Baking Bliss: The Easiest Cake Mix Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe You’ll Ever Make
Get ready to indulge in the ultimate sweet treat with these incredibly simple yet profoundly satisfying Cake Mix Peanut Butter Cookies. Bursting with rich, comforting peanut butter flavor, these cookies are a true marvel of convenience, made effortlessly with just a box of yellow cake mix and creamy peanut butter. If you’re searching for a quick dessert that delivers on taste without demanding hours in the kitchen, you’ve found your new favorite recipe!
Like many home bakers, I’m a huge fan of smart shortcuts that don’t compromise on flavor or quality. That’s precisely why easy cake mix cookies have become my secret weapon when I need to whip up a batch of delicious, homemade cookies in record time. They save you the hassle of measuring multiple dry ingredients, making the baking process incredibly streamlined.
My kitchen calendar is often marked by various cake mix cookie adventures. For example, during the vibrant spring months, I often bake lemon cake mix cookies, filling the house with a zesty aroma. As Halloween approaches, spooky candy corn cookies make an appearance, and for the festive holiday season, adorable Grinch cake mix cookies bring cheer. These recipes are fantastic for special occasions, adding a personal touch to any celebration.
However, you absolutely don’t need a specific event to justify baking a batch of these delightful treats. Whether it’s a sudden sweet craving, a last-minute get-together, or simply a desire for something homemade, these cookies are always a fantastic idea. Recipes like chocolate cake mix cookies with M&Ms, vibrant funfetti cookie bars, and especially these irresistible peanut butter cake mix cookies are perfect for satisfying your sweet tooth any day of the week.
Why You’ll Fall in Love with These Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies
Calling all peanut butter enthusiasts! Prepare yourselves because these delightfully chewy cake mix cookies are destined to become one of your all-time favorite go-to recipes. They are an absolute game-changer for busy individuals who still crave that comforting taste of homemade goodness. Here’s why these cookies are truly exceptional:
Irresistible Reasons to Bake This Recipe
- Perfectly Soft and Chewy: Each bite offers a delightful balance of a soft interior and a slightly crisp edge, a texture that cookie dreams are made of.
- Just the Right Amount of Peanut Butter Flavor: Not too subtle, not overpowering, these cookies strike the perfect note of rich, nutty peanut butter goodness.
- Quick Treat, Ready in Just 20 Minutes: From mixing bowl to cooling rack, you can enjoy these cookies in under half an hour, making them ideal for spontaneous baking.
- Super Easy with Just 5 Simple Ingredients: Minimal ingredients mean less shopping, less fuss, and a much smoother baking experience. It’s almost magical how few items you need!
- Beginner-Friendly: Even if you’re new to baking, this foolproof recipe guarantees success, making you feel like a seasoned pro.
- Family Favorite: Kids and adults alike adore these cookies, making them a fantastic addition to any family gathering or lunchbox.
Essential Ingredients for Your Cake Mix Peanut Butter Cookies
This section provides detailed ingredient notes, useful tips for selection, and potential substitution options to help you perfect your peanut butter cookies. For all precise measurements, a complete list of ingredients, and step-by-step instructions, please refer to the printable recipe card conveniently located at the end of this post.
- Yellow Cake Mix — This is your secret weapon! A standard 15.25-ounce box of yellow cake mix forms the base of our cookies, providing a perfect blend of flour, sugar, leavening agents, and flavor. It saves you the trouble of measuring out individual dry ingredients. Remember, for this recipe, you’ll be using only the dry mix; do NOT follow the package directions for making cake. Just scoop out the dry powder as directed in our recipe card.
- Large Eggs — Eggs are crucial binders in cookie dough, providing structure and holding all the ingredients together. More importantly for these cookies, they contribute significantly to that incredible chewy texture we all love. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature for better incorporation into the dough.
- Creamy Peanut Butter — The undeniable star of the show! Creamy peanut butter not only infuses these cookies with their signature rich, nutty flavor but also helps create a wonderfully soft and moist texture. For best results, use a classic, shelf-stable creamy peanut butter (like Jif or Skippy) rather than natural peanut butter, which can sometimes separate and alter the dough consistency.
- Vegetable Oil — This ingredient is vital for adding moisture to the dough, ensuring your cookies stay wonderfully soft, tender, and chewy. Vegetable oil also helps prevent the cookies from drying out during baking. If you don’t have vegetable oil, canola oil is an excellent, readily available substitute that will yield similar results.
