These amazingly chewy vanilla gluten free cake mix cookies are made with just 4 ingredients. You can use your favorite boxed cake mix, or make your own. I've been making these cookies with different mix-ins ever since I developed my own gluten free cake mix for my second published cookbook, and they never disappoint!
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Most baked goods like cookies and cakes have flour, baking powder and soda, salt and sugar for dry ingredients, then butter or oil and eggs. Here we're starting with a cake mix for the dry ingredients, and but turning them into a cookie instead of a cake by not adding liquid like milk.
It can be difficult to find a really good quality boxed gluten free cake mix, mostly because the flours tend to be gritty and the flour blends unbalanced. So I share my favorite homemade vanilla cake mix recipe. But if you have one that you love, use that! Just make sure that it's a full 16 ounces of mix.
Homemade cake mix ingredients
- Gluten free flour blend: Be sure to use one of my recommended gluten free blends, like Nicole's Best or Better Batter, with added xanthan gum.
- Milk powder: Either nonfat or whole milk powder work
- Baking powder and soda: Help the cookies rise and brown in the oven
- Salt: Balance sweetness and bring out other flavors
- Sugar: Adds sweetness and tenderness to the cookies
Cookie ingredients
- Butter: Adds flavor, tenderness, and richness to the cookies
- Eggs: Binds the cookies together and helps give them a bit of rise in the oven
- Mini M&Ms or other mix-ins: Add flavor and texture. You can use mini M&Ms, mini chocolate chips, gluten free sprinkles, or edible confetti.
How to make gluten free cake mix cookies
Make the mix and cookie dough
- Place all of the cake mix ingredients (gluten free flour, milk powder, baking powder and soda, salt, and sugar) in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine
- Add the room temperature butter and mix in completely until the mixture resembles sand
- Add the beaten eggs, and mix to combine.
- Add your mix-ins.
Shape and bake the cookie dough
- Mix in the chocolate pieces or sprinkles
- Scoop the cookie dough into rounded tablespoon mounds (about 1 1/3 tablespoons each).
- Press the cookie dough mounds into disks with the tips of your fingers
- Bake at 325°F for about 9 minutes. The cookies will spread quite a bit.
- Let them cool and enjoy.
Funfetti cake mix cookies
- You can easily make these into gluten free funfetti cake mix cookies by using a gluten free funfetti cake mix. You should also add about another 1/3 cup of edible confetti or funfetti. Otherwise, the cookies will spread more in the oven.
- If you use other mix-ins with pieces that are smaller than mini M&Ms, they take up less space and tend to keep the cookies from spreading as much.
- If you're using sprinkles, edible confetti, or even mini chocolate chips, press the cookie dough into larger, flatter disks unless you'd like thicker cookies.
Popular ingredient substitutions suggestions
Dairy-free
The gluten free vanilla cake mix that forms the base of these cake mix cookies contains dairy in the form of milk powder. If you need to be dairy-free, I have had success replacing that powder with finely ground blanched almond flour in an equal amount, by weight.
To replace the butter in this recipe, I'd try Melt or Miyoko's Creamy brand vegan butter, or another nondairy butter in block form (not in the tub).
Instead of M&Ms, try Enjoy Life miniature chocolate chips, gluten free edible confetti, or gluten free sprinkles.
Egg-free
I haven't tried replacing the eggs in this recipe, but since there are only 2 eggs you can try replacing each with a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon finely ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). Since this is such a simple recipe, though, I'm not sure how well it would work.
Frequently asked questions
You really can us any cake mix you like best. This recipe works best with 16 ounces of cake mix, but it still works well with a bit less, like 15 ounces.
No, brownie mixes have a lot less flour than cake mixes, so you'd also need to add some more gluten free flour.
Yes! You can use a box of gluten free funfetti cake mix, add 1/3 cup more edible confetti or funfetti, and add 6 tablespoons of butter, 2 eggs, and otherwise follow the recipe as written.
You can make almost any flavor from a cake mix. To make chocolate cookies, start with a chocolate cake mix. My first cookie made from a cake mix is gluten free cheesecake cookies, made with cream cheese. With a few other tweaks, you can turn them into chocolate cheesecake cookies.
Most cake mix cookies are, well, cakey since they begin with a cake mix—and a cake mix tends to have a fair amount of chemical leavener in it. But these cookies have just the right amount of butter and eggs added. Bake them just right (not too long) and you've got perfectly chewy cookies!
CakeMate, Betty Crocker, Chef's Select, and Sweetapolita all make gluten free sprinkles. Americolor makes gluten free edible confetti, also called edible sequins or quins.
Gluten Free Cake Mix Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake mix (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ⅓ cup (43 g) powdered milk or an equal amount, by weight, buttermilk blend powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
For the cookies
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 1 cup (6 ounces) M&Ms minis (or an equal amount, by weight, mini chocolate chips, regular M&Ms, sprinkles, or edible confetti) (See Recipe Notes)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the ingredients of the cake mix, and whisk to break up any lumps and combine well.
- Add the butter and mix into with the back of a mixing spoon into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles sand.
- Add the beaten eggs, and mix to combine. The dough will be thick, but soft.
