just fine. These pastel m&ms are so pretty tucked into these chewy cookies...
The best part of a basic cake mix cookie recipe is to take a simple boxed cake mix you have on hand and bake the easiest cookies with just 4 simple ingredients.
In other words, fluffy cookies can be made in minutes for last-minute bake sales, birthday parties, or baby showers.
There are so many different flavors and colors to create, and endless flavor combination options.
Cake Mix Cookies Recipe
You Need
- 15.25 box vanilla cake mix
- ½ cup melted butter or swap in ½ cup oil (Canola Oil, or Vegetable Oil)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup M&Ms
- Optional Mix Ins: chocolate chips, sprinkles, coconut, nuts etc.
Let's Bake!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add the boxed mix, melted butter, and eggs. Mix well to combine. The dough will be very sticky!
- Scoop using a 2” cookie scoop onto baking sheet, or use 2 tablespoons roll into little balls and drop.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes, remove from oven, and press in M&Ms into each cookie, and let cool on counter. You can mix the M&Ms into the cookie dough, I wanted them on top and to not be melted and stay pretty!
- Cookies are good up to a couple days, store in an airtight container.
Top Baking Tips
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, it makes clean up so easy AND FAST!
- Scoop cookie dough into 2" portions about 3 inches apart. Spring-loaded scoops are one of my favorite kitchen gadgets, you can use also two large spoons.
Basic Cake Mix Cookie Recipe
There are so many cake mixes on the market. Brands like Betty Crocker and Duncans Hines offer endless options in the baking aisle. Most of the time I have one on hand to use up, and always keep baking chips and chocolate morsels in the pantry. And of course tons of sprinkles!
PRO TIP: Cake mix recipes are simple. For the dry ingredients, you need any kind of boxed cak (one box dry cake mix), and for the wet ingredients, it will include 2 eggs and either butter or oil but not both!
- Favorite Boxed Cake Flavor (your choice)
- 2 Large Eggs
- ½ cup Melted Butter, or substitute ½ cup oil (Canola Oil, or Vegetable Oil)
- chocolate chips, crushed candy, powdered sugar or sprinkles etc
Popular Cake Mix Cookie Recipes
Try one of these different flavor combos, these are a great way to get kids cooking in the kitchen...
- Strawberry Cake: strawberry boxed mix + white chocolate chips + powdered sugar
- Reeses: chocolate mix + peanut butter chocolate chips
- Birthday Cake: party rainbow chip white cake + white chocolate chips + rainbow sprinkles
- Smores: milk chocolate cake + mallow bits + graham crackers + chocolate bars
- Peppermint Crunch: dark chocolate cake + Andes peppermint crunch
- Lemonade: lemon + white chocolate chips + powder sugar
- Pecan: butter pecan + heath bar baking chips + pecans
- Red Velvet: box of red velvet mix + white chocolate chips
- Butterfinger Cookies: butter recipe yellow cake + butterfinger bits
- Snickerdoodles: yellow + cinnamon + sugar
- Mint Chocolate Chip: vanilla + cream de menthe + semi sweet chocolate
- Nestle Crunch: chocolate + Nestle candy bar pieces
A Word About Mix-Ins
I pressed the m&ms into the cookies right out of the oven. You can certainly mix them in with the cookie dough and bake.
They will crack a tiny bit when you press them into the hot cookies, but won't totally melt, and they look so pretty!
Other different mix-ins to add...
- milk chocolate chips
- white chocolate chips
- add food color drops to cookie dough
- sprinkles and sparkling sugar
- butterscotch, heath or mint chocolate
- dark or milk chocolate pieces
- nuts favorite
- chopped up mini candy bars
- crushed peppermint candy canes
- peanut butter chips
- mini marshmallows
- Hershey kisses different flavors
- sweetened coconut
- dried fruit-pineapple, cranberries, blueberries
Cake Mix Cookies spread and become flat due to the soft or melted butter or oil in the cookie recipe. Many people prefer this chewy style of cookie.
Yes, Cake Mix Cookies are soft and chewy and will spread out, especially if the recipe calls for soft or melted butter.
More Cookie Recipes
Who loves the holiday baking and homemade cookies as much as I do? Put these Christmas cookies out for Santa, a Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies sure to make him ho ho ho. Or bake up some Valentine's Day Palmiers for your sweetie on Valentine’s day!
Bake up these Classic Palmiers with their crisp delicate crunch, Feeling lucky? Make these no-bake Lucky Green Oreos on St. Patrick's Day. Take these Patriotic Sugar Cookies to a July 4th fireworks show, or enjoy S'more Cookies with the family.
And if you are in search of Easter Desserts, take a look at all the sweet treats I have whipped up for you! Lots of ideas including adorable Coconut Macaroons with chocolate bird eggs nestled inside.
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Easy Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients
- 15.25 box vanilla cake mix
- ½ cup melted butter or swap in ½ cup oil (Canola Oil, or Vegetable Oil)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup M&Ms
- Optional Mix Ins chocolate chips, sprinkles, coconut, nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the boxed mix, melted butter, and eggs. Mix well to combine with a wooden spoon or spatula. The dough will be very sticky!
- Scoop using a 2” cookie scoop onto baking sheet, or use 2 tablespoons roll into balls and drop.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes, remove from oven, and press in M&Ms into each cookie, and let cool on counter. You can mix the M&Ms into the cookie dough, I wanted them on top and to not be melted and stay pretty!
- Cookies are good up to a couple days, store in an airtight container.
Notes
Mix-In Ideas
I pressed the m&ms into the cookies right out of the oven. You an mix them in with the cookie dough, I was attempting to keep them from melting. They will crack a tiny bit, and they look so pretty on top of each cookie!- milk chocolate chips
- white chocolate chips
- add food color drops to cookie dough
- sprinkles and sparkling sugar
- butterscotch, heath or mint chocolate
- dark or milk chocolate pieces
- nuts favorite
- chopped up mini candy bars
- crushed peppermint candy canes
- peanut butter chips
- mini marshmallows
- Hershey kisses different flavors
- sweetened coconut
- dried fruit-pineapple, cranberries, blueberries
Just made these and they are so great! So simple to make and with only a few store-bought ingredients. Super cute for Easter or even Birthday parties. So incredible tasty!