- Granulated Sugar — While the cake mix already contains sugar, we use a small amount of granulated sugar for rolling the cookie dough balls. This step is optional but highly recommended! It creates a delightful sugary coating that caramelizes slightly during baking, adding a fantastic subtle crunch, extra sweetness, and a beautiful sparkle to the finished cookies.
Essential Equipment for Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies
Before you dive into the delightful process of making these easy peanut butter cookies, gather these basic kitchen tools. Having everything ready beforehand will make your baking experience smooth and enjoyable:
- Mixing Bowls: You’ll need at least one large mixing bowl for combining your dough ingredients and a small bowl for the granulated sugar coating.
- Wooden Spoon or Sturdy Spatula: Ideal for mixing the dense cookie dough by hand, though an electric mixer can also be used if preferred for speed.
- Measuring Cups: For accurately portioning your peanut butter, oil, and granulated sugar.
- Baking Sheets: Two standard baking sheets are perfect for baking multiple batches without waiting for one to cool and reload.
- Parchment Paper: A must-have for preventing sticking, ensuring easy cleanup, and promoting even baking without excessive spreading.
- Cookie Scoop (#40 or #50) or Tablespoon: Essential for creating uniformly sized cookie dough balls, which leads to consistent baking and a professional look.
- Cooling Rack: Allows air to circulate around the cookies, cooling them evenly and preventing sogginess.
How to Make Delicious Peanut Butter Cookies from Cake Mix: Step-by-Step Guide
This section provides a visual and descriptive step-by-step guide to help you perfectly execute this easy recipe, complete with important tips for each stage. For the full printable recipe card with exact measurements and detailed notes, please scroll down to the end of this post. Let’s get baking!
Step 1: Prepare Your Baking Station. Begin by preheating your oven to 350°F (175°C). While the oven heats up, take two cookie sheets and line them generously with parchment paper. This simple step prevents sticking and makes cleanup a breeze. In a separate small, shallow bowl, pour your granulated sugar for rolling the cookies, and set it aside for later.
Step 2: Combine the Dough Ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add the entire contents of your dry yellow cake mix, creamy peanut butter, large eggs, and vegetable oil. Using a sturdy wooden spoon or an electric mixer on low speed, mix these ingredients until they are just well combined. Be careful not to overmix the dough, as this can lead to tougher cookies. Mix until no dry streaks of cake mix remain and the dough forms a cohesive, somewhat thick ball.
Step 3: Portion and Roll the Dough. Now it’s time to shape your cookies! For consistent sizing and baking, use a cookie scoop (a #40 or #50 scoop works wonderfully for 1-inch balls) or a tablespoon to portion the dough. Roll each portion between your palms to form smooth, uniform 1-inch balls. Next, gently roll each dough ball in the granulated sugar you set aside, ensuring it’s evenly coated. Arrange the sugar-coated cookie dough balls on your prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches of space between each one to allow for slight spreading.
Step 4: Create the Signature Criss-Cross Pattern. To achieve that classic peanut butter cookie look and to help flatten the dough slightly for even baking, gently press down on the top of each cookie dough ball with the tines of a fork. Press once, then rotate the fork 90 degrees and press again to create a beautiful criss-cross pattern. This also ensures the cookies bake into a more traditional flattened shape rather than remaining perfect spheres.
Step 5: Bake to Golden Perfection. Place your baking sheets into the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies appear lightly golden brown. The centers may still look a bit soft or slightly underdone, but don’t worry – they will firm up beautifully as they cool. Overbaking can lead to dry cookies, so keep an eye on them!
Step 6: Cool and Enjoy! Once baked, carefully remove the cookies from the oven. Allow them to cool on the hot baking sheets for a few minutes. This crucial step helps them set and prevents them from breaking when you transfer them. After a few minutes, gently move the warm cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, these chewy delights are ready to be savored!
Serving Suggestions for Your Irresistible Cookies
These simple cake mix peanut butter cookies are delicious on their own, but they also pair wonderfully with a variety of beverages and desserts. For a classic and comforting experience, enjoy a couple of these chewy cookies alongside a tall, frosty glass of cold milk. Alternatively, they make an excellent companion to a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee or a soothing mug of hot chocolate. For an extra indulgent treat, try crumbling them over vanilla ice cream or serving them with a scoop of chocolate ganache.
