These Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies with cream cheese frosting are a super easy sweet treat. Using just three main ingredients (one of which is boxed red velvet cake mix), you can enjoy these as regular cake mix cookies, red velvet crinkle cookies or cookie sandwiches.
Why Make Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
These are so many reasons to love these red velvet cookies made with cake mix. Here are my top reasons:
- Easy cookie recipe with simple ingredients: if you’re not a baker or don’t want to deal with making red velvet cake cookies from scratch, this easy recipe is a great option. The cake mix is already mixed, making this and my sprite cake with cake mix easy.
- Perfect treat for holidays or lazy days: enjoy this festive, delicious cookie recipe on a special occasion like Christmas or Valentine’s Day. But, they’re also great any time of the year since this red velvet cookie recipe requires minimal effort to make.
- Scale it up or down: the best part about this red velvet cookies recipe is that it is versatile. For example, you can add white chocolate chips, make crinkle cookies, or turn your baked cookies into red velvet sandwich cookies.
Ingredients Needed
These cake mix cookies only require 3 main ingredients. If you want to be a bit fancy, I’ve add directions and ingredients for you to make crinkle cookies and red velvet sandwich cookies as well.
3 Ingredient Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
- Butter: I used salted and melted butter.
- Eggs: I used large eggs
- Red Velvet Cake Mix: You can use your favorite box of red velvet cake mix. My boxed cake mix was 15.25 oz. Two popular options from the grocery store are Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines.
Crinkle Cookies
- Powdered Sugar: this is only needed to make red velvet crinkle cookies using cake mix. You can skip this if you don’t want crinkle cookies or simply want to stick to 3 ingredient red velvet cookies.
Cake Mix Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing
Red Velvet and Cream Cheese Frosting make the perfect pair.
So, you can use this easy cream cheese frosting recipe to top your red velvet cake mix cookies or use it as a filling for the red velvet crinkle cookie sandwiches:
- Cream cheese: I used regular full-fat cream cheese frosting that was softened
- Butter: I used salted and softened butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
How To Make Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
- Make the cookie dough: Add the eggs, butter and cake batter to a large mixing bowl. Mix to incorporate. I used a spoon or rubber spatula to fold it.
- Chill the dough: Cover the dough and refrigerate it for 15-30 minutes. The goal is that the dough firms up a bit.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
- Use a measuring spoon or small cookie scoop to form the dough into 16 balls. Each ball was about 1.5 tbsp.
- For red velvet crinkle cookies using box mix: Roll each ball in the powdered sugar.
- Add the cookie balls to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper with about 2 inches in between. You might need to use two cookie sheets for them to fit.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes so that the edges are browned and set. Allow the cookies to cool on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes.
Cake Mix Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Turn your red velvet cake mix cookies into crinkle cookies into sandwiches with the following easy steps:
- Add all of the ingredients for the frosting to stand-mixer and mix until fluffy (about 3 minutes)
- Assemble the sandwich cookies by adding cream cheese frosting between two cookies
Recipe Tips & FAQs
- Use room temperature ingredients for best results
- Elevate your box of cake mix by using salted butter instead of vegetable oil or canola oil. Butter has much more flavor than those oils. The saltiness balances out the sweetness.
- No need to press the dough: sometimes cookie recipes call for smashing the dough before baking. In this recipe, you just bake the cookie dough balls as is. They will spread out and flatten as they bake.
Variations
This recipe is versatile. Feel free to get creative. Some ideas are:
- Add milk or dark chocolate chips or white chocolate chips to the dough before baking
- Decorate the cookies according to the theme or occasion: Top the cookies with cream cheese frosting with red and green sprinkles to make Christmas cookies
- Use buttercream frosting or Easy Seven Minute Frosting instead of cream cheese icing
Storage & Leftovers
Store your leftover cookies in an airtight container 3-4 days.
I prefer to use salted butter to make box mix taste better. You can also enhance the flavor of box red velvet cake, by adding a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract or a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder to intensify the chocolate flavor. In this recipe, the cream cheese frosting also adds to its homemade taste.
No, red velvet cake mix is not just chocolate. While it does contain cocoa powder, the distinctive flavor of red velvet comes from a combination of cocoa and a small amount of acidic ingredients like buttermilk or vinegar, which contribute to its unique taste.
When making homemade red velvet cake, vinegar reacts with the cocoa powder and other ingredients, enhancing the cake’s reddish hue. It also helps to create a tender and moist texture by interacting with the baking soda, promoting leavening and resulting in a lighter, fluffier cake. The acidity from the vinegar also balances the sweetness and contributes to the overall flavor profile of the red velvet cake.
More Red Velvet Recipes
If you love these easy red velvet cookies, check out these other red velvet recipes:
Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter salted, melted
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 15.25 oz red velvet cake mix like Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar for rolling the cookies
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ½ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the red velvet cookies:
- Add the eggs, butter and cake batter to a large bowl. Mix to incorporate. I used a spoon or rubber spatula to fold it.
- Chill the dough: Cover the dough and refrigerate it for 15-30 minutes. The goal is that the dough firms up a bit.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Use a measuring spoon or mini scooper to form the dough into 16 balls. Each ball was about 1.5 tbsp.
- For crinkle cookies: Roll each ball in the powdered sugar.
- Add the cookie balls to a parchment lined baking sheet with about 2 inches in between. You might need to use two cookie sheets for them to fit.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes so that the edges are browned and set. Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
For cream cheese icing:
- Add all of the ingredients for the frosting to stand-mixer and mix until fluffy (about 3 minutes)
- Assemble the cookie sandwiches by adding cream cheese frosting between two cookies.