Easy 5-Ingredient Cake Mix Grinch Cookies: Your Ultimate Festive Holiday Treat
Embrace the holiday spirit with these incredibly simple and absolutely delightful Cake Mix Grinch Cookies! These festive treats are renowned for their irresistibly soft and chewy texture, vibrant green hue, and cheerful scattering of bright red M&M candies. Perfect for holiday gatherings, cookie exchanges, or just a cozy night in, they require a mere five ingredients and come together in a flash, making them a go-to recipe for even the busiest of bakers.
Table of Contents
- The Magic of Cake Mix Cookies
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients for Grinch Cookies
- How to Make Grinch Cookies with Cake Mix
- The Importance of Chilling Cookie Dough
- Expert Baking Tips for Perfect Grinch Cookies
- Storage Tips for Freshness
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Christmas Cookies You’ll Love
- Cake Mix Grinch Cookies Recipe
The Magic of Cake Mix Cookies
Utilizing a boxed cake mix is truly the secret weapon behind achieving the softest, chewiest Grinch cookies imaginable, perfectly studded with those iconic red M&M’s. This ingenious shortcut not only guarantees a consistently delightful taste and texture but also drastically reduces your measuring time, as all the essential dry ingredients are already pre-combined in the mix. For busy holiday seasons, this time-saving hack is an absolute game-changer, allowing you to whip up homemade goodness without the fuss.
If you’re new to the world of cake mix as a baking shortcut, prepare to be amazed! It’s an incredibly versatile ingredient that simplifies the process of making freshly baked treats, delivering delicious results with minimal effort. Just like with popular recipes such as chocolate chip cake mix banana bread or red velvet chocolate chip cake mix cookies, a simple boxed mix streamlines your prep, ensuring baking success every time. I always recommend keeping a few boxes of your favorite cake mixes in the pantry, ready for any last-minute baking cravings or unexpected holiday guests.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Effortless 5-Ingredient Wonder: You heard that correctly! This recipe is a minimalist baker’s dream, requiring only five core ingredients. The boxed cake mix handles the heavy lifting, serving as the base, while you simply add eggs, oil, vibrant green food coloring, and the festive red M&Ms. This simplicity means less shopping, less measuring, and more time to enjoy the holidays.
- Unbelievably Chewy and Soft Texture: The magic of using cake mix shines through in the final texture. These cookies consistently bake up with an unbelievably soft, moist crumb and a delightfully chewy bite that’s characteristic of the best homemade cookies. The inherent moisture and finely balanced ingredients in cake mix contribute to this perfect consistency.
- Perfectly Fun and Festive for the Holidays: With their signature bright green dough and cheerful red M&Ms, these cookies are the embodiment of holiday cheer. They evoke the spirit of the beloved Grinch, making them an instant favorite for all ages. They are without a doubt some of the best Christmas cookies to serve at any holiday party, wrap up as edible gifts, or simply enjoy with a glass of milk by the fireplace.
- Quick and Easy to Prepare: The dough for these Grinch cookies comes together in a matter of minutes, requiring minimal effort and no special equipment beyond a mixing bowl and a whisk. Scooping portions onto the baking sheet is straightforward, though a brief chilling period for the dough is essential to ensure they bake beautifully and hold their shape, preventing excessive spreading. This recipe is designed for maximum flavor with minimum fuss.
Ingredients for Grinch Cookies
Crafting these iconic Grinch cookies requires just a handful of ingredients, thanks to the efficiency of using a cake mix. Each component plays a vital role in achieving their distinctive look and delectable texture:
- Eggs: Two large eggs are crucial for binding all the dry ingredients together, providing essential moisture, and contributing to the rich, tender structure of the cookies. They help create that desirable chewy texture we all love.
- Oil: Vegetable oil serves as the primary fat source in this recipe. It’s instrumental in making these cookies incredibly tender, moist, and prevents them from drying out during baking. Its neutral flavor allows the other ingredients to shine.
- Green Food Coloring: This is where the Grinch magic happens! A generous amount of green food coloring transforms the dough into that unmistakable vivid green hue. I highly recommend using a gel-based food coloring over liquid varieties, as a small amount goes a long way to produce intense, vibrant colors without altering the dough’s consistency.
- White Cake Mix: The true hero of this recipe! A standard box of white cake mix (typically 15.25 or 16.25 ounces) provides all the necessary flour, sugar, leaveners, and subtle flavoring in one convenient package. Using white cake mix ensures that the green food coloring truly pops, creating that striking Grinch-like appearance.
- Red M&Ms: These colorful candies are the festive “hearts” that make these cookies undeniably Grinch-themed. You can often find single-color M&Ms online or in the candy aisle during specific seasons. During the Christmas holidays, bags of red and green M&Ms are readily available, making it even easier to achieve that perfect holiday look. We’ll be dividing these, with most mixed into the dough and a portion pressed on top after baking for maximum visual impact.
