🍫🍪🍰 My Chocolate Chip Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies have a secret ingredient — cake mix! These cookies are super ooey gooey and ultra-rich!
Red Velvet Cookie Recipe … With Cake Mix!
These are the softest, gooiest, moistest red velvet cookies I’ve ever had. I’ve made tons of soft and gooey things, but these red velvet cake mix cookies truly take the cake and live up to their name.
I’ve mentioned before that my family isn’t really into cookies. What’s wrong with them, really? But these red velvet cake mix cookies were good enough to generate an ecstatic ‘omg those cookies are amazing’ text, which is all I needed to hear. It’s safe to say they’re one of our favorite cookies.
Here’s why it will be one of your new favorite cookie recipes:
- They’re made with red velvet cake mix, cream cheese, a stick of butter, an egg, vanilla, and a bag of chocolate chips. So easy.
- For these red velvet cake mix cookies, I wanted simple, mindless, and guaranteed to work. Enter: red velvet cake mix. With it, all you need are six simple ingredients!
- The cookies are gooey, soft, and moist, and the buttery flavor really shines. The cream cheese gives them a very subtle tang that’s lovely and reminds me of the Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies.
So. Dang. Good. OMG — these are fantastic cookies. The cream cheese adds just a bit of tang and the texture of the cookies is pillowy. I made a batch and split it between home and my hubby’s office — rave reviews all around. Keeper recipe for sure.
Andrea
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make these chocolate chip red velvet cookies, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Cream cheese – Make sure to use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese for the cream cheese
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Boxed red velvet cake mix – I love the Duncan Hines mix, but any box of cake mix will work. I highly recommend sifting the cake mix before adding it to the creamed ingredients for the same reason. A few readers have asked whether they need to add the ingredients required on the box of red velvet cake mix. The answer is NO, you should add exactly what my recipe calls for. The red velvet cake mix is added to the cookie dough as a dry ingredient
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips – I used semi-sweet chocolate to play up the mild chocolate flavor that red velvet is known for, but white chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips could work. There’s just enough melted chocolate in every bite to perfectly complement the squishy, soft, tender cookies
Tip
Make sure the cream cheese and butter are very well softened to room temp when creaming them, or you’ll never get the light and fluffy results you want. And there will be little lumps of cream cheese that you won’t want to incorporate into the butter, and when you add the red cake mix, the little white lumps will become extremely noticeable and unappealing in your chewy cookies.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Red Velvet Cookies with Cake Mix
Making red velvet cookies using cake mix eliminates the need for endless ingredients like vegetable oil, canola oil, red coloring, etc., and keeps the steps simple. Here’s an overview of this easy cookie recipe:
- Cream the wet ingredients. Then, add the cake mix, and use a stand mixer or hand mixer to beat the dough on low speed to combine.
- Add the chocolate chips, and beat just until combined.
- Portion the dough into 16 equal-sized mounds, roll each portion into a ball, and flatten them slightly. The cookie dough will. be very sticky. This is normal!
- Chill the cookie dough balls for at least 3 hours. Do not skip this, or the cookies will be prone to spreading!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Place the cookies on the sheet, leaving space between each mound, and bake just until the edges and tops are set. Then, cool the baked cookies on the cookie sheets. There’s no need for a wire rack!
Add a topping!
I think these cookies are plenty decadent on their own, but feel free to get creative with different variations. Cream cheese frosting, like the one used for my red velvet cupcakes, a dusting of powdered sugar, or a white chocolate drizzle would make for a tasty addition.
Or, use this recipe to make red velvet sandwich cookies, filling them with your favorite frosting!
Chocolate Chip Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Stand Mixer Fitted with a Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, very soft
- 8 ounces cream cheese, brick-style (must use full-fat cream cheese; not lite, whipped, spreadable, etc.)
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- one 18.25-ounce box red velvet cake mix, sifted (don’t skip sifting or you’ll have lumps that won’t incorporate)*
- 12- ounces 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the butter, cream cheese, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 5 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the cake mix, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the chocolate chips, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.
- Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form 16 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten slightly. The dough is very sticky and gloppy; this is normal.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet). If you had a hard time getting dough into neat mounds before chilling, take time now to smooth them out.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked and glossy in the center. Cookies firm up some as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack. Note that baking time is longer than for most cookies due to the very moist and wet nature of the dough and the size of the cookies. If you rolled your cookies smaller, reduce baking time accordingly.
