How to Make Cake Mix Cookies (The Easiest 3-Ingredient Cookie Hack!)
It’s 8 PM on a Tuesday. A craving hits you. It’s not a suggestion; it’s a demand. You have a sudden, desperate, primal need for a batch of warm, fresh-baked cookies. But then you picture it: dragging out the flour, the sugar, the brown sugar, the baking soda, the salt, and a dozen other ingredients. The thought of all that measuring and mess makes you want to just give up and go eat a sad, lonely granola bar from the back of your pantry instead.
What if I told you there’s a better way? A gloriously lazy, brilliantly simple way to get from zero to a dozen perfect, soft, chewy cookies in under 20 minutes? Friends, allow me to introduce you to the magic, the wonder, the life-changing secret of cake mix cookies.
This isn’t just a recipe; it’s a cheat code for your kitchen. And you are about to become a master.
Why This Recipe is Awesome
If “cookies in 20 minutes with only 3 ingredients” isn’t enough to make you a believer, let’s break down the sheer genius of this hack.
- It’s a Genius Shortcut: This is the absolute epitome of working smarter, not harder. You’re using the perfectly measured and balanced flavor and leavening agents of a box of cake mix as your base. This saves you time, a sink full of measuring cups, and the risk of a baking soda/baking powder mix-up. It’s so easy it feels like you’re cheating at baking (you are, and it is wonderful).
- The Texture is Unbelievably Perfect: These cookies are in a league of their own. Because cake mix has a different composition than from-scratch cookie dough, you get this unique, incredibly soft, pillowy, almost-fudgy texture that is absolutely addictive.
- It is Basically Impossible to Mess Up: I am not kidding. This recipe is so forgiving it’s absurd. It’s the perfect recipe for beginner bakers, for baking with your kids, or for those moments when you need a serious cookie fix with the absolute minimum amount of brainpower and effort required.
Ingredients
Prepare yourself for the shortest, most beautiful ingredient list you’ve ever seen for a batch of cookies.
- 1 box (about 15.25 ounces) of your favorite cake mix: Any flavor will work! Yellow, Devil’s Food, Funfetti, Strawberry, Lemon… the possibilities are endless!
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil: You can also substitute this with ½ cup of melted butter for a richer flavor.
- Optional, but highly recommended: Up to 1 cup of your favorite mix-ins, like chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, sprinkles, chopped nuts, or M&M’s.
Tools & kitchen gadgets used
Put away your stand mixer. You won’t need it for this beautifully simple operation. This is a one-bowl wonder.
- A Large Mixing Bowl
- A Sturdy Silicone Spatula or a Wooden Spoon
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mats (for easy cleanup and no sticking!)
- A Cookie Scoop (about 1.5 tablespoons in size, for evenly-sized cookies)
- A Wire Cooling Rack
Step-by-step instructions
This is so easy, you’ll have it memorized after the first time you make it.
Step 1: The Usual Prep Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Go ahead and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. This will make your life so much easier later on, I promise.
Step 2: The Easiest Step in Baking History Prepare for the easiest recipe of your life. In your large bowl, dump in the entire packet of dry cake mix, the 2 eggs, and the ½ cup of oil. Yes, all at once. We’re breaking all the traditional baking rules today, and it feels so good.
Step 3: Stir, Stir, Stir Now, using your sturdy spatula or wooden spoon, start stirring everything together. At first, it will be very thick, and you’ll look at it and think, “This can’t possibly be right. I’ve made a terrible mistake.” Keep stirring. Have faith. After about a minute of stirring, it will magically come together into a thick, soft, glorious cookie dough.
Step 4: Fold in the Fun (Optional) If you’re a person of taste and want to take these to the next level, now is the time to fold in your optional mix-ins. Chocolate chips, sprinkles, and white chocolate chips are all fantastic choices.
Step 5: Scoop and Bake The dough will be very soft and a little sticky. The easiest way to portion it is with a cookie scoop. Scoop out mounds of dough (about 1.5 tablespoons each) and place them about 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheets.
Step 6: The Quick Bake Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. This is important: the secret to the perfect soft and chewy texture is to slightly under-bake them. They are done when the edges are set and the tops are puffy. The centers will still look a little soft and underdone. That’s exactly what you want!
