Fall baking is my happy place, cozy spices, the warm oven, and a quiet minute with a cookie before the afterschool chaos begins. These 3-ingredient spice cake mix cookies have all those warm, pumpkin-spice-adjacent flavors baked right in, no pumpkin puree required. Start with a simple box of cake mix (my best hack for stress-free baking) and turn out soft, chewy, and full of fall flavor. If you've tried my Brownie Mix Cookies or Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies, you already know: easy baking doesn't mean boring baking.
TL;DR - Spice Cake Cookies
- 🧡 Why you'll love it: Soft, cozy, and perfectly spiced, these spice cookies bring all the fall flavor with very little effort.
- #️⃣ Number of Ingredients: 3
- ⏲️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🔥 Bake Time: 10-12 minutes
- 🍰 Substitutions: No spice cake mix? Use yellow cake mix and add a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice for that same warm flavor.
- 🍂 Recipes with similar flavor profile: Keep the fall baking going with my Pumpkin Dump Cake or 2-Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Bread.
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Key Ingredients
- Boxed cake mix: Either a 15 or 16 oz box cake mix will work. I'm partial to Duncan Hines, but any brand you have in your pantry will work.
- Vegetable Oil: You can substitute butter or even coconut oil depending on your dietary needs.
- Eggs: I always use large eggs when baking.
Fun Additions
While the simplicity of a cake mix cookie is where it's at, you can certainly dress up the spice cookies a bit if you want.
- Roll them in cinnamon sugar before baking for a snickerdoodle effect
- Add butterscotch chips or cinnamon chips
- Melt white chocolate and dip half the cookies in then dip into sanding sugar for a sparkle
- Make them double sized and top with a swirl of cream cheese frosting ala Crumbl cookies
Make spice cake sandwich cookies
Spice cake reminds me of carrot cake which reminds me that frosting goes great with cookies of all sorts.
Make a spice cake sandwich cookie with any of these fillings: Pumpkin butter or apple butter, cream cheese frosting, cinnamon swirl buttercream, Nutella.
🩶Marni
How to make spice cake cookies
Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, add the cake mix, eggs and oil.
Step 2: Stir the ingredients together, until you can't see any more dry cake mix. You don't want to overmix this cookie dough.
Step 3: 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.
Step 4: 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 to a cooling rack and once cool, enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Try white chocolate chips, chopped pecans, or a handful of dried cranberries for a little texture and extra sweetness.
There is no need. As long as you are using a regular boxed cake mix, they can go straight from mixing bowl to the oven.
Once cooled, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you frosted them I suggest using wax or parchment paper to separate the layers in your container.
Other Desserts from Boxed Baking Mixes
📖 Recipe
3-Ingredient Spice Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 box Spice Cake Mix
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup oil
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the 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. Let sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove from the baking tray and let cool.
Pam B says
Even though this is spice cake mix. I felt the cookies needed more spice. I was going to add cinnamons chips to recipe , but I couldn't find mine. After they were done and I was looking for something else I found the cinnamon chips .
Marni Katz says
Cinnamon chips would be a great addition. Next time you could add a little ground ginger to the batter to get the spice level you are looking for.
Marni Katz says
These are the easiest cookie I make in the fall!