For precise measurements and quantities, please refer to the complete recipe card below.
How to Make Grinch Cookies with Cake Mix
Making these delightful Grinch cookies is incredibly straightforward, largely due to the convenience of using cake mix as your shortcut ingredient. With your dry ingredients pre-measured, you’ll find that preparing the dough is a breeze! Here’s a detailed guide to creating your festive holiday treats:
- Prepare the Wet Ingredients: Begin by cracking two large eggs into a spacious mixing bowl. Add the vegetable oil and a few drops of your chosen green food coloring. Whisk these ingredients together thoroughly until they are well combined, the mixture is smooth, and the green color is evenly dispersed. Ensuring an even green base now prevents streaks in your final cookies.
- Incorporate the Cake Mix and M&Ms: Pour the entire box of white cake mix into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Stir gently using a spatula or spoon, mixing just until all the dry ingredients are fully incorporated and no pockets of flour remain. Be careful not to overmix, as this can lead to tougher cookies. Once combined, fold in ¾ cup of the red M&Ms. This initial batch will be distributed throughout the dough, providing bursts of color and sweetness in every bite.
- Chill the Dough: Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and transfer it to the refrigerator. Allow the dough to chill for a minimum of 30 minutes. This crucial step is vital for the texture of your cookies; it allows the fats in the dough to firm up, which significantly reduces spreading during baking and helps the cookies maintain a pleasant thickness rather than becoming overly flat.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: While your dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Position an oven rack in the center for optimal, even baking. Prepare two large baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper. Parchment paper is excellent for preventing sticking and ensures easy cleanup.
- Form the Cookies: Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Using a large cookie scoop (approximately 2 tablespoons in size), an ice cream scoop, or two spoons, portion out uniform balls of dough. Place these dough mounds onto the prepared baking sheets, ensuring they are spaced at least 2 inches apart. Adequate spacing is key, as these cookies will spread during baking.
- Bake and Decorate: Transfer the baking sheets to the preheated oven and bake for approximately 12 to 15 minutes. The cookies are ready when their edges are lightly set and the centers appear just firm but still slightly soft. Avoid overbaking, which can dry them out. Immediately upon removing them from the oven, gently press the remaining ¼ cup of red M&Ms into the tops of the warm cookies. This ensures they adhere nicely and stay vibrant.
- Cool Completely: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes. This initial cooling period allows them to set fully and firm up before handling. After 10 minutes, carefully transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool down completely. This prevents the bottoms from becoming soggy and helps them achieve that perfect chewy texture.
Kelly’s Note on Food Coloring: For the most vibrant green, I always opt for gel food coloring instead of traditional water-based options. Gel colors are highly concentrated, meaning you need significantly less to achieve a rich, deep hue without adding excess liquid to your dough. My personal favorite brands for achieving brilliant colors are AmeriColor and Wilton.
The Importance of Chilling Cookie Dough
One of the most critical steps when making cookies from a cake mix is the chilling process. Because cake mix creates a softer, looser dough compared to traditional cookie dough made from scratch, refrigeration is absolutely essential. Chilling the dough solidifies the fats (like the vegetable oil) within the mixture, making the dough firmer and less likely to spread excessively in the hot oven. This ensures your Grinch cookies retain a delightful thickness and chewy texture, preventing them from becoming flat and crispy.
The good news is that you don’t need to wait long! A mere 30 minutes of refrigeration is usually all it takes to achieve the ideal dough consistency for scooping and baking. This short chilling period makes a significant difference in the final outcome, resulting in perfectly shaped, soft, and chewy Grinch cookies that are a joy to behold and devour.
Expert Baking Tips for Perfect Grinch Cookies
- Mix Food Coloring Early for Even Color: To guarantee your Grinch cookies boast a uniformly vibrant green color without unsightly streaks, it’s vital to whisk the green food coloring thoroughly with the eggs and oil before introducing the dry cake mix. This ensures the color is perfectly distributed throughout the wet ingredients, creating a flawless base for your festive dough.
- Choose the Right Cake Mix: While any brand of white cake mix will work wonderfully for this recipe, always double-check the package size to ensure it’s either 15.25 or 16.25 ounces. For an extra boost of moisture and an even chewier cookie, I highly recommend opting for cake mixes that include “pudding in the mix.” This small detail makes a big difference in the final texture of your cookies.
- Allow Ample Space on Baking Sheets: These cake mix cookies tend to spread a bit more than traditional cookies, so it’s crucial to leave at least two inches of space between each dough ball on your baking sheet. Overcrowding can lead to uneven baking and cookies that merge together, making them difficult to separate. Proper spacing ensures each cookie bakes perfectly and achieves its ideal shape.
