These cake batter chocolate chip cookies are a cross between soft-baked chocolate chip cookies and funfetti cake. For over a decade, this has remained one of the most popular cookie recipes on my website, and after baking a batch, you’ll taste why. If you love chocolate chip cookies and sneaking a taste of cake batter, you will love these fun cookies!
I originally published this recipe in 2012 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips.
Since 2012, this recipe for cake batter chocolate chip cookies has consistently been one of my most popular cookie recipes.
It was my very first recipe to “go viral,” which led to an appearance on Good Morning America and in People magazine. It even caught the eye of a cookbook publisher… which led to my first published cookbook, Sally’s Baking Addiction. (And they’re on the book cover, too!)
They’re like chocolate chip cookies and confetti cake in one irresistible treat.
What Makes Them a Fan Favorite?
- Soft-baked chewy centers with crispy edges
- Sweet, buttery cake batter flavor
- Loaded with both chocolate and white chocolate morsels
- Customize the sprinkle colors to fit a party or holiday theme
- Freeze wonderfully, both before and after baking
- Make fantastic cookie ice cream sandwiches
- A birthday party in cookie form!
But you don’t have to take my word for it. Just skim through some of the comments and reviews fans of these cake batter chocolate chip cookies have left over the years:
One reader, Kim, commented: “Still one of my favorite recipes after over a decade! ★★★★★“
One reader, Katie, commented: “Love making this recipe for birthdays and holidays with themed sprinkles!! Always a hit. People are always surprised how AMAZING they are, much more than a basic chocolate chip cookie!! ★★★★★”
One reader, Geri, commented: “Everyone needs to try these at least once and after that, you’ll know one time isn’t enough. I love them with regular vanilla cake mix but we use the butter flavor cake mix sometimes too. Very chewy and soft cookies with fun flavor, kids and adults alike can’t get enough of them. ★★★★★”
Cake Batter Cookie Dough Ingredients:
The cookie dough is made from your standard cookie ingredients: flour, leavener, salt, sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla. What makes these cookies stand out in the crowded arena of cookie recipes is the add-ins:
- Cake Mix: My team and I prefer baking from scratch, but adding dry cake mix is the SECRET to this recipe. I usually reach for vanilla cake mix, but any flavor you love works. You won’t need the whole box of cake mix, so use the leftovers another time to make a batch of cake batter rice krispie treats!
- Chocolate Chips & White Morsels: I love to use a mix of both in these cookies. Semi-sweet chocolate chips make them taste like classic chocolate chip cookies, while white chocolate morsels taste like frosting—adding to the flavor that’s reminiscent of birthday cake.
- Sprinkles: Use your favorite color sprinkles here! I used rainbow sprinkles today, but love switching them up for different holidays. You can customize these cookies with a mix of specific colors or holiday sprinkles. Have fun with them!
And if you’d like to try Oreos as an add-in, see my similar recipe for cake batter Oreo cookies.
Best Sprinkles to Use
I’ve been baking sprinkles into cookie doughs and cake batters for years and have learned exactly which sprinkles work, and which don’t. Happy to share my best advice:
- Do not use nonpareils (the little balls) in dough/batter. They will bleed their color as you fold them in, resulting in a less-than-appetizing-color baked good.
- Rainbow sprinkles (aka “jimmies”) sold in the U.S. are intensely colored, but sprinkles sold in other countries may lose their color when baked. “Sugar strands” may be the same shape as jimmies, but they dissolve in wet batter/dough. For best results, try to use American-style rainbow sprinkles. I also really like Canadian-brand Sweetapolita sprinkles.
- Confetti quins (the little discs) are also great to use in sprinkle cookies and cakes. They rarely bleed their color in batter.
- Be careful using naturally colored sprinkles. They are wonderful as decoration, but—depending on the brand—can lose their color in doughs and batters.
Overview: How to Make Them
The cookie dough does need to chill, so if you’re in a rush, try these giant chocolate chip cookies instead (no dough chilling!).
Sift the dry ingredients together.
Cream the wet ingredients together. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Then add the chocolate chips and sprinkles.
Chill the cookie dough. This step is imperative. If you skip it, your cookies will spread into a flat, greasy mess. Chilling the dough for at least 2 hours firms up the butter, allows the flour to absorb the wet ingredients, and helps prevent the cookies from overspreading. If you’re interested, I wrote a post all about how to prevent cookies from spreading. It’s helpful to read before making ANY batch of cookies.
Roll the cookie dough into balls. Use about 1.5 Tablespoons of cookie dough per cookie. Shape your cookie dough balls to be taller than they are wide—see my tall cookie trick below.
Bake. Bake the cookies until the edges are lightly browned. The centers will still appear very soft, but they’ll continue to set as the cookies cool. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops. This is just for looks!
My Tall Cookie Trick
Before I leave you with the recipe, here’s one final tip. Use my favorite tall cookie trick to reduce excess spreading. Roll your dough balls to be taller rather than wider. This doesn’t necessarily mean using more dough per cookie—we’ll simply shape the cookie dough ball to be nice and tall, with a firm solid bottom to ensure the cookie doesn’t topple over as it bakes. This one trick gives us perfectly thick and chewy cookies every time.
