Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies Recipe (aka Cake Mix Cookies)
Debbie Hawickhorst
Ooey gooey cookies, also known as cake mix cookies, take just a handful of ingredients and taste fancy. They will never guess that these cookies come from a box of yellow cake mix!
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 13 minutes mins
Total Time 28 minutes mins
Course Cookies
Cuisine Baking
- 1 18.5 ounce package yellow cake mix (make sure the boxed cake mix is 18.5 oz - see my note below - also you can buy gluten free yellow cake mix to make this recipe gluten free or experiment with other cake mix flavors such as lemon)
- 1 8 ounce package full-fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened (do not use margarine)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- What if I cannot find a 18.5 oz package cake mix? Isn’t it sneaky how manufactures have quietly reduced the cake box ounces from 18.5 ounces to 15.25-16.25 ounces for the same or higher price? So there are a couple of ways to adjust this recipe if you cannot find 18.5 oz cake mix boxes. What I do is buy two cake mixes and then measure out the extra ounces using my food scale then I keep the rest in the bag/box for my next cookie baking day. Alternatively add 5-6 tablespoons of flour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In your KitchenAid stand mixer (or medium sized bowl), cream together the softenened cream cheese and butter.
Add the egg and vanilla and stir.
Slowly add the yellow cake mix (or gluten-free yellow cake mix) in batches, and stir until well blended. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.
Put in fridge for 1-2 hours. In the meantime, pour the confectioner's sugar into a shallow bowl.
Scoop up the ooey gooey butter cookie dough and coat in confectioner's sugar. Roll in the palms of your hands to make them a bit more round.
Place on a silipat-covered cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. They will not spread very much while baking.
Bake for 10 to 13 minutes. BE CAREFUL TO NOT OVERCOOK! You want them to be gooey in the middle. Experiment with a couple in a trial batch and adjust baking time to your oven. I also recommend sliding the Silipat off of the hot cookie sheet, letting the cookies cool about 5 minutes on the Silipat, and then moving them onto wire racks to fully cool.