These Christmas Gooey Butter Cookies are soft, sweet, and festive! They start with a cake mix, that is mixed with just a couple ingredients, to give them gooey centers, and a crackly powdered sugar coating. We all need easy cookies for the holidays, and I promise these will be your new go to!
This recipe takes the classic Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies and dresses it up for the holidays. The cookies are loaded with festive sprinkles for some fun holiday cheer!
The cake mix shortcut keeps these super simple, and we add an egg, butter, and cream cheese to make them extra rich, with a soft and gooey cookie center!
Why you’ll love these Cookies
- So easy to make: Only a handful of ingredients, and a few minutes of work and you’ve got the perfect Christmas cookies.
- Festive and Pretty: The sprinkles loaded throughout the cookies, and the crackly powdered sugar coating makes them so perfect for Christmas!
Ingredients Needed
This is a quick overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this Ooey Gooey Butter Cookie Recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
- Cake Mix: You can use a yellow, or white cake mix. Make sure its a 15oz box, or use a little extra from a second box!
- Cream Cheese: A block of cream cheese to make these extra gooey
- Unsalted Butter: Adds a rich butter flavor to the cookies. You can use unsalted or salted cookies.
- Egg: Helps hold everything together
- Vanilla Extract: Just a little for flavor
- Holiday Sprinkles: I like using jimmie sprinkles (that’s the little straight ones) so they don’t bleed into the dough.
- Powdered Sugar: For rolling the cookie dough balls in, this adds a nice white coating to the cookies.
How to Make Christmas Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies?
Step 1: Make the Cookie Dough. Add the cake mix, cream cheese, butter, egg, and vanilla to a large bowl and mix together until you have a soft cookie dough.
Step 2: Add in the Sprinkles. Add half the sprinkles to the cookie dough. Fold them into the dough until evenly mixed into the dough. Cover the dough and chill it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Step 3: Roll in Powdered Sugar. Scoop the dough into 1.5-2 inch Tablespoons and roll into balls. Roll each ball into the powdered sugar in a small bowl until coated completely. Place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, at least two inches apart from each other.
Step 4: Bake the Cookies. Bake the cookies until the edges are lightly golden and the top is barely set. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to keep cooling.
Tips and Tricks
- Chill the Dough: You can’t skip chilling the dough for this one. The cookies need it to hold their shape while baking.
- Lots of Powdered Sugar: Fully coat the cookie dough balls in the powdered sugar to give them their snowy look. Sometimes I sprinkle a little more on top after they come out of the oven too.
Storage Instructions
These gooey butter cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also freeze them for up 3o 3 days in a freezer safe container.
These are one of the easiest Christmas cookies out there. They have soft and gooey centers, a sweet powdered sugar coating, and are loaded with colorful sprinkles. So fun for a cookie exchange, or to eat with a cup of hot cocoa!
More Christmas Cookies
- Lemon Snowball Cookies
- Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
- Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
- Strawberry Sugar Cookies
- M&M Christmas Cookie Bars
- Santa’s Whiskers
If you try this Christmas Gooey Butter Cake Cookies Recipe, please leave a 🌟 rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Christmas Gooey Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 oz Cream Cheese (softened)
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 15 oz Box Yellow Cake Mix
- 1 large Egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3/4 cup Holiday Sprinkles
- 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Add the Cream cheese and butter to a large mixing bowl and beat together with a stand mixer or hand mixer until smooth. 8 oz Cream Cheese , 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
- Add in the Cake Mix, egg, and vanilla extract and stir together until you have a thick, but sticky dough. 15 oz Box Yellow Cake Mix, 1 large Egg, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Add in 1/2 cup of the sprinkles, and mix them evenly into the dough.3/4 cup Holiday Sprinkles
- Cover the dough and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set them aside.
- Roll the dough into balls, about 1 and 1/2 inch in size and sprinkle extra holiday sprinkles on the outside of each ball.
- Add the powdered sugar to a small bowl and roll each cookie dough ball into the sugar until fully coated. 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- Place the cookie dough balls onto the prepared cookie sheets, at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 9 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops still look a little soft.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Notes
- Chill the Dough: You can’t skip chilling the dough for this one. The cookies need it to hold their shape while baking.
- Lots of Powdered Sugar: Fully coat the cookie dough balls in the powdered sugar to give them their snowy look. Sometimes I sprinkle a little more on top after they come out of the oven too.
- Storage Instructions: These gooey butter cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also freeze them for up 3o 3 days in a freezer safe container.
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