Let me tell you about a little baking hack that has become a staple in our home: red velvet cake mix cookies. This easy cookie recipe quickly became a favorite one Valentine's Day, when my kiddos insisted we need a treat for their teachers.
As a busy mom, I wasn't trying to test out any new baking recipes the night before. And somehow I didn't have any red m&m's around to use in my Valentine's Day chocolate bark. So I used my Funfetti cake mix cookie hack, and guess what? Those teachers have requested these red velvet cookies time and time again.
The best part? They are so easy to make! Stock up on red velvet cake mix in the fall and you'll have a new pantry staple ready for all the holiday baking. They are as easy to make as my pumpkin dump cake or my cake mix peach cobbler because the base is the same-store-bought boxed cake mix. Something about transforming a simple boxed cake mix is just magical!
Ingredients
- Cake mix: Either a 15 or 16 oz box cake mix will work. My preferred brand is Duncan Hines but any cake mix brand will work.
- Vegetable Oil: Vegetable oil keeps this recipe dairy-free (pareve) but you can substitute butter, canola oil or even coconut oil.
- Eggs: I always use large eggs when baking.
How to Make Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, add the red velvet cake mix, the eggs and the oil.
Stir until you can't see any more dry cake mix. You don't want to overmix.
Using a cookie scoop to make sure all your cookies are the same size, scoop the cookie dough onto your prepared baking tray, leaving about 2" between dough balls.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until you see cracks on the top of the cookies, being careful not to overbake them.
Remove from the baking tray and let cool. If you are going to fill them to make sandwich cookies or decorate the tops, be sure they are completely cool before starting.
Holiday Cookie Pairings
Red cookies are just for valentines day! Here are some other ways to serve these cookies for holidays all year long.
- Holiday Cookie Tray: On a platter with these green Grinch cookies and these easy Hanukkah cookies the red velvet cookies look especially festive. Add in some snowball cookies for a truly festive cookie tray.
- Valentines Day: You can go all out for this cookie tray. Make Valentine's Day Chocolate Bark, a pink buttercream and a batch of the red velvet cookies or their cousin the strawberry cake mix cookie.
- Tailgates: If your favorite team's colors have red in them, these are a great treat to bring to a tailgate or when you go to friends to watch the big game.
- Fourth of July: Drizzle the red velvet cake mix cookies with white frosting and blue melting chocolate for a fun, patriotic and festive treat.
Additions
These cookies are also a perfect after-school baking project with the kids or a fun playdate activity that won't leave your kitchen in shambles. When baking with the kiddos, here are some fun additions to the basic cake mix cookie recipe.
Mix them directly into the cookie dough or use them to decorate the cookies once they are baked.
- White chocolate chips
- M&Ms
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Chocolate Chips
Variations
While these red velvet cake cookies are delicious on their own, I have 4 easy ways to dress them up for the holidays, a cookie swap, or when you just want to make something a little "extra".
- Red velvet sandwich cookies: Sandwich two cookies together with either buttercream or cream cheese frosting once they are cooled for a take on red velvet whoopie pies.
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies: Roll the cookie dough in powdered sugar before baking for a crinkle effect.
- White chocolate chip red velvet cookies: Stir white chocolate chips into the dough before baking and press a few on top as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Mini Cookies: Use a mini cookie scoop or teaspoon measuring spoon to make mini cookies. Everything seems cuter when it's tiny!
Cake Mix Cookie Storage
Store the baked red velvet cookies in a zip top bag or air tight container on the counter for up to 4 days. If you have decorated them or made sandwich cookies, I suggest using wax paper or parchment paper to separate the layers in your container.
Freezing Tips
- Cookie Dough: You can freeze the cookie dough before baking in balls. But since this batter is so quick to make, I'd save the premade dough for chocolate chunk cookies or other more involved recipes.
- Baked Cookies: You can freeze the baked cookies in zip top bags. This is great for working ahead on your party or holiday baking. Simply freeze the undecorated, unfilled cookies and then take them out to defrost a few hours before you are going to decorate or eat them.
Other Semi-Homemade Dessert Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Easy Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies (3-ingredients)
Ingredients
- 1 15 oz Red Velvet Cake Mix Duncan Hines is our preferred brand
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the red velvet cake mix, the eggs and the oil. Stir just until you can't see any more dry cake mix, being careful not to overmix.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough onto your prepared baking tray, leaving about 2" between dough balls.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until you see cracks on the top of the cookies, being careful not to overbake them.
- Remove from the baking tray and let cool.
Marni Katz says
These are so simple to make and the recipe that got me hooked on cake mix cookies.