Storage and Freezing Tips for Freshness
Ensuring your delicious cookies last as long as possible is key. Here’s how to store both baked cookies and unbaked dough for maximum freshness:
Room Temperature: To keep your leftover 5-ingredient peanut butter cookies perfectly fresh and soft, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They will maintain their quality and deliciousness for up to one week. However, based on their incredible taste, I highly doubt they’ll last that long – they have a tendency to disappear rather quickly!
Freezer: These cookies are fantastic for freezing, making them ideal for meal prepping desserts or enjoying a quick treat whenever a craving strikes. Once completely cooled, place the baked cookies in a single layer in a freezer-safe container or a heavy-duty freezer bag. They will keep beautifully in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, simply thaw them at room temperature for an hour or so.
This versatile cookie dough also freezes exceptionally well! To freeze the dough, first form it into individual 1-inch balls, roll them in granulated sugar as per the recipe, and then arrange them on a baking sheet. Flash freeze them for about 1-2 hours until solid. Once frozen, transfer the solid dough balls to a zip-top freezer bag. When you’re ready to bake, you can take them straight from the freezer to the oven – no thawing required! Just add an extra 2-3 minutes to the standard baking time to ensure they cook through evenly.
Pro Tips and Smart Tricks for Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
- Non-Stick Peanut Butter Measuring: Peanut butter can be notoriously sticky! To make it slide out of your measuring cup easily, lightly spray the inside of the cup with cooking oil or non-stick spray before scooping the peanut butter into it. This simple trick saves you time and mess.
- Avoid Overmixing: Once you add all the wet and dry ingredients, mix the dough just until everything is combined and no dry streaks of cake mix are visible. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which can result in dense, tough, and less chewy cookies.
- Uniform Cookie Sizes: If you don’t have a specific cookie scoop (like a #40 or #50), a regular tablespoon or even an ice cream scoop can do the trick. The key is to aim for uniform sizes for all your dough balls. This ensures that every cookie bakes evenly and finishes at the same time, preventing some from being overdone while others are still raw.
- Don’t Skip Flattening: These cookies don’t spread significantly on their own during baking. To achieve the classic flat cookie shape and ensure even cooking, it’s essential to flatten the dough balls a bit by pressing down with a fork before they go into the oven.
- Parchment Paper is Your Friend: Always use parchment paper for baking these cookies. It prevents sticking, helps them bake more evenly, and ensures easy removal from the baking sheet. It’s much more reliable than simply greasing the pan, which can sometimes lead to excessive spreading.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: For the best consistency, ensure your eggs are at room temperature. This helps them incorporate more smoothly into the dough, creating a more uniform mixture.
Exciting Additions and Creative Variations
While these cake mix peanut butter cookies are absolutely perfect as is, they also serve as a fantastic base for customization. Feel free to get creative and experiment with these delightful additions and variations to tailor them to your taste:
- Experiment with Cake Mix Flavors: Don’t limit yourself to yellow cake mix! This easy cookie recipe works beautifully with other cake mix flavors. Try a white (vanilla) cake mix for a slightly different sweet base, or go bold with a chocolate cake mix for a fantastic peanut butter and chocolate flavor combination.
- Bring on the Chocolate Chips: For a classic and universally loved peanut butter-chocolate combo, fold in a cup of semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips directly into the cookie dough before rolling. If you’re feeling adventurous, peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips would also be incredibly yummy additions, adding an extra layer of flavor and texture.
- Spice It Up: Enhance the warmth and depth of flavor by adding a dash of cinnamon or a pinch of nutmeg to the dry cake mix before combining with the wet ingredients. These subtle warm spices complement the rich peanut butter perfectly.
- Add a Topping: Before baking, press a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup into the center of each flattened cookie dough ball for an extra decadent surprise. Alternatively, sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt for a sophisticated sweet and salty contrast.
- Sprinkle Fun: For a festive touch, mix in some colorful sprinkles with the dough, or roll the dough balls in sprinkles instead of granulated sugar. Perfect for birthdays or holiday celebrations!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Making Peanut Butter Cookies with Cake Mix
Here are some common questions and helpful answers to ensure your cake mix peanut butter cookie baking experience is a complete success:
Absolutely! Using chunky peanut butter will introduce a delightful crunch to these easy peanut butter cookies, adding another layer of texture that many people love. However, chunky peanut butter can be a bit drier than creamy. You might need to adjust the dough’s consistency slightly by adding a tiny bit of milk, an extra tablespoon of vegetable oil, or an additional small egg (if the dough feels too stiff) to achieve the right texture.
