Cake Mix Is Crucial To Making Bakery-Style Cookies

Gazing into the glass case of your favorite bakery can be mesmerizing. With so many incredible flavors, colors, and delectable options, choosing what to order can be challenging. However, when in doubt, cookies from the bakery always offer the perfect balance of a crisp exterior and a soft, tender inside that makes them so special.

While it may seem impossible to recreate that delicious bakery-style cookie experience at home, there is one secret ingredient that can transform your homemade treats instantly — no fancy kitchen equipment or years of culinary training required. Simply pick up a box of the best cake mix you can find at the grocery store, and you are on your way to a perfectly baked batch of cookies. This hack is a significant timesaver, as a box of cake mix essentially includes a bunch of ingredients you would need for cookies, pre-mixed into one convenient package. Plus, using a cake mix to make cookies helps mimic the tender crumb that is so beloved in bakery-style treats.

Cake mix cookies only require three ingredients for bakery-style success. A standard 15.25 ounce box of your favorite flavor of cake mix (it can be gluten-free), half a cup of neutral oil or melted butter, and two eggs. Then, all you have to do is mix these three ingredients together until well-combined, and you have the world's easiest cookie dough. Plus, cleanup is a breeze since you only dirty one bowl in the process.

This recipe is perfect for novice bakers or when cooking with kids. Using a box of cake mix is a time-saver since there's no need to measure out and sift a bunch of individual ingredients, and it ensures the consistency of the final product. There's also never a worry that you accidentally added too much salt, or not enough leavening agent.

If the dough feels a bit too sticky, it can be refrigerated for a few minutes before baking. Then, simply roll small balls of dough, place them on a cookie sheet, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes. That's it! Just allow the cookies to cool on a rack for a few minutes before diving in.

Once you master the technique for making these cookies, you can easily riff on the formula and bake up endless possibilities. Get creative by using different flavors of cake mix, such as yellow, chocolate, or strawberry. Then, make it your own by adding in some of your favorite mix-ins. Nuts, sprinkles, chocolate chips, or even chopped-up pieces of candy work well.

You can also frost cake mix cookies with homemade royal icing — just remember to add a splash of vinegar, which is the secret ingredient that will give your icing amazing flavor — or even ready-made frosting from a can. Perhaps try taking two cookies and making them into a sandwich cookie. Cookie butter, peanut butter, or Nutella are all easy and delicious fillings.

It will be fun to always keep a couple of boxes of cake mix on hand to whip up a batch of cookies anytime a craving hits. Plus, making cookies isn't the only way to elevate your boxed cake mix; you can always add extra spices, citrus zest, or extracts if you want to further your boxed cake mix adventures.