Step 7: The Crucial Cooling Process Remove the baking sheets from the oven. The cookies will look very puffy, like little cake domes. Don’t panic! You must let them cool on the hot baking pan for at least 5 minutes. As they cool, they will gently flatten and settle into a perfect, crackly cookie shape. After 5 minutes, carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Calories & Nutritional Info
It’s a cookie made from cake mix. Let’s just enjoy this beautiful moment of hybrid dessert perfection.
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Estimated Calories: Around 110-140 kcal, depending on the cake mix and any mix-ins.
- Contains: A decadent dose of convenience and pure, unadulterated happiness.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
This recipe is simple, but here are a few ways you could stray from the path of soft, chewy greatness.
- Adding the Ingredients from the Back of the Cake Box: I am begging you, IGNORE the directions on the back of the box for making an actual cake. We are making cookies, which is a different form of delicious magic. Only add the ingredients listed in this recipe (cake mix, eggs, oil). Do not add the extra water or larger amount of oil that the box calls for.
- Over-baking Them into Sad, Crunchy Rocks: This is the #1 way to ruin the perfect soft, chewy texture of these cookies. You want to pull them from the oven when they look puffy and the edges are just set. They will look underdone in the middle. This is correct. They will finish baking and setting up on the hot pan as they cool.
- Trying to Use a Flimsy Whisk: The dough is thick. Very thick. A whisk will just get clogged with the dense dough and become a sad cage of despair. You need a sturdy spatula or a wooden spoon to bring this glorious dough together.
- Panicking When They Look Puffy Like Little Cakes: They will come out of the oven looking like little puffy, dome-shaped cake-tops. Do not worry! This is normal. They will flatten into a perfect, beautifully crackled cookie shape as they cool on the hot pan for those crucial first 5 minutes.
Variations & Customizations
This is your playground. The cake mix aisle is your oyster!
- “Death by Chocolate” Cookies: Use a Devil’s Food or a Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix. For your optional mix-in, add a full cup of a “triple chocolate” blend of dark chocolate chunks, semi-sweet chips, and white chocolate chips.
- Ultimate Birthday Funfetti Cookies: This is a classic for a reason. Use a Funfetti cake mix, and for your mix-ins, add an extra ½ cup of rainbow sprinkles and ½ cup of white chocolate chips to the dough.
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies: Use a red velvet cake mix. After you scoop the dough into balls, roll each ball in a small bowl of powdered sugar, coating it completely, before placing it on the baking sheet. As the cookies bake and spread, they will create a beautiful, dark red and white crinkle effect.
FAQ Section
All your burning, cake-mix-cookie hybrid questions, answered.
1. Can I really just make cookies from a box of cake mix? Yes! It’s one of the best and easiest baking hacks out there. The key is to use less liquid (and eggs instead of water) than the box calls for, which creates a thick, scoop-able cookie dough instead of a thin cake batter.
2. What brand or flavor of cake mix is best for making cookies? Literally any of them! That’s the beauty of it. Duncan Hines, Betty Crocker, and Pillsbury all work perfectly. Yellow cake mix makes a great base for chocolate chips, Devil’s Food makes an incredible chocolate cookie, and Funfetti is perfect for a party.
3. Why is my cookie dough so soft and sticky? Congratulations, you did it right! The dough for these cookies is supposed to be much softer and a bit stickier than a standard from-scratch cookie dough. A cookie scoop is your best friend for handling it without making a huge mess.
4. Can I add other ingredients to cake mix cookies? Absolutely! That’s half the fun. You can add up to 1 to 1.5 cups of mix-ins like chocolate chips, M&M’s, chopped nuts, toffee bits, or crushed Oreos.
5. How do I make them chewier or crispier? This recipe is designed for a soft, chewy cookie. For a slightly crispier edge, you can try substituting melted butter for the oil and baking them for an extra minute or two.
6. Can I make these without eggs? It can be tricky as the eggs provide a lot of the structure and binding. However, you could try using a commercial egg replacer or a “flax egg” (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water, let it sit for 5 minutes to gel), but the texture may be a bit different and slightly denser.
7. How do you store them? Store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They will stay incredibly soft and fresh for up to a week (if they last that long, which they won’t).
Final Thoughts
And there you have it. You’ve successfully hacked the dessert system. You’ve bent the rules of baking to your will and created the softest, chewiest, most delicious cookies in record time, and with almost no effort. You are a genius. You are a rebel.
Now go on, enjoy your ridiculously easy, ridiculously delicious cake mix cookies. You’ve earned it. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself buying cake mix with no intention of ever making an actual cake again. Welcome to the club.