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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!
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.
Video
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is there a way to make a lemon flavor mix? I used to love making cake mix cookies with lemon cake mix and white chocolate chips. I looked at one of your cake recipes and it looks like adding lemon zest and lemon juice would do it, but I am not sure if adding lemon juice would mess with the moisture content. Thoughts?
Thank you! I can’t wait to try these!
Hi, Angela, good question! For the most lemon flavor without upsetting the moisture balance, I would recommend you zest a lemon and pulse it 2 times (no more) with the granulated sugar quickly in a food processor to create a lemon sugar. Don’t process it too much or you’ll grind the sugar too fine and the cookies will spread more. I’m afraid that there’s no real way for you to add lemon juice since there’s no pure liquid in the recipe already, but the most flavor will come from the zest anyway. And yes, white chocolate chips would go better than regular chocolate, but if you really want to go all the way, google “lemon chips.” I hope that’s helpful—and great idea!
Do these freeze well? I would like to make them for a wedding.
Yes, Debbi, they freeze beautifully!
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.
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!
Do you know how many carbs would be in each cookie if made exactly, as recipe is posted?
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!
You sure can, Lindajean! Just be sure to measure the add-ins by weight, if possible.
xoxo Nicole