These easy and soft, peanut butter cookies are made with a cake mix and a few other simple ingredients, which makes them quick and delicious.
These easy and soft, peanut butter cookies are made with a cake mix and a few other simple ingredients, which makes them quick and delicious.
The great thing about these cookies is that you don’t need a ton of ingredients like brown sugar, flour, or other things that you’d need if you were making scratch peanut butter cookies.
This is a super easy recipe that makes easy homemade peanut butter cookies, made with a yellow cake mix, without all the work that scratch cookies take.
Table of Contents:
I feel like these are the perfect, easiest way to get peanut butter cookies everyone will love and you’ll look like you’re an amazing cookie baker to everyone you know.
Cake mix cookie recipes are THE way to go when you need a quick and delicious cookie that predictably comes out good and this one is especially for peanut butter lovers.
Ingredient Notes:
Now let’s talk a little about just some of the ingredients that are in this cake mix peanut butter cookie recipe. (The printable list of all ingredients are in the recipe card below.)
Yellow cake mix: You’ll need a yellow cake mix to make these cookies. That’s what makes them super easy to make and gives them that soft, chewy texture. I used Betty Crocker’s yellow cake mix, but you could probably use any brand of 15 oz cake mix you want. Make sure to read the FAQ section below for substitution questions.
Eggs, oil and butter: These are what will help the cookies rise and give them moisture.
Peanut butter: You’ll definitely need peanut butter for these cookies. You can use whatever peanut butter you prefer…smooth or crunchy. I used Peter Pan’s smooth peanut butter.
How to Make these Cookies:
Let’s talk a little about how to make these peanut butter cake cookies. (The printable instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Step 1:
First, make sure to preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and add a piece of parchment paper to two cookie sheets. This will make cleaning up a breeze and keep any cookies from sticking.
Step 2:
Next, take a large mixing bowl and add the eggs, oil, melted butter and peanut butter, then mix with an electric mixer on medium until well mixed.
Add about half the cake mix and mix on medium until well mixed, then slowly add in the last half of the cake mix and mix with the electric mixer between additions. You’ll need to slowly add in the cake mix as the dough will get really thick quickly.
Next, you can cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to chill so that the cookies don’t spread too much while baking. (This really helps keep them from getting thin and really gives them that cake-like consistency.)
Step 3:
Now, once the cookie dough has chilled a little, just use a medium cookie scoop or a tablespoon to measure out the dough and then form each into a ball using your hands. Just roll it in the palms of your hands to make a dough ball.
Add the cookie dough balls onto the cookie sheets. If your oven is small or your cookie sheets are large, you may only be able to bake one cookie sheet at a time and that’s totally fine.
Next, sprinkle each cookie with a bit of sugar, then dip a fork into a bit of the sugar or flour and make cross-hatch impressions (fork marks) into each cookie dough ball. This will give you that peanut butter cookie look.
Step 4:
Now, bake the cookies at 350 degrees F for about 15-18 minutes. The cookies will be a light golden brown when they’re done baking. Be careful not to overbake or they could dry out.
Last, let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for about 2-3 minutes, then transfer the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool completely. To store these cookies, add them to an airtight container.
Easy Peanut Butter Cookies with a Cake Mix (Soft!)
Ingredients
- 1 (15 ounce) box yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1 cup peanut butter (I used Peter Pan smooth peanut butter)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add parchment paper to two cookie sheets.
- In a large bowl, add the eggs, oil, melted butter and peanut butter and mix with an electric mixer on medium until well mixed.
- Add half the cake mix and mix on medium until well mixed.
- Slowly add in the last half of the cake mix while mixing. The dough will become thicker as you add in the cake mix and you may need to switch from the electric mixer to using gloved hands or a sturdy spoon to finish mixing.
- Once fully mixed, cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to chill so the cookies don't spread too much while baking.
- Use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon to measure out dough and form each into a ball using your hands.
- Place the cookie dough balls onto the cookie sheets.
- Sprinkle with a bit of sugar, then dip a fork into a bit of the sugar or flour and make cross-hatch impressions (fork marks) into each cookie dough ball.
- Bake cookies at 350 degrees F for about 15-18 minutes. Cookies will be a light golden brown. Be careful not to over-bake or the cookies could end up dry.
- Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for about 2-3 minutes, then transfer onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Feel free to add in chocolate chips to the cookie dough at the end of the mixing process if you like. Nutritional values are an estimate. Make sure to check out the TIPS & FAQs for this recipe in the blog post, which may answer questions you may have about substitutions or other issues. This recipe card may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition
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Tips & FAQs:
You can probably use any type of 15 oz cake mix you like. I used Betty Crocker’s yellow cake mix.
Yes, most likely you can. I have not tested that out, but I see no reason why that wouldn’t work. I say go for it and make yourself some chocolate peanut butter cake cookies.
You can use either salted or unsalted butter for this recipe. I haven’t tried this recipe out using margarine, so I can’t say if that would work or not, but I do feel like real butter always gives the best taste, so if you can get real butter, go with that.
You can probably use any brand you like. I used Peter Pan smooth peanut butter, but if you prefer crunchy, you can go with that instead. I don’t know if natural peanut butter would work though as those tend to have a little more oil in them, but it would be worth an experiment if you wanted to try that out.
Oh yes! If you want to make yourself some peanut butter chocolate chip cake mix cookies…I say go for it!
Yes, the dough will get very thick and you may need to switch from using your mixer to using gloved hands or a sturdy spoon to finish mixing it but don’t add any extra liquid to the dough.
Yes, if you don’t have room in the oven to bake all the cookies at once, just cover the dough with plastic wrap, then when the first batch of cookies is baked, just bake the next batch.
Make sure to dip the fork in either sugar or a bit of flour each time you make a mark. This will keep the fork from sticking to the cookie dough.
I have not tried freezing the cookie dough, but it may work. You can just cover the dough with plastic wrap, then place it in a freezer bag to freeze.
The cookies will be a light golden brown, but be careful not to over-bake or the cookies could end up dry.
Probably. Just make sure to put them in a freezer bag and try to mash all the air out before adding to the freezer.
Store these cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Cookies are the softest the day they’re made. You can add a piece of bread to the cookie container to keep them soft.
Video:
Supplies used for this recipe:
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