By the way, if you can’t get enough cake batter flavor, try these cake batter blondies. Or give someone special a delicious start to their special day with birthday cake cinnamon rolls or birthday cake pancakes.
You can even sandwich ice cream between two cookies to make a birthday cookie ice cream sandwich. Enjoy right away or wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to eat.
Print
Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 28-32 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These cake batter chocolate chip cookies are a cross between delicious, soft-baked chocolate chip cookies and sprinkle-filled funfetti cake. If you like chocolate chip cookies and you like the flavor of cake batter, you will love these soft & chewy cookies!
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/3 cup (167g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/4 cup (190g) yellow or vanilla boxed cake mix (not the whole box and you just need the DRY mix)*
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (180g) chocolate chips (I use 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup semi-sweet)
- 1/2 cup (80g) sprinkles
Instructions
- In a large bowl, sift flour, cake mix, salt, and baking soda together. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and both sugars together on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and beat on high until combined. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low-medium speed until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and sprinkles. Mix on low until the add-ins are evenly combined.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours, or up to 3-4 days. This step is imperative. The dough is fairly sticky, so chilling the dough is required in order to avoid the cookies from spreading too much. If you chill longer than 2 hours, make sure you roll the cookie dough into balls after the 2 hour mark. Place dough balls on a plate, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. You may also freeze the balls at this point for up to 3 months. (Then bake as directed adding 1 minute to the bake time without thawing.)
- Once dough has been chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats (always recommended for cookies).
- Scoop rounded balls of the cold dough onto an ungreased baking sheet, use around 1.5 Tablespoons (about 35g) of cookie dough per cookie. A medium cookie scoop is helpful for this. Shape your cookie dough balls to be “taller” than they are wide, as pictured above. Make sure to keep dough refrigerated when working in batches.
- Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. The centers will still appear very soft, but the cookies will continue to set as they cool. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies. This is optional and only for looks.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. See step 3. Baked cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Cake Mix: You can use funfetti cake mix and leave out the sprinkles called for in this recipe. I usually use vanilla cake mix. Remember, you only need 1 and 1/4 cups of dry mix. Not the whole box. Gluten free cake mix is not recommended.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I just made the batter and it seemed a bit crumbly. Is that normal?
Hi Camille, how are you measuring your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or weight measure) to measure. Otherwise, too much flour can lead to a more crumbly, dry texture.
Can I use chocolate cake mix instead of vanilla cake mix?
Hi Susan, Any flavor cake mix should be great. Let us know how they turn out.
This recipe turned out so well, new favorite chocolate chip cookie. I used Madhava yellow cake mix, Simple Truth sprinkles, Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet and white chocolate chips, and the cookies I baked after chilling looked just like pictured! While still wonderful, cookies baked after freezing had the sprinkles’ colors run a little. Very sweet, with wonderful sugar crackle tops almost like blondie version of Brownie Cookies. Thanks, Sally, for a super fun amazing recipe!!
I made these for the first time today and had a terrible time with them spreading and baking flat. I’m pretty sure I followed the instructions correctly. Any ideas as to what I did wrong? I love the flavor, but my cookies look awful. I may try making a blondie-type bar with this recipe like someone above did.
Is it possible to use M&M’s instead of chocolate chips? Looking forward to trying these for my sons birthday!
I used M&Ms and white chocolate chips and loved the cookies! I think it would be amazing with just M&Ms too 🙂
Mine turned out flat and oily. They are delicious but just look funny. Not sure where I went wrong. 🙁
I have just made the dough and put in the fridge for 2 hours to chill but it appears dry. Is there something I can add to make it more moist or is that the texture expected?
Hi Pamela, The dough will feel crumbly right out of the refrigerator but it will come back together when you roll it into balls with your hands!
Hi Sally,
I am planning to make this recipe but before I proceed I have a question about the cake mix. I purchased Betty Cooker’s Super Moist “White” boxed Cake mix. Is it correct one or should I get French Vanilla?
Hi Puneeta, The one you purchased will work. Let us know how you enjoy the cookies!
AWESOME !!! Made these for the first time today and they were delicious although I must admit that I forgot to put the vanilla in…didn’t realize it until I put the dough in the refrigerator and started cleaning up. I packaged some up and will be giving them to my nephew tonight for his birthday.
Hi, I would like to add chopped golden Oreos…do you think it’s ok for this recipe? Should I add more butter or liquid to compensate? I made your Monster cookies this week…they were killer good. My grandkids were eating them with one in each hand. A big thank you from me and the grandkids!!
Hi Barbie, You can use this recipe for Cake Batter Oreo Cookies and use the golden Oreos. Happy baking!
Hi! Could this recipe be used to do cookie bars instead of regular cookies?
Definitely! I recommend an 11×7 inch baking pan for bars. A 9-inch square pan could work, but the bars will be pretty thick. I’m unsure of the best bake time, but let me know how you like them!
Ok! And would the dough still need to be chilled if doing in the 11x7pan??
