Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies

Red Velvet cake mix cookies are an easy way to make vibrant red cookies for the holidays. If you don't feel like making scratch cookie dough or getting your fingers red from food coloring, baking cookies from cake mix is a great option. The soft and chewy red velvet cookies recipe is made from 3 simple ingredients: cake mix, melted butter (or vegetable oil) and eggs.

If you want a cream cheese icing like on mine ( I think the flavors taste great together), it's simply warmed cream cheese frosting right from a tub. Crinkle cookie and white chocolate chips versions of the recipe are also included. Yes, you can bake a box of cake mix into any of these easy cookies!

Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies

This easy red velvet cookie recipe made from cake mix is not only crazy easy to make, the cookies are less expensive to make than most cookie recipes too. During the holidays, cake mix and tub frosting are often on sale, eggs are reasonable and while I used melted butter, you can use whatever oil you have on hand.

All the coloring you will need is already in the dry cake mix, and when you drizzle on with cream cheese icing (or frost) you will have festive cookies perfect for celebrating Christmas, Valentine's Day or any day of the year!

If your cookies and pastry decorating game is weak like mine... these iced red cake mix cookies are the solution you need. You can even toss on some red, green or pink sprinkles to make the  delicious chewy cookies more fancy if you like.

Easy Cookies for Kids to Make

We all know kids love to bake and eat cookies. Although making cookies with children is a traditional holiday activity, not all kids have the coordination or patience to make decorated sugar cookies.

Red velvet cake mix makes the process simple, with few ingredients and easy to work dough. Kids can still work on skills, but not get overwhelmed. Bonus for mom... they are not nearly as messy to make as rolled and cut cookies. They certainly take less time and effort. Want more fun and easy holiday cookies? Make my Peppermint Brownie Cookies as well, they start with brownie mix!

My own daughter is 11 but struggles with motor coordination difficulties. She helps with these and likes to frost hers and top with sprinkles like the red velvet cookie above.

How to Make Red Velvet Cookies with Cake Mix

Here is a visual guide to making the red velvet cake mix cookies. It's an easy recipe, just follow along and you will have cookies soon 🙂

Printable recipe card is below, it is servings adjustable too.

Total time 20 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

The only ingredients you need to make these fun cake mix cookies:

• Red Velvet box of cake mix Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines both make good Red Velvet cake mixes
• 2 large eggs
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil or melted butter
•  ½ tub of cream cheese frosting (frosting shown)*

*Feel free to add one of these choices in lieu of the icing: 1 cup of white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips or holiday M&Ms.

You may also want to have some red food coloring on hand. I did not use it in mine, but some brands may not have as vibrant a red color.

Supplies: 2 large baking sheets (cookie sheets), large mixing bowl and parchment or silicone baking mat liner.

*You can swap ⅓ cup of oil like I did with my Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies if you prefer.

The recipe will make about two dozen red velvet cookies and is easy to double up if you need.

Preparing the Cookies

First preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

Then beat 2 eggs. Do it in a large bowl, so you can mix the dough right in it. 

Melt the butter and pour in with the eggs.

Now pour in the red velvet boxed cake mix. Don't worry. I know it doesn't look red... it will.

Mix until well combined. A stand mixer can be used, but I just did it by hand. See, we get red cookie dough once it is mixed.

If adding white chocolate chips mix them in now.

Oil your hands with a tiny drizzle of oil or a quick mist of cooking spray. Then roll balls of the dough about 1 ½ tablespoons in size and place the balls of cookie dough on prepared baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking liner.  Space the cake mix cookie dough balls out about 2 inches apart, as the cookies will spread to slightly more than double the width of the balls. Not into using your hands? A small cookie scoop can do the job.

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies 

If you want to make your cookies as Red Velvet crinkle cookies Dust your hands with powdered sugar and roll the balls in it as well. The powdered sugar coated balls will expand and crack as they cook exposing the red cookie dough inside. 

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes until cookies look like this. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to rest a couple minutes on baking sheet.

Then use a spatula to move the baked cookies too a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the red cookies are fully cooled, microwave half a tub of cream cheese frosting. It will only take about 15-20 seconds to soften the frosting enough to drizzle. If you prefer to spread it on, that can be done at room temperature or after a quick 10 second or less zap to soften it up.

Variation: melt a ½ cup white chocolate chips with a 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream or coconut oil to create a ganache to drizzle over the cookies

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

If you prefer to make sandwich cookies. don't heat the frosting at all. Just spread the cream cheese frosting on the bottom of half the cookies and top with another cookie.

Simply dunk a fork in the cream cheese icing and gently shake back and forth over each cookie from one side to the other. A couple will come out messy, but you will get the hang of it quick. Just toss sprinkles on any with pattern you don't like.

TIP: A parchment paper lined  baking sheet under the wire rack while drizzling will make for easier clean up.

I hope you enjoy this easy red velvet cookies recipe!

Storage of the Cookies

Make sure to store the red velvet cake cookies in an airtight container. They will last 5-7 days in there. If left out they will only last a couple days.

Make a festive Christmas Cookie tray with a mix of these Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies and Green Crinkle Cookies or my Italian Cherry Almond Cookies. For Valentine's Day team these with Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies recipe.