- Add the M&Ms, and mix until they are evenly distributed throughout, handling as little as possible so the colors don’t run.
- Drop the dough by rounded tablespoon on the prepared baking sheet (a #50 cookie scoop works perfectly), 2 inches apart.
- With wet fingers, press each piece of cookie dough into a 1/2-inch thick disk.
- Place the cookies in the center of the oven and bake until lightly browned on the underside and edges, about 9 minutes.
- Allow to cool until set on the baking sheet until firm. They will flatten as they cool.
Notes
- Miniature chocolate chips (or regular chocolate chips)
- Gluten free sprinkles (Cake Mate brand is gluten free)
- Gluten free edible confetti (Americolor brand is gluten free)
Nutrition
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Debbi Proverbs says
Do these freeze well? I would like to make them for a wedding.
Nicole Hunn says
Yes, Debbi, they freeze beautifully!
Ruthe in Idaho says
The breadsticks are very good. I like the sourdough taste. I will try the cake mix cookies tomorrow. I have copied many recipes from you and all are good. I have been baking gluten free for more than ?20 years. My grandson was diagnosed when he was 7 and he is30 now. As a result several additional family members were also diagnosed including me and my sister. Thanks for all the help.
Dee says
Thank you SO MUCH for adding the dairy free tips also. I have to use both in cooking and it is hard sometimes! I appreciate your recipes so much! Again, thank you!
Susan Gapinski says
Do you know how many carbs would be in each cookie if made exactly, as recipe is posted?
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid not, Susan. I haven’t calculated nutritional values for this recipe, but feel free to plug it into an online nutritional calculator, which is what I would do anyway!
Nicole Hunn says
You sure can, Lindajean! Just be sure to measure the add-ins by weight, if possible.
xoxo Nicole
Lindajeaninsc says
It srikes me that I can use dried cranberries and pecans instead of M&Ms for these cookies, also mini butterscotch chips if I can find them. Love this for fast & easy! Also chocolate cake mix with chips & pecans comes to mind. LOVE IT.
Lisa Thompson says
I made these today, but with chocolate chips instead of M&Ms. I needed a treat that my boys could have at school with their special Turkey dinner and I had a GF cake mix that doesn’t make the best cake. M&Ms are not ‘nut safe’ but the chocolate chips are ok. I had a bit of chocolate icing leftover from cupcakes that we made. I called them ‘cupcake cookies’ and they went over well. Thanks! (I also whipped my butter first, it’s cold here today, so ‘room temperature’ is chilly!)
Julie Simmons says
Dear Nicole, because of your great books, blog and recipes like this I am going to get so pudgy. Darn it! :)
GypsyMama says
OOO YUMM! I actually just made 2x loaves of your white bread, the graham cracker dough is in the fridge and so is the butter cookie dough….then it will be on to bake this afternoon and enjoy the fruits of my labor with a glass of rice nog…yeah not as appealing sounding as egg nog, but with an egg allergy, what’s a girl to do?? make a mock and enjoy it anyway! Thanks for your hard work and keep the cookbooks coming!!!
Sarah Collier says
I think you totally read my mind (which is a rather scary idea)!! I was just looking through your website and the internet in general for recipes to use for this random box of gluten free cake mix I happen to have in my cupboard. It is my turn to make a treat for a Bible study today, and I was so hoping to use up this cake mix. I am THRILLED, I tell you! Thrilled! Only problem, my cake mix is 22+ oz. Guess I’ll be doing a slight bit of math. I might even have to buy a huge bag of m&ms, just in case ;-)
Dana Schwartz says
I love quick and easy and my girl loves m+m’s with an alarming passion. She calls them, M O M’s, which is really cute until I’m talking smack about my mother in law and I spell out MOM to my husband and she thinks I’m talking about candy. Anyway… I’ll be making these asap!
Sarah says
I love your cookbooks and everything I have tried is AMAZING. I do love the cookies with the cake mixes – i have been baking for christmas for my family all these gluten filled cookies. So its nice to make something for myself that is super easy. Will be making these this weekend the cheesecake one were awesome even my kids liked them. I only got 3 out of the batch :(
Judy Ameigh Grover says
have your first book, going to send for the new one, recipe sounds easy and great ty
Anneke says
See, these I will make! And soon!! Yum! Your best friend, Tim, had an assignment for Spanish to make a food from a Spanish speaking country. He chose cookies (this is why he is your best friend, and not mine!), some kind of lemon ones from Paraguay. Leaving aside the fact that he “forgot” to make them over the weekend and had to rush to do it last night (and the corresponding Powerpoint presentation, complete with photos), and he doesn’t actually bake much, they turned out really well. Oddly, the recipe called for only 1/2 cup flour (he used Better Batter, of course) and 1 1/2 cups of corn starch. I think the lack of flour helped the conversion to GF, but I thought it was a lot of corn starch. They are pretty tasty so he must have done it right! We’d gift you some if you lived nearby . . . Anneke
Brenda Crawshaw says
Ooooooh – I wonder how these would be with some Bits O’ Brickle??? YUM!! And thank you for another stellar recipe! (Do you ever sleep?) Bren