Candy Cane Kisses Cake Cookies:
If you are looking for a great Christmas cookie recipe that is easy, and perfect to make with kids, this is the recipe for you. With just 4 simple ingredients, and only a few minutes needed to whip these cookies up, these cake mix cookies are awesome for last minute treat needs, or family baking.
Cake mix cookies are soft and chewy like a chocolate crinkle cookie, and have a fun center like a thumbprint cookie, but are easier, and can be made using whatever cake mix you have, and whatever mix-ins you have on hand. Serve with hot chocolate for the perfect holiday treat!
My kids always want to get in the kitchen and bake together, but often lose interest quickly. Or they make a huge mess. Or they just want to eat the dough, like this Edible Sugar Cookie Dough. So to combat that, this recipe is perfect for making with kids because it eliminates those problems: it is quick, so it holds their interest, and requires minimal ingredients, which means low mess, and very easy. It gets in the oven fast, so they don’t eat the dough! And leaves you time to make things like Turtle Brownies or Almond Bark to gift as treats for the holidays.
Quick and Easy Cake Mix Cookies
I love ambitious holiday baking like cut out sugar cookies and cheesecakes, but sometimes during the holiday chaos I need a really easy, low stress, low mess recipe, and these cake mix cookies are it. They are soft, chewy, flavorful, and fun. But here are my top 3 reasons for loving these candy cane kiss cake mix cookies:
- Perfect recipe for letting the kids help: A lot of cookie recipes require you to mix your dry ingredients together, cream your sugars and fats together, chill, etc. to get good results. That is not the case at all with these cookies. For cake mix cookies you can literally just dump everything into a bowl and stir it together. And the kids absolutely love unwrapping the kisses and pressing them into the center of these cookies. (Watch how excited my little one gets about this in the video below).
- Just a few simple ingredients: This is one of those recipes that is so nice because chances are you already have everything you need. Just a cake mix, some oil, and eggs. It is a pantry staples recipe that is so easy to customize and have fun with.
- Spend time baking together: In theory, I love this idea of cozy baking with my kids. But when flour starts flying everywhere, and the dishes start to pile up, I get a little stressed. So this is the perfect recipe for baking together. Easy, quick, low mess.
What you Need for Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
- 1 (15.25-ounce) box of cake mix
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup mix-ins
Could it be any easier? And the beautiful thing, is it can be any cake mix and any mix-in. I love the red velvet and candy cane kisses because they are so festive and fun for Christmas. But do not stop there. Let your imagination go wild and have fun making all kinds of cookies!
One of the nice things is this dough is really easy to work with, it can be sticky, but a nice thick dough forms, and you can add whatever you want. Depending on the cake mix you use, it could be a little wetter or stickier, and the size of your eggs. So if it is too sticky, just use non-stick spray to make forming the balls of dough easier.
Variations
While it is so nice to have a lot of customizations and options, what good is it if the cookies aren’t good? Well these are both easy and delicious, and perfectly chewy. Which makes it really fun to make them and customize in many different ways. Here are a few of our favorite combos, but please come up with your own, and let me know what you do:
- Lemon Cake with White chocolate chips
- Devil’s Food Cake with M&M’s
- White Cake with Sprinkles
- Spice Cake with Cinnamon Chips
- German Chocolate Cake Mix and Pecans and Coconut
There are so many fun ways to use this same concept of using a cake mix to make cookies.
Ingredient variations:
Besides the variations in flavors, you can also sub some of the ingredients.
The number #1 question I get asked: Can you use butter instead of oil?
Yes. Melt the butter and substitute 1:1. So you can use a different fat, but you should use the same amounts.
You can use other oils as well, but you want a mild flavored oil.
Tips for Making Cake Mix Cookies
- Adjust size to preference. I love keeping these relatively small, so you can add a fun mix-in and it is a good couple of bites. But you can make them larger. I usually opt for 1 Tablespoon of dough. But you can go up to as much as 2 Tablespoons per cookie. Just adjust your cooking time for 5-7 minutes to 9-10 minutes.
- Make them evenly sized: If your dough isn’t too sticky, use a cookie scoop or measuring spoon to make all of your balls of dough the same size. They will bake more evenly, and the results will be better.
- Store leftover batter, or mix up ahead of time. This recipe is so easy, so you don’t have to mix ahead of time, but if you do, you can store the batter in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Just wait to add any mix-ins until just before baking.
Storage:
- Store your cookies in an airtight container. They can be stored for 4-5 days.
- If you want to store them longer, you can freeze them. These cookies can be frozen for 2-3 months. You will want to put them between parchment paper in a single layer in an air tight zip top bag.
- Thaw at room temperature and enjoy when ready to eat.
Can You Freeze Cake Mix Cookies
Freezing Dough
- Mix as usual.
- Roll into balls of dough and place cookies on a sheet pan lined with parchment.
- Place the sheet pan in the freezer for at least 1 hour, or until cookie dough balls have frozen.
- One frozen, put in an airtight zip top bag.
- To Bake: Take out of bag, and place on tray (lined) and let thaw. Once thawed, bake as per original Cake Mix Cookie recipe instructions.
- Note: Write baking instructions on the bag and the date the cookies were frozen, to make things easier.
Freezing Baked Cookies
- Mix and bake as per usual.
- Let the cookies cool.
- Freeze cookies individually by placing them on a baking sheet, not touching, until frozen.
- Place in a freezer bag, separated by parchment, wax, or freezer paper.
- With proper storage, most cookies can be kept in the freezer for up to three months.
How to Make these 4 Ingredient Candy Cane Kiss Cake Mix Cookies (Video):
4 Ingredient Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix
- 2 Eggs Large
- 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
- 30 Candy Cane Kissses Hershey's Chocolate Kisses
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, combine cake mix, eggs, and oil.
- Mix until smooth.
- The dough is very sticky, so spray hands with non-stick spray and spoon about 1 tablespoon of dough onto a cookie sheet, leaving them about an inch apart.
- Bake for 5-7 minutes.
- When done baking, remove from oven and let rest on the hot cookie sheet for 2 minutes.
- After the 2 minutes, gently press a Candy Cane Kiss into the center of the cookie.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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