- Don’t Overbake: For the ultimate soft and chewy texture, keep a close eye on your cookies and remove them from the oven as soon as the edges are lightly golden and the centers are just set. They might look slightly underdone in the middle, but they will continue to firm up as they cool on the baking sheet. Overbaking will result in dry, crumbly cookies.
- Uniform Scooping for Even Baking: Using a cookie scoop of consistent size (e.g., a 2-tablespoon scoop) will help ensure all your cookies are roughly the same size. This promotes even baking across the entire batch, meaning no burnt edges or raw centers, and a more professional-looking end result.
Storage Tips for Freshness
To keep your festive Grinch cookies as fresh and delicious as possible, proper storage is key:
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. To prevent them from sticking together or becoming soggy, it’s best to stack the cookies between layers of parchment paper or wax paper within the container. This simple trick helps maintain their delightful texture and prevents flavors from mingling. If you live in a humid environment, consider adding a slice of bread to the container to absorb excess moisture.
Cake mix cookies also freeze exceptionally well, making them perfect for make-ahead holiday baking! To freeze, arrange fully cooled cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet and flash freeze for about 30 minutes until firm. Then, transfer the frozen cookies to an airtight container or a heavy-duty resealable freezer bag, layering them with plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. They will maintain their quality in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, simply thaw the cookies at room temperature for an hour or two before serving. You can even gently warm them in the microwave for a few seconds for that freshly baked feel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cake mix creates a relatively soft dough, which means cookies made from it tend to spread more during baking. The primary reason for flat cake mix cookies is insufficient chilling of the dough. To prevent excessive spreading and ensure your cookies stay delightfully thick and chewy, always refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes before scooping and baking. This helps solidify the fats in the dough, allowing them to hold their shape better in the oven. Additionally, ensure your oven temperature is accurate and that your baking soda/powder (already in the mix) is still active if you’ve added any other leavening agents.
These Grinch cake mix cookies are best enjoyed fresh, but they will stay perfectly delicious for 3 to 5 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. For longer storage, they freeze beautifully for up to 3 months. Simply thaw them at room temperature before serving. Proper airtight storage is crucial to prevent them from drying out or absorbing unwanted odors.
You’ll want to use a standard box of white cake mix for this recipe. White cake mix provides a neutral base, allowing the green food coloring to create a vibrant, true Grinch green. Look for packages that typically measure 15.25 or 16.25 ounces. While other flavors might work, white cake mix is ideal for achieving the signature bright color. If you can find one with “pudding in the mix,” that’s a bonus for extra moisture and chewiness!
Absolutely! While red M&Ms are classic for the Grinch theme, feel free to get creative. Green M&Ms can be mixed in along with the red for an even more festive look, or you could use other small, holiday-themed candies like sprinkles, mini chocolate chips (though they won’t stand out as much), or even chopped white chocolate for a “snowy” effect. Just ensure the candy can withstand baking temperatures without melting completely or altering the cookie’s texture too much.
Not at all! One of the beauties of this cake mix cookie recipe is its simplicity. A large mixing bowl and a sturdy whisk or spatula are all you need to bring the dough together. This makes it an excellent recipe for kids to help with, or for bakers who prefer not to pull out heavy kitchen equipment.
More Christmas Cookies You’ll Love
- Candy Cane Cookies
- Marshmallow Christmas Wreaths
- Frosted Soft Sugar Cookie Bars
- Christmas Pinwheel Cookies
- Christmas Monster Cookies
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Cake Mix Grinch Cookies
Kelly Senyei
50 minutes
15 minutes
1 hour 5 minutes
28 cookies
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon green food coloring (gel preferred for vibrant color)
- 1 (16.25-oz.) box white cake mix
- 1 cup red M&Ms, divided
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil and the green food coloring until fully combined and evenly colored.
- Stir in the entire box of white cake mix until just combined. Then, gently fold in ¾ cup of the red M&Ms.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove the chilled dough from the fridge. Using a large cookie scoop (approx. 2 tablespoons) or two spoons, portion out mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, ensuring at least 2 inches of space between each cookie.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the cookie edges are lightly set and the centers appear just firm.
- Immediately remove the cookies from the oven and press the remaining ¼ cup M&Ms evenly into the tops of the warm cookies. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Kelly’s Notes
- It’s important to mix the food coloring with the eggs and oil prior to adding the cake mix so that your cookies are uniformly green in color and not streaked.
- You can use any brand of white cake mix for this recipe. Make sure the package size is 15.25 or 16.25 ounces. I like the ones with pudding in the middle — your cookies will be extra moist!
- Leave at least two inches of space between cookies on the baking sheet. As they bake, these cookies will spread.
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