No need to refrigerate the dough if baking in a 11×7 pan! Hope you love them!
I would really like to know how to make these without using a commercial box cake mix.
Could you add the instructions with a version using homemade cake please?
Hi Brenda, Unfortunately homemade cake mix won’t provide the same exact flavor. Try these regular chocolate chip cookies and replace half of the chips/chunks with white chocolate chips add some sprinkles.
Wonderful! Just made these for my niece’s birthday and she’s going to LOVE them. I used rainbow bits cake mix to get some extra colour in there. Love the flavour of the cake mix in the cookie. Such a good idea! They come together easily and bake up well.
Sally, I plan on making these for the first time tomorrow. Could I scoop the dough and then chill it? Or would the ingredients not meld together as well?
Thanks! Love your blog and all your recipes!
Hi Jordan, You can chill this already rolled into balls! The dough is very soft so you may wish to chill it for a shorter time so it holds it shape, then roll it, then continue chilling. Enjoy!
My favorite cookies by far! GREAT recipe as written. After making the first batch (which was amazing), I wanted to further suit the recipe to my tastes buds. Second batch, I used only 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, and 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. Perfect! This is a staple for years to come! Everyone who has tried them loves them. The raw cookie dough balls freeze and bake wonderfully. Thank you Sally!
Hi Sally, can I decrease the sugar in the cookies? They are absolutely delicious but for the next round I am thinking about cutting both the white/brown sugar amount in half since I think the chocolate and sprinkles bring enough sweetness. bad idea or good idea? Thank you!! By the way, I’ve made them several times and my friends/family have absolutely loved them as is. 🙂
Hi Michelle, adjusting the sugar in cookie recipes not only changes the taste, but it can also affect the spread and texture too. The cookies won’t be as tender and may over (or under) spread. Feel free to test things out based on what you’d like.
Sally, I didn’t roll the cookie dough onto balls before I refrigerated it! It has been in there overnight and I was just about to bake them. She i just let it sit out a bit before starting to form the cookies?
Thanks.
Hi Matt, Yes just let the dough warm up slightly at room temperature until you are able to roll them. If they get too warm just pop them back in the refrigerator before baking. Enjoy!
These are so fun to make! Can really appreciate that cake batter taste for something different than the usual chocolate chip cookie. They are a bit on the sweet side – which is never a bad thing for me!
Finally made these today! So amazing, we all loved them. Worth the hype!! Anyone having trouble should make sure they are only using 1 and 1/4 cups of the cake mix, not the whole box as Sally says! Thanks so much for these cookies!
We made these last night and baked them up today. They were TOTALLY amazing! They came out perfect. They will be in our regular cookie rotation from now on. I’m considering buying sprinkles in bulk from Orson Gygi just for these cookies.
is it okay if you dont have a handmixer?
Creaming the butter and sugar together by hand isn’t impossible, but it will take a lot of arm muscle!
Can you use brownie mix instead of cake mix?
I don’t recommend it.
Sally! For as many times as we’ve made these cookies I’ve never left a review on them! Everyone needs to try these at least once and after that, you’ll know one time isn’t enough. I love them with regular vanilla cake mix but we use the butter flavor cake mix sometimes too. Very chewy and soft cookies with fun flavor, kids and adults alike can’t get enough of them. I have the recipe memorized by now and I’m sure you do too!! Thanks SAlly!
Is salted butter okay? It’s all I have on hand! If so do I need to change anything?
Hi Melissa, If using salted butter you can decrease the added salt in the recipe. I always use unsalted because very brand of butter contains a different amount of salt so we never really know how much we are adding.
Delicious!! Friends and family loved them. I think everyone has a new favorite cookie!
I’m not a sprinkle fan. Can I just leave them out?
Certainly!
Thank you for such detailed instructions! Left nothing to guess and a fabulous recipe!!
This is a great recipe. Just looking at a plateful of these makes me think of a party.
I find that the dough is easier to work with if I scoop the cookies immediately after mixing. I scoop them onto a sheet pan lined with nonstick aluminum foil and then chill in refrigerator or freeze them for later.
Using a #40 scoop/disher, I can make about 3 dozen cookies.
I like to use mini semisweet chocolate chips along with the regular semisweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips; sometimes, I use all semisweet chocolate chips (as long as the total amount equals to the one cup of chocolate chips you specified in the recipe).
I’m making them today with red, green, and white Christmas sprinkles for a Christmas party. Even the cookie dough looks festive before baking!
These cookies are so easy to make and delicious. I brought them to a party and everyone loved them!
These are my new go – to Holiday cookies! I think they are best with white chocolate chips and Christmas sprinkles. So easy to make and delicious! Mine took 11 minutes to bake. I did notice they get crispy after a day, so I put a piece of bread in the container with them, and then they stayed softer.
This is one of my go-to recipes when someone is looking for cookies. It’s always fun to mix it up with seasonal sprinkles, but I have to share my newest version that is getting rave reviews: Pillsbury Apple Cider Cake Mix (seasonal), and a combination of Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips and White Chocolate Chips, with fall sprinkles, of course! It’s fall in a cookie! 🙂