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I love making cake mix cookies because they’re so easy! For these cookies I used vanilla cake mix to make the cookie dough, baked the cookies and frosted them with a simple homemade buttercream frosting. If you’ve never made cake mix sugar cookies before you need to try this recipe!

They are one of my favorite easy cookie recipes for the holidays or anytime I need a quick batch of cookies. You will love how easy these cookies are to make!

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close up of cake mix sugar cookie


I love making these sugar cookies for Jordan’s class parties at school and during the holidays when it’s so busy there’s barely time to bake. Since they are made with cake mix, they are really, really easy to make. You’d never guess they’re made with cake mix, though, because they taste like regular sugar cookies. I frost them with buttercream frosting and, of course, top them with sprinkles. Jordan loves her sprinkles!

What I love about cake mix cookies is that the mix has all of the dry ingredients you need all packaged up in one box. Instead of following the instructions on the box I just use the dry mix and add butter, eggs, and vanilla extract to make the cookie dough. 

Starting with a cake mix is such an easy cookie hack!

It really is a time-saver! You don’t have to drag all of the flour, sugar and other dry ingredients from the pantry and measure them out. This is especially nice during the holidays when you need a last-minute batch of cookies for parties or cookie platters. I always have a few boxes of cake mix on hand so I can bake up a batch of cookies quickly!

Did I mention you only need one bowl to make the cookie dough? Yep, just another reason to love these easy cookies.

overhead shot of frosted sugar cookie

How to Make Cake Mix Sugar Cookies

Since we’re using cake mix the ingredient list is pretty short for these sugar cookies:

  • 2 boxes Betty Crocker Super Moist Vanilla Cake Mix
  • 1 cup of softened butter
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Basically, we’re doctoring up the cake mix. So, disregard the instructions and ingredients on the box. We only need the dry mix to make these cookies and add other ingredients to turn it into soft and tender sugar cookies.

  • Cream the butter until it’s smooth.
  • Add the eggs, cake mix, and vanilla and mix until the dough comes together. 

That’s it! I know, so ridiculously easy, right? It takes just two steps and all of five minutes to make the cookie dough.

  • I like to scoop about two tablespoons of dough to form the cookies dough balls. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  • Bake the cookies for 8 to 9 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool the cookies completely before frosting them.
sugar cookie with frosting

Buttercream Frosting

Of course, frosting is a must for these cookies! I like to make a basic buttercream frosting and I usually switch up the colors depending on the occasion.

The amount of frosting this recipe make is enough to cover the cookies in a light layer of frosting. If you like a lot of frosting on your cookies you should definitely double the recipe.

  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Cream the butter until it’s smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined. The mixture will be crumbly at this point but once you add the vanilla and heavy cream it will smooth out and turn creamy. Once combined, add your food coloring if you’re using it.

The next time you need a quick batch of cookies I hope you give these a try. I think you’ll be keeping boxes of cake mix in your pantry after you do so you can make them any time you want! They’re just so easy!

overhead shot of frosted sugar cookie

If you love using cake mix for a shortcut, try these recipes:

Here are my other favorite sugar cookie recipes:

Have you made this recipe?

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close up of cake mix sugar cookie

Cake Mix Sugar Cookies

4.46 from 11 votes
Use this easy cake mix hack – make Cake Mix Sugar Cookies for an easy but delicious sugar cookie recipe. They're soft and chewy with a homemade frosting and no one will guess they're from a box!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Yield 30 cookies
Serving Size 1 cookie

Ingredients
 

For the Cookies

  • 2 boxes (approximately 15 ounces each) Yellow, White or Vanilla Cake Mix
  • 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Frosting

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • Food coloring and sprinkles as desired
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Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  • Mix butter in an electric mixer until smooth. Add cake mix, eggs, and vanilla extract and mix until dough comes together.
  • Scoop 2 tablespoon sized balls onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
  • To make frosting, cream butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix until incorporated (mixture will be crumby). Add vanilla and heavy cream and beat until smooth. Tint with food coloring as desired.
  • Frost tops of cookies and sprinkle with sprinkles!

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

I got 30 cookies with my 2 tablespoon cookie scoop. I didn’t use too much frosting on each cookie and had just enough. If you like lots of frosting, make double!
For a slightly thicker cookie (that won’t spread as much), chill one hour before baking.
 

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 127kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 13mg | Potassium: 12mg | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 332IU | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
collage of cake mix sugar cookie photos

Use this easy cake mix hack – make Cake Mix Sugar Cookies for an easy but delicious sugar cookie recipe. They’re soft and chewy with a homemade frosting and no one will guess they’re from a box!

Last Updated on November 26, 2019



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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53 Comments

  1. These cookies are the BEST!!! My daughter and her friends are obsessed with them! In fact, everyone who tries them becomes obsessed! I followed the recipe exactly how it is written and I do make sure to chill my dough for an hour. I use a cookie scoop to drop them onto the parchment lined cookie sheets. The dough is quite sticky, so I even give the scoop a little spray of Pam so it is easier to get them onto the baking sheets. I bake them for 6 minutes and then rotate the trays and bake an additional 3 minutes. I let them sit for a few minutes before I remove them from the pan to the cooling rack.

  2. Followed the recipe to a T
    The cookies spread out and became very thin and ran into each other I ended up having a scrap them

  3. I’m sorry, these did not work for me. I halved the recipe exactly and was left with a sticky mess. I added about a 1/2 cup of flour so I could make balls. Disappointed!

      1. Dorothy, I don’t have the box any more, but I’m pretty sure it was Betty Crocker’s (I think they’re a little over 15 oz each). The cookies WERE delicious, but I told my husband the next time I’ll only use 1 egg (for half of your recipe). That mirrors a Snickerdoodle recipe I use with the same cake mix.

        Have a good day!

  4. But some of my recipes call for the larger box. Do I need to change anything in the recipe to accommodate the smaller box?

    1. Honestly it really depends on the recipe. Cookies and such, probably not, but some cakes and other recipes will be affected.

  5. Since cake mixes have shrunk and most cake mix cookies state to use eighteen ounce box, what adjustments need to be made using fifteen ounce box?

  6. I used to make these types of cookies from cake mixes. I have tried just about every cake mix there is to make cake mix cookies. However after a few days they just don’t taste as good. When I saw you post I think I didn’t have enough butter in them. So I am going to try your recipe. You are right they are so darn easy.