While you technically can, I generally don’t recommend using natural peanut butter for baking this particular recipe. Natural peanut butter, especially the varieties where the oil separates, can be difficult to mix evenly with other ingredients, leading to a potentially greasy or crumbly dough. The consistency can be quite different from conventional creamy peanut butter, which is more stable. If you do decide to try it, make sure it is very well stirred and emulsified, and be prepared to make minor adjustments to the other liquid ingredients to get the right dough consistency. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you give it a go!
No, rolling the cookie balls in granulated sugar is entirely optional, and the cookies will still be delicious without it. However, I highly recommend this step! It adds a beautiful sparkle, a lovely extra layer of sweetness, and a pleasant, subtle crunch to the exterior of the cookies, truly enhancing their overall appeal and texture. It’s a small step that makes a big difference.
One of the best features of these peanut butter cake mix cookies is that you generally do not need to chill the dough! This makes them an incredibly fast and convenient recipe. You can mix your ingredients, form them into balls, roll them in sugar, and pop them straight into the oven. However, if your kitchen is particularly warm, or if you find the dough a bit too soft or sticky to handle easily, you can certainly place it in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes. This will firm it up, making it much easier to work with without affecting the final cookie texture too much.
The key to perfectly chewy cookies is knowing when to take them out. These cookies are done when they appear lightly golden brown around the edges. Don’t be alarmed if the centers still look a bit soft or slightly underbaked – this is perfectly normal! They will continue to cook and firm up as they cool, first on the hot baking sheet for a few minutes, and then completely on a wire rack. Removing them at this stage ensures a soft, chewy interior rather than a hard, crispy one.
If your cookies spread more than desired, a few factors could be at play. Ensure your oven temperature is accurate; an oven that’s too cool can cause excessive spreading. Also, make sure you’re using parchment paper and not just greasing the pan, as grease can encourage spreading. Finally, make sure to chill the dough for 15-30 minutes if it feels overly soft or sticky, as warmer dough tends to spread more quickly.
Explore More Peanut Butter Cookie Delights
If your craving for peanut buttery goodness is still not fully satisfied, you’re in luck! There’s a whole world of delicious peanut butter cookie recipes to explore. Here are some more fantastic options that are sure to become new favorites:
- Old Fashioned Homemade Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe — A timeless classic, reminiscent of the beloved cookies Grandma used to bake, rich in tradition and flavor.
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars — These convenient cookie bars are perfect for packing into lunchboxes, sharing at potlucks, or indulging in as a special, satisfying treat.
- 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies — For the ultimate in simplicity, this is quite possibly the easiest peanut butter cookie recipe ever created, using just three pantry staples!
- No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies — Enjoy the classic flavor combination of chocolate and peanut butter in these quick, easy-to-make, and utterly delicious no-bake cookies.
- Easy Peanut Butter Cup Cookies — These delightful cookies are especially popular during the holidays and are always a guaranteed hit at any cookie exchange or party.
- Buckeye Cookies — Inspired by the iconic chocolate and peanut butter candies, these cookies feature a decadent chewy brownie cookie base, a creamy peanut butter center, and a rich ganache topping.
Cake Mix Peanut Butter Cookies
Author: Jaclyn
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounce yellow cake mix (1 box)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Place the granulated sugar in a small, shallow bowl and set aside.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, creamy peanut butter, eggs, and vegetable oil. Mix well with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until all ingredients are just incorporated and a cohesive dough forms. Avoid overmixing.
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Using a #40 or #50 cookie scoop (or a tablespoon), portion the dough and roll it into smooth 1-inch balls. Roll each dough ball in the granulated sugar to coat evenly. Place the coated cookie dough balls at least 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
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With a fork, press down on the top of each cookie in a criss-cross pattern. This helps to flatten the cookies slightly and gives them their classic look.
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Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown. The centers may still look soft.
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Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- Using a medium cookie scoop to portion the dough ensures that all your cookies will be the same size and bake evenly. I recommend a #40 or #50 for this recipe to yield roughly 30 cookies.
- Always use parchment paper instead of non-stick cooking spray on your baking sheets. Cooking spray can sometimes cause cookies to overspread and become thin.
- These cookies do not spread too much while baking, so it’s crucial to flatten the dough balls by pressing down with a fork before baking to achieve the desired shape and texture.
- Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week to maintain their freshness and chewy texture.
- For easy cleanup of sticky peanut butter, spray your measuring cup lightly with cooking oil before scooping the peanut butter.
- Do not overmix the dough; mix just until combined to ensure soft and chewy cookies.
Nutrition
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