Description
Ultra-soft Christmas Gooey Butter Cookies made with cake mix and cream cheese create impossibly tender texture. Beautiful crackled powdered sugar coating looks stunning on holiday cookie platters!
Ingredients
1 box (15.25 ounces) yellow cake mix
8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar for coating
Optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, sprinkles, or other mix-ins
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, beat room-temperature cream cheese and softened butter together for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and completely smooth. Scrape bowl frequently.
3. Add egg and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until fully incorporated and mixture looks smooth and glossy, about 1 minute.
4. Add entire box of cake mix to wet ingredients. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula (not electric mixer), stir by hand just until ingredients come together into soft, sticky dough.
5. If using mix-ins like chocolate chips, fold them in gently at this stage.
6. Place powdered sugar in a small, shallow bowl.
7. Using a small cookie scoop (1 tablespoon), portion dough into balls roughly 1 inch in diameter.
8. Roll each portion between palms into a ball, then immediately roll in powdered sugar to coat completely and generously.
9. Place coated balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.
10. Bake one sheet at a time on center rack for 10-12 minutes until edges are just barely set and beginning to turn light golden while centers still look puffy and very soft. Powdered sugar should develop beautiful cracks.
11. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire cooling racks.
12. Cool completely before storing, at least 20 minutes.
Notes
Cream cheese and butter MUST be softened to room temperature (at least 1 hour out of refrigerator) for smooth mixing.
Room temperature egg blends better – place in warm water for 10 minutes to warm up.
Mix cake mix by hand with wooden spoon, not electric mixer, to avoid tough cookies.
Dough will be very soft and sticky – this is correct and necessary.
Don’t skimp on powdered sugar coating – generous coating creates signature crackled appearance.
Cookies will look underbaked when done – this is correct. They firm up as they cool.
Do not overbake or cookies will be dry instead of gooey.
Let cool 5 minutes on pan before moving or they’ll fall apart.
Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.
Cookies stay remarkably soft and actually improve over 24 hours.
Freeze baked cookies up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature 30 minutes.
Don’t freeze unbaked dough – too soft to handle after thawing.
Use standard 15.25-ounce cake mix boxes, not “pudding in the mix” varieties.
For gluten-free version, use gluten-free cake mix and add 1/4 tsp xanthan gum if mix doesn’t include it.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 155
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 145mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 30mg
Keywords: christmas gooey butter cookies, gooey butter cookies, cake mix cookies, soft cookies, holiday cookies, christmas cookies, easy cookies