Notes
- When I originally posted this recipe in 2013, cake mix was approximately 18.25 ounces per box and now box sizes have dropped to about 15.25 ounces. Use the largest sized box of red velvet cake mix you can find.
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
- Recipe adapted from Duncan Hines.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Red Velvet Desserts:
Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies — Rich, decadent, red velvet brownies topped with tangy cream cheese swirls! PERFECT for Valentine’s Day, the Christmas season, or anytime you’re craving red velvet! EASIER than you think to make!
Christmas Red Velvet Poke Cake — The EASIEST and most impressive red velvet Christmas cake! You’ll have your friends and family thinking you’re a rock star pastry chef!
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting (from scratch) — If you’ve ever wanted to make red velvet cupcakes from scratch that are as good as those you’d find in a bakery, try this hassle-free recipe.
Red Velvet Chocolate-Swirled Brownie Bars (from scratch) — These easy, no-mixer brownie bars are in between a bar and a brownie. Not supremely fudgy to give them true brownie status, but much fudgier and richer than your typical bar, and not cakey.
Red Velvet Poke Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — The cake is fast, easy, and it’s a poke cake so it’s automatically super soft and moist.
Mouth watering!!! These look so ooey-gooey delicious :) wishing I had one right now
Averie, you’re the queen of soft ‘n gooey treats so for you to proclaim that this is your softest and gooey-ist is a big deal! I love how easy it is to make these beauties. The shots of how truly soft ‘n gooey these cookie are inside are making my mouth water! I’ve never tried making a cookie from cake mix so I can’t wait to give this a try.
O.M.G.
I never like cake mix cookies, but I had a red velvet cake mix that had been sitting in my cupboard for probably a year. The batter was delicious yesterday. The cookies? Wow. Just, wow. I added a marshmallow/butter frosting. Now, please excuse me while I clean up all my drool….
Im so glad you tried them & feel the same way about them as I do! So good, right! And your frosting is the literal icing on the cake (er, cookie!)
These are basically my dream cookies. Cake mix cookies are always so moist! You made them even better, though, with all those melty chocolate chips and cream cheese in the batter. I must make them soon. :)
Thanks, Beth!
Gooey to the MAX! These cookies look incredible Averie!
Thanks Trish & I know you have a recipe for red velvet cookies and so many other things! :)
I bet the cream cheese makes these cookies taste AMAZING!
You are getting me with the red velvet. “Ping went the strings of my heart”. I am a Southern boy who lives in CA and sometimes misses the crazy cuisine of his childhood. GREG
I used to live in the Carolinas for a few years. What a wild and crazy time :) And the food. Totally diff than SoCal food, that is for sure. Although for most of the 5 yrs I was there, I was following a strictly liquid diet, nightly :)
Adding the block of cream cheese is such a unique secret, Averie! I’m loving it and have to try it asap! You can tell by your photos that it adds something extra special and super gooey to these incredible cookies. They look so melt-in-your-mouth soft and delicious!
Sooo soft girl. You will LOVE THEM!
These look soooo good Averie!!
Love that pretty red color!
Holy delish Averie! And stellar photos!
P.S. I just read your bio and you live if my all-time favorite place in the entire world. I heart SanDiegooooooo. I was born in Huntington Beach. We moved to Utah when I was in grade school but I have a brother in Santa Monica and a sister in Orange County still too. I also have grandparents in Vista so that’s usually where I stay when I visit San Diego and just make the drive. Sooo worth it. Pretty much all of my extended family is still in SoCal. <3
P.S.S. Thanks for the group board invite! :)
Thanks for being part of it and yes, I live in urban San Diego so if you’re ever here, shoot me a line :) I can totally see you being an OC girl :) You should move back! haha!
These cookies look so amazingly delicious! Exactly what I want for a Valentine’s Day treat!
Thank you, Amanda! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Lol…why is it socially acceptable to see red velvet this time of the year!? Let’s revolt and make it all year because it’s just that good. ;) These cookies sure do look gooey AND delicious! Love that. :)
Agreed!
These looks like some fine cookies. I am a little upset that I am stuck inside with a snow day and am out of red food coloring and cake mix. Total bummer!
Wow! These cookies really do look ooey gooey and totally fabulous! I just love their vibrant red color! :D
Your pictures are so vibrant! :)