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 1 minute. 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.
How can I use cake flour instead of cake box mix ? Thanks! Id love to make this for a birthday party soon
Hi Alav, the cake box mix includes other ingredients in addition to flour, so using just cake flour won’t be a good swap here. We’d recommend sticking with the recipe as written for best results. We hope they’re a hit at your party!
I read through all the comments looking for anyone using a different cake mix flavor like chocolate or spice, and didn’t find any. Is there any reason you can’t use whatever flavor you want?
Hi Susan, I’ve used other flavors for these and found a few positive reviews saying the same! The chocolate flavor will be light, though, as there is no additional cocoa powder in the dough. So keep that in mind. Let me know what you try!
Do you have a brand preference for the cake mix? I’ve always baked from scratch but would like to try this recipe. Thank you.
Hi Maggie, I usually use Betty Crocker cake mix. The French vanilla flavor.
I love all your recipes sally thank u for sharing you are the best
Can you use this process to make a Snickerdoodle cookie?
Hi Debbie, we haven’t tried a cake batter + snickerdoodle cookie, but you try leaving out the chocolate chips and rolling in cinnamon sugar before baking. Or, here is our snickerdoodle recipe.
Love this recipe. I came across it accidentally but just in time for my grandson’s 4th birthday party. I used blue sprinkles to match his party theme. I make these cookies at least once a week now but I leave the sprinkles out for my husband and teen son. Family favorite for sure
Been wanting to try this cookie for awhile. I recently learned, by accident, when I recipe called for White Chocolate Chips and I bought White Chips that they’re not the same. Which is preferred for this cookie? thanks!
Hi Elizabeth, we prefer using white chocolate chips. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
Thank you! I’ll try to find them. Do you notice much difference in flavor or sweetness level using Yellow cake mix as opposed to the French Vanilla?
There’s really not a huge difference; the cookies are slightly more yellow.
I came back to say that I made the cookies and they were scrumptious! My little granddaughters loved them, and after I had offered one to my daughter-in-law, she went back for a second. (My son didn’t go for a second, but he’s not much of a cookie person.)
Can you make this cookie a little smaller and does it still turn out ok. My family enjoys smaller cookies now.
Hi Patricia, yes you can. Just reduce the baking time. Enjoy!
I have two questions.
Is it important to spoon and level the cake mix as well as the all purpose flour?
I didn’t see any cake mix at the store which was labeled “vanilla’. There were some that were labeled “white”. Would white cake mix work the same as vanilla? ( I bought yellow cake mix this time just in case, but am asking for future reference.)
Hi Janice! Yes, spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to measure the cake mix. We recommend vanilla or yellow cake mixed for these cookies.
Sweeter than a standard chocolate chip but in the best way. I doubled the recipe and split amongst 3, 9-inch cake pans (~675 grams of batter in each) for a birthday cookie cake. Sally has never failed me ❤️
Did you use round or square 9″ pans?
Hi Hannah, Did you spray or grease the pans ?
Could you use cake batter extract to really amp up the cake batter flavor? If so any suggestions for amount?
Hi Kolleen, we haven’t tested cake batter extract in these cookies but let us know if you do!
Could i just make my recipe for chocolate chip cookies and use the cake mix instead of flour? Have you ever tried that? THANKS
Easier if use melted butter- made them before and were good, this time followed recipe using softened butter- what a nightmare, all stuck to beaters in big clump, pried it off e spoon and when mixed with flour mix it was all flaky pieces dry not dough like at all, tried to form in ball with hands, very dry not sticky like it says, will see how these turn out
Looks yummy! I would really like to make this recipe. But, I have a question for you. Would it be possible to use 1 1/4 C from mixing up the dry ingredients from a vanilla cake recipe instead? I have rosacea and processed foods trigger a reaction. Thanks!
Hi Faith, 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.
Quick question, I didn’t read the directions carefully about chilling the dough. If I didn’t roll the batter cookie dough into balls after that 2 hour mark, how long should I let the dough sit out before baking?
Hi Carrie! Let the dough sit out until it’s pliable enough to roll, maybe about half an hour.
Good at first, made at Xmas but disappointed embarrassed hard as a rock day or 2 later even in Tupperware
Made this cookie to make ice cream sandwiches and it turned out great. Divided the recipe yield by weight and got 20 perfectly sized cookies. Recommend freezing the baked cookies before assembling the ice cream sandwiches. You can squish them together without worrying about breaking the cookie.
