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Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Averie Sunshine

4.41 from 5 votes

Updated: Mar 31, 2025

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Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies – 🍓🍰😍 Soft, light, fluffy cookies with a rich, strawberry flavor that are a cinch to make! Almost too pretty to eat, these cookies are perfect for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, bridal and baby showers, or any time you have a craving for strawberries!

Easy Strawberry Cookies with Cake Mix

If strawberry cookies with a thick layer of vanilla cream cheese frosting and red sanding sugar sprinkles don’t put a smile on your face, I’m convinced that nothing will.

The little cookies are moist and light and have the best strawberry flavor, which is balanced with the heavier, richer, and tangier cream cheese frosting.

And they are so soft, and so very, very moist.

Practically falling apart moist, which is the only way I like baked goods. Plus, they only use four ingredients! Thanks to the use of boxed cake mix, you can be out of the kitchen and snacking on a cookie in just an hour. They’re at the top of my list of favorite strawberry recipes!

Recipe Ingredients

As mentioned, you only need a few ingredients for this strawberry cake mix cookies recipe:

For the Cookies

• Unsalted butter – Let it soften, but you don’t want melted butter
• Large egg – Let it come to room temperature for easy mixing
• Vanilla extract
• Strawberry cake mix – I use Pillsbury strawberry cake mix, but any brand, like Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines, will work. Make sure the flavor of the cake mix is strawberry! Vanilla won’t work

For the Frosting

• Unsalted butter
• Cream cheese – Make sure to use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese, not cream cheese from a tub
• Vanilla extract
• Confectioner’s sugar

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 Soft and Chewy Cake Mix Strawberry Cookies

Make sure to preheat your oven to 350 degrees F before you begin. Then, have all the ingredients ready to go! Here’s an overview of how the cookies come together:

1. Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl. Then, fold in the cake mix. If the dough seems too wet, add a bit more cake mix, a tablespoon at a time. Or, if it’s too dry, add water a tablespoon or two at a time.
2. If you have enough time, chill the dough for 15-20 minutes. This isn’t 100% necessary, but it prevents the cookies from spreading while baking.
3. Use a medium cookie scoop to portion the dough into balls, and place the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat mat or parchment paper, leaving space between each piece. Bake until the cookies are barely browned.
4. Cool on the baking sheet; there’s no need to transfer them to a wire rack to cool!
5. Use a hand mixer or whisk by hand, beating the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar, and mix until smooth. Spread the frosting over the cookies in a thick layer. Finish with sprinkles, sanding sugar, or other garnishes. Enjoy!

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4.41 from 5 votes

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

By Averie Sunshine

🍓🍰😍 Soft, light, fluffy cookies with a rich, strawberry flavor that are a cinch to make! Almost too pretty to eat, these cookies are perfect for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Easter, bridal and baby showers, or any time you have a craving for strawberries!

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Additional Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 12 -13 cookies; or double the recipe and use the full box of cake mix

Equipment

• 2 Large Mixing Bowls
• 1 Large Baking Sheet

Ingredients 

Cookies

• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter, half of one stick, softened
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup + 1/8 cup strawberry cake mix (this is about 9 ounces, or half of an 18.25 ounce box of Pillsbury Strawberry Cake Mix

Frosting  

• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter, half of one stick, softened
• ▢ ¼ cup cream cheese, softened
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Instructions 

• Cookies –  Preheat oven to 350F.  In a mixing bowl combine the softened butter, egg, vanilla and stir by hand or with a mixer until combined.  Add  the cake mix and stir until smooth.  If the dough seems too wet to be cookie dough, add a bit more cake mix, one tablespoon at a time, until it’s less wet.  Conversely, if the dough seems dry and it’s not combining, add a tablespoon or two of water.
• If time permits, I recommend chilling the dough by placing the mixing bowl in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.  Chilled dough spreads less during the baking process.
• Form 1 inch balls on a Silpat-lined, parchment paper-lined, or cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Allow for adequate spacing because they do spread; which is why I recommend chilling the dough and do not exceed 1 rounded tablespoon-sized or 1 inch sized balls (I only placed 9 cookies on one cookie sheet and do not recommend trying to fit the batch on one cookie sheet).  Bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are barely browned.  They make look a bit loose and jiggly after only 8 to 10 minutes but they will continue to cook on the sheets after you remove the from the oven and will firm up as they cool.  Do not overbake.  Allow the cookies to cool well (on the cookie sheets is fine) before attempting to move them.
• While the cookies are baking, make the frosting.
• Frosting –  In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer or whisk by hand.  Add the vanilla extract and add two cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  If you like thick(er) frosting, add more powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.  I used nearly 4 cups of powdered sugar in mine because I like very thick frosting (shown in the photos).
• After the cookies have cooled, frost them (I applied a thick layer). Finish with sprinkles, sanding sugar, or other garnishes such as coconut flakes or chocolate shavings, as desired.  Optionally, make sandwich cookies.
• Because these cookies are frosted with cream cheese frosting, you may want store them in the refrigerator if they’re going to be out more than a day or so; use common sense.

Notes

Storage: Transfer leftover cookies to an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or, freeze for up to 3 months. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 282cal, Carbohydrates: 38g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 100mg, Sodium: 188mg, Potassium: 38mg, Sugar: 30g, Vitamin A: 409IU, Calcium: 58mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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