Peanut butter cookies made with cake mix is a quick and easy treat with 4 ingredients. From simple to crinkle cookies sandwiches frosted, you can choose any flavor but this one with Jif is our favorite.
Cake mix peanut butter cookies (or flavor of your choice) are great when you need a quick treat! Add chocolate chips or peanut butter to these 3 ingredients to mix them up any way you want. The possibilities are endless. One of our favorite boxed cake mix recipes.
What you need for the most basic dessert you can see here. This is our favorite add in of choice. You could go way beyond that though if you wanted more of a loaded version. Below is the base if you will. Chocolate chips of course would be a great choice, crushed nuts or M&Ms maybe.
They don’t take long to bake either. Compared to cookie bars from cake mix you’re talking about 1/3 of the time which is nice if you have kiddos. I like both though, a great way to tweak a boxed mix into something totally different.
Ingredient Notes
You want a box of Cake mix, Betty crocker chocolate cake mix is great with white chocolate chips. We sometimes make homemade yellow cake mix for these. This and white cake mix are very versatile while butter pecan will give you more Fall flavors.
Eggs should be added at room temperature ideally to make them as fluffy as you can. I highly recommend that you use organic cage free for a deeper yolk that will make your dessert richer with a deeper flavor.
Melted butter or vegetable oil could be substituted, dairy free alternative works as well to add a bit of fat to make them chewy.
We added peanut butter to these, could add peanut butter chips as well if you wanted an even richer flavor to them.
What can you use other than peanut butter?
You could swap out Nutella for the PB if you wanted and try that. OR if you want a mixture then follow this one as is and spread the hazelnut spread on top to get both. For a nut free option go for sunflower butter instead.
Can you add chocolate chips?
Of course but I would keep it to about 1/2 cup so it doesn’t overwhelm the batter. I like mini semi-sweet chocolate chips so you get a few in each bite which is ideal and a kid fave for sure. We do this with our 4 ingredient peanut butter cookies too.
A large bowl is needed and you will want to line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non stick spray too. A cooling rack is handy to have once done. Kids love these because they can add just about anything. Put a scoop of ice cream in the middle for ice cream sandwiches too!
Should you chill the cookie batter?
Yes, it is best to refrigerate the batter once made for about 1 hour. This will make it so they don’t flatten out as much and become a bit more poofy. I do like to roll balls of dough in sugar too and that is easier to handle.
How Long to Bake Peanut Butter Cookies Made with Cake Mix
Biggest tip when baking cookies– DO NOT overbake them!! 8 minutes is the right bake time almost always, as long as the scoops are with a medium cookie scoop for them to be chewy, 10 minutes for crispy. Even with cake mix cookies with cream cheese you want them to be slightly underdone and left on the sheet until cooled for the best texture.
Baking Tips
Preheat oven so the heat is even the whole time they are baking, not before. In a bowl mix cake mix with eggs, your melted butter and peanut butter if you’re adding that. Gently fold in any chips if you want those too.
Scoop out dough and roll in a bowl full of sugar. Place on baking sheet with parchment paper and set into oven on middle rack. Bake just until the outsides are lightly browned and the center is no longer wet but appears to be a bit underdone. This will yield a chewy texture if you allow them to cool on the pan for a few minutes.
How do you know when they are done?
The edges should be browned and stiffening up. In the very middle it will appear to be a bit wet. Take them out at this time and leave them on the cookie sheet! Allow them to cool completely and this will create a fall apart soft cookie, even the next day.
Set pan on cooling rack and do not remove cookies for about 20 minutes until they’ve cooled so they can continue to stiffen up on the tray.
Cake Mix Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a bowl mix cake mix with eggs, softened butter and peanut butter. (can add 1/4 cup chocolate chips too if desired) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to stiffen batter so they don't spread as much when baked.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Scoop out dough with small cookie scoop and you can then roll in a bowl full of 1/3 cup sugar (optional, for best results). Place on baking sheet with parchment paper on top or lightly sprayed with non stick spray.
- Bake for 8 -10 minutes just until the outsides are lightly browned and are starting to stiffen up. Middle will still appear just a tad wet is the way we like it (so they remain chewy – we stick to 8 min., a bit crunchier should take 10 min.)
- Take out, set pan on cooling rack and do not remove cookies until they've cooled so they can continue to stiffen up on the tray.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Other quick and easy desserts you’ll love
We have another peanut butter oatmeal cookies recipe that we love too. Super moist every time and great with chocolate chips inside too. These air fryer cookies have been a fun treat to make. Small batches for those late night cravings. 😉 Pumpkin cookies with cake mix are great too.
And that is how you make cookies from boxed cake mix! So easy and versatile, you can make any flavor combination you want. We even made strawberry cake mix cookies once. Printable cookie recipe is below. Put it into your recipe box for later or come back again again. We love “seeing you” so don’t go away, we have a lot more to share with you every day.
How should soft cookies be stored?
If you do happen to have leftovers make sure they are put into an airtight container. Air will dry them out. Keep them on your countertop instead of the refrigerator, that will keep them tender too. Some people like to go a step further and put a small piece of bread in between each one when they’re stacked. The moisture in the bread will keep them soft longer. Want another fun idea? Make cake mix gingerbread cookies!
