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.
PrintCake 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.
I made the cookie dough last night, I forgot to roll into balls after 2hrs. now it’s all crumbled. Do I have to let them get to room temperature and roll and chill again?
Hi Rhoda! Yes, let the dough come to room temperature then roll into balls. I would chill the balls for 1 hour, then bake. This will help reduce the likelihood of over-spreading.
Just made these as a test run (??? or maybe because i just wanted a cookie?) for a birthday party cookie. Fantastic! The 3 year olds and the parents will love and now I’m just going to continue to eat these…. 🙂 <3
How do you stop the colour from running when adding the sprinkles? I mixed the sprinkles but the dough has just gone the colour of the sprinkles
Hi Ruth, Sometimes it just depends on the brand of sprinkles! I find that that “jimmy” shaped sprinkles are the best and don’t bleed their colors as much – but if yours already are then I would suggest trying a different brand.
Wondering if I can add chopped walnuts in there or would it mess with it?
You could definitely add chopped walnuts- try 3/4 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts!
I’m wondering if these can be made in bar form? I was hoping to bake them in a 9×13 and cut them into small squares. Would this work?
Hi Kim! The cookie bars will be pretty thin in a 9×13 inch pan– I recommend an 11×7 inch pan instead.
Where do you buy sprinkles? In particular, the holiday colors like red, white, and blue for July 4th? Or Christmas colors, etc? Thank you!
Hi Carrie! Usually major grocery stores have a seasonal section– I find them there. Amazon always has them too! 🙂
These cookies taste AMAZING but I’m having trouble with them spreading out too thin. The only way I could manage the cookies was to bake the dough balls straight from the freezer and even so, I had to keep a very close eye on them. Could my oven be too hot? Anyone else having this happen?
Hi Sarah! I know that can be so frustrating! Add 1-2 extra Tablespoons of flour next time 🙂 Here are my top 10 tips to prevent cookie spreading: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/tips-for-cookie-spreading/
Sally, is there a reason gluten free cake mix is inadvisable? Wondering how to make this recipe gf…
I just made these gluten free last night, and they came out great! I used Bob’s Red Mill cup for cup all purpose baking flour and Pamela’s gluten free vanilla cake mix.
DELICIOUS!! These baked so beautifully!! I used 1/2 cup Valentine sprinkles as it’s February right now. Sally, thank you for another yummy recipe I know I will make again and again!
Hello, made these cookies for Christmas, followed recipe exactly, and they came out perfectly delicious!!! I used a cookie scoop to make sure they were all the same size, and they looked and tasted awesome! This cookie will be made every Christmas from now on. Thanks for the recipe. ☺
These cookies came out perfectly! They are definitely going to become a birthday staple around our house. Thank you so much for this recipe!
These were delicious! My daughter will be bringing these to share with her class for her birthday. A fun, colorful alternative to cupcakes! Thank you, I’ve made several of your recipes and they always turn out great!
When you say cake mix, do you put just the powder from the box or do you add the water, eggs and oil to make the mix?
Just the dry mix.
Could you use other flavors of cake mix to reflect the season with the same results? I don’t have white or yellow cake mix on hand but I do have Red Velvet and I just wonder what that would be like for a batch of Christmas cookies. Thanks in advance!
absolutely! any flavor is great.
Hi Sally!
I was going to make these for a cookie exchange this holiday season, and I was wondering if I could use M&M’s in place of the chocolate chips?
Thanks in Advance!
definitely!
What changes would I need to make to turn this into a cookie cake?
Bake in a 9-inch cake or pie pan. About 30 minutes, give or take. Enjoy!
These are by far the BEST cookies ever! I have been baking for years and I will always refrigerate my dough now – I am a huge believer. Thank you so much for posting this!
These Cake Batter cookies were by far my favorite cookies ever! I just wanted to say thank you so much for the delicious recipe! I will be trying out more of your recipes for sure and keeping this one for the future! 🙂
I had to try the Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies…they looked way too delicious to pass up! I am not normally much of a baker, but it looked like a really simple recipe so I gave it a try. These were the best darn cookies EVER!!! I normally don’t like homemade chocolate chip cookies (flat as a pancake, hard and crunchy if you’re not careful, and not tasty enough for me). I will be making chocolate chip cookies in the future…only with this recipe!! AMAZING!! The whole family loved them!
Can I use self rising flour?
Hi Janet! No, you cannot.
I saw in the comments you mentioned that any cake mix can be used….. what about Funfetti? Just curious how that would work, seeing that sprinkles are already in the mix… what do you think?
Hi Kate – yes, funfetti cake mix may certainly be used! I’ve done it before and I’ve added a few more sprinkles to the dough as well. Enjoy!
what is your thought on the use of mini choc chips vs regular size choc chips in cookies? I always have mini’s on hand in the freezer for our pancakes when we have sleepover friends but I can’t seem to keep the regular ones in stock at the house. Do they make a difference in thickness of cookie? use same amount? or tweek the recipe? the 11yr old is wanting to make these for his birthday next month.
Hi there – mini chocolate chips in these cookies, or any cookies is a great substitution for the regular size. No need to tweak anything – just use the same amount. It will have no effect on the cookie’s thickness. Hope you all enjoy!
Hi Sally! This was the first recipe of yours that I stumbled upon, and now I am addicted to your blog! I love your writing, your photography, EVERYTHING! As a full-time college student, I cannot wait for school to be out for the summer so that I can get to trying out all of your delicious recipes!!! 🙂 Keep up the amazing work!
My husband’s words: “This….might be new very favorite cookie…..” 🙂 That means a lot. We love these. Thanks
Question: can you freeze this dough and for how long if so?
You may roll the cookies into balls and freeze them for up to two months. Let them thaw for only a couple minutes and bake. Thanks Keri!
Does it matter if the butter is salted?
It may be salted or unsalted. I’ve never experienced a difference with either. Thanks Alyssa!
Should I sift before or after measuring the flour and cake mix? Thanks
Hi Lindsay! Measure the flour and cake mix, then sift them together. Thank you!
I just made these cookies and they were awesome! Thanks for the recipe and the great baking tips. The tall stacked cookie dough ball idea literally changed the way I bake!
Thanks so much for this recipe! I made ’em today for my sister’s birthday, and they were a huge hit 🙂 (And super festive with all those sprinkles!)
I made these last night – best choc chip cookie recipe ever!