Cake Mix Cookie Bars are loaded with marshmallows and chocolate chips! They come together in minutes and taste completely homemade!
These Cake Mix Cookie Bars are made with just a handful of ingredients for a semi-homemade dessert without the extra work. They go great alongside these Chocolate Cake Mix Bars on your holiday dessert spread! I love that no one can tell I didn’t make these cookie bars 100% from scratch. They’re my holiday baking secret weapon!
CAKE MIX COOKIE BARS
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I love cooking hacks, and a boxed cake mix is such a great premixed ingredient. Most of them are some combination of flour, sugar, and a leavening agent like baking soda. These are the same ingredients I would measure myself for cookies, so why not make it easier?!
These cookie bars are so easy and delicious! I love making them all year long, but at the holidays I add some festive sprinkles to give them a Christmas touch. Sometimes I even swap out for white cake mix and white chocolate chips for that red, green, and white vibe.
I’ll be surprised if you don’t have most of these cake mix cookie recipe ingredients already in your pantry! This super simple dessert is great to whip up for a last minute party.
Cookie Bar Ingredients
CAKE MIX: I prefer a Betty Crocker yellow cake mix for these cookies, but you can use any flavor you want! White cake mix, vanilla, or butter pecan box cake mix would be great alternatives.
MIX-INS: Ignore the directions on the box for this recipe! You’ll also need eggs, vegetable oil, caramel extract, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows. You can swap the caramel extract for vanilla extract too!
If you want to add other mix-ins, like peanut butter chips or chopped nuts, you can do that too! I like to stick to only 2 mix-ins because too many can overpower the cookies.
How to Make Cookies with Cake Mix
- First, grease your pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- After that, mix the cake mix, eggs, oil, and caramel extract in a medium mixing bowl until batter is super smooth. The caramel extract give these cookies a richer flavor.
- Then, mix in most of the chocolate chips and some marshmallows, and press it into your greased dish. It will seem like a very thin layer, but that’s the goal! Just make sure it spreads completely to the edges.
- Now, top the cookie bars with the extra chocolate chips and marshmallows. Then chill your cookie bar batter in the fridge for about 20 minutes. This keeps the batter from rising too much and rehydrates the ingredients. Without this, the cookies will be more cakey.
- Whiel the batter chills, you’ll preheat your oven to 350 degree F oven. Then bake until the edges are just set and golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. The finished cookies out of cake mix will still be a bit soft and look puffy. Fear not — the bars will firm up as they cool!
Let the cookie abrs completely cool before cutting into squares to serve. They should be stored in an airtight container.
Tips to Make Cookie Bars
- You can also make these cake mix cookies in a smaller pan. The cookies will be a little cakey, like the soft frosted sugar cookies. You’ll need to reduce the cooking time slightly too!
- Don’t like vegetable oil? Swap it for melted butter or coconut oil!
- I use chocolate chips and marshmallows in this easy recipe. Other great add-in options include peanut butter chips, M&Ms, butterscotch chips, Reese’s Pieces, mint chips, white chocolate, or peanut butter cups!
- These cookie bars will stay fresh for about 1 week in an airtight container. If you want to freeze the leftovers, they will stay fresh for a few months.
Try some of my other favorite cookie recipes!
- Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
- German Chocolate Cookie Bars
- White Chocolate Cherry Pudding Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie S’mores Bars
- Homemade Vanilla Cake Mix
- Brown Sugar Cookie Bars
- More DESSERT recipes…
Tools used to make this Cake Mix Cookie Bars recipe
Baking dish: You can use a smaller dish, but I like this 9×13 baking dish with tall sides.
Mixing bowls: A strong set of mixing bowls are necessary for baking. These have a silicon base to keep them steady on your countertop while you’re mixing.
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons caramel extract (or vanilla extract)
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Coat the inside of a 9-inch x 13-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together cake mix, eggs, oil, and caramel extract until batter is smooth.
- Stir in most of the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the mini marshmallows. The rest of the chocolate chips will go on top.
- Press the mixture into your prepared pan with the back of a wooden spoon or your hands. It will seem like a very thin layer, but that is what you're looking for.
- Top batter with remaining chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.
- Chill batter in the fridge for 20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove the pan from your fridge and place it on the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes. When the cookies are done the edges will be just set and the cookie will look a bit puffy and still be soft.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely. (The cookies will firm up as they cool.) Cut into 20 bars and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
Sharon says
These will make a great grand daughter think I’m magic.