I made these cookies yesterday and OMG are they good. So fun and easy to make. Customizable too, with different holiday sprinkles! I formed the cookies as directed, into a cone shape. This really results in cookies with chewy middles and crispy edges! I made the recipe exactly as directed. Will be making these often!
Still one of my favorite recipes after over a decade! I love experimenting with different types of cake mix. And I finally tried this in cookie bar/cake form the other day — I used a 9 inch pan, which is definitely a little small in my opinion. The bars were thick and took about 27 mins to bake (my oven also runs hot, so your mileage may vary). But they were a huge hit and I can honestly admit I ate about 6 myself lol. For the 4th of July I plan to make a red velvet version with white chocolate chips and blue buttercream frosting (another gem of a recipe from Sally’s). And I’ll use a 11×7 pan this time around!
Thanks again Sally, you’re the best in the biz
Did you use a 9″ round or square pan?
I love these cookies! I’ve made them with soccer sprinkles, school colors, and Valentine sprinkles. I like to mix up the dough when I have time and leave it in the fridge for a few days until I am ready to bake them. After I roll the dough balls I dip the tops in sprinkles so that when they cook the fancy sprinkles show on top. And they are delicious!
I just made these and they are so yummy. Tastes like cake/cupcake batter for sure. I actually modified just a tiny bit out of necessity and they came out perfect. I didn’t have brown sugar on hand so I used 1/2 c sugar and 1 1/2 t molasses for the brown sugar. I also didn’t have a cake mix, since I mainly stick with scratch baking, but for whatever reason I had an “older” Pillsbury sugar free cake mix in the back of the pantry and used that.
Ok, also, my husband was in a hurry for cooking so I chilled the dough in the freezer for 40 minutes then moved it to the fridge while I baked and shaped. I also used a setting on my 3 yr old oven that I never knew I had, “baked goods”.
So with all those factors to consider , they still came out delish!!
I had a typo. My husband was in a hurry for “cookies”.
These are some of my very favorite cookies!!! They have so much flavor and are just fun to look at!
You posted to a couple people that asked about what you do with the rest of the cake mix and said that they can make the recipe twice. Can I just double this recipe and get it done all at once?
Hi! I’ve made many of your other cookies and loved them but haven’t tried these yet! I can’t wait to try them! Do you have any advice/recommendations of what to do with the leftover cake mix, since the recipe only calls for 1 and 1/4 cup and not the whole box? Thanks!
Hi Summer, you could make these cookies twice and it will use almost all of the cake mix. Or check out our other recipes that use cake mix!
Going to try now. Can I skip
brown sugar
What do you do with the leftover cake mix?
Hi Michele, you could make these cookies twice and it will use almost all of the cake mix. Or check out our other recipes that use cake mix!
Adore these cookies! I use white cake mix because the yellow tastes like fake butter, to me. They really are outstanding, as are most of your recipes!
Can you use any flavor cake mix for these cookies? I have made cake mix cookies but I wasn’t pleased with them, so I’ll be interested to try this recipe!
Hi Linda, You can use any vanilla or yellow mix. You can also try funfetti cake mix and leave out the sprinkles called for in this recipe.
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!! What is best to substitute the egg?
Hi Katie, We have not tested this recipe with an egg substitute but let us know if you try anything.
I have been using aquafaba in place of eggs on Sally’s recipes for months with great results. Soy milk also is a good substitute.
Delicious! I made these the other night and followed the directions to a T but ran into one issue. I used your trick to make them taller vs wider, they fell and shaped nicely but came out SO flat. What would have caused this?
Hi Lauren, cookies over-spreading is certainly a common problem. If you ever need help, here are our 10 tips to prevent cookies from over-spreading. For this particular recipe, make sure the butter isn’t too warm. You want room temperature butter to be cool to the touch. Additionally, a little extra flour can help too– even 2 extra Tbsp or about 15-20g.
Not for me. Way too sweet. Kids enjoyed. Literally tastes like cake batter.
Guess my rating was a bit opinionated by my dislike. The instructions are clear and the cookie texture is great. Does taste like cake batter as stated. Great recipe for those that enjoy licking batter from a spoon.
isn’t that the point, nancy?
Where does Sally get her sprinkles? The ones I use are hard and don’t taste real good. Thanks
Hi Suzie, if you see this sprinkle cake post, we have a section titled “Best Sprinkles to Use.” Different brands can definitely have different tastes and textures, but jimmies are what you’re looking for!