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ByAnn Drake
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These lemon cake mix cookies are so beautiful & moist that they’ll be gone in no time! Use a lemon cake mix & a few fresh ingredients for the best sweet treat.
I’m always looking for a new cookie recipe. My family still likes my chocolate chip cookies the best, but sometimes it’s nice to make something different. This easy recipe for lemon cookies from cake mix are is so moist they melt in your mouth, they last for several days, and they are absolutely beautiful. They are literally the perfect cookie!
5 Easy Ingredients
- A box of lemon cake mix: any brand will work!
- Cream cheese: let it sit out and come to room temperature. It should be soft, but not melted.
- Butter: let the butter sit out with the cream cheese.
- Egg: large or extra large works best.
- Lemons: you will need the lemon zest and fresh lemon juice from 2 large lemons. No lemon extract needed.
How To Make
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, cream cheese, egg, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- Beat for one minute with an electric mixer on medium high. Make sure to scrape sides and bottom of bowl.
- Combine box of cake mix with wet ingredients in two increments, beating well and scraping sides & bottom of bowl between additions.
- Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator and preheat oven 350 degrees F.
- Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, drop the cookie dough on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies will not brown on the top, but the bottom should be light golden.
- Place a cooling rack on a cookie sheet.
- Put baked cookies on the cooling rack/cookie sheet.
- To prepare the lemon glaze: mix together powdered sugar, milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Glaze should pour off a spoon, but should not be runny. Adjust with more powdered sugar, or more lemon juice, to get desired consistency.
- Using a spoon, drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.
- Store in an airtight container, with wax paper between layers of cookies.
Delicious Flavor Variations
The sky is the limit when it comes to inventing your own variations for cake mix cookies. Here are a few suggestions:
Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon milk
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Carrot Cake Mix Cookies
- 1 box carrot cake mix
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon milk
- 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies
- 1 box strawberry cake mix
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon milk
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Helpful Tips
- These lemon cake mix cookies can be stored in an airtight container for three or four days, and will still be fresh. Make sure to put pieces of wax paper between the layers of cookies.
- For best results, the cookie dough must be refrigerated for a minimum of 2 hours. Longer, or even overnight, would work just as well.
- Even after refrigeration, the dough is slightly sticky. Make sure to use a medium scoop to drop the dough onto the cookie sheet. It makes it so much easier! If you use a small cookie scoop, you will get approximately 30 cookies.
- If you don’t want to use a cookie scoop, you can make balls of cookie dough and roll them in powdered sugar before baking. You will be making lemon crinkle cookies!
- Adding parchment paper to your cookie sheet is optional, but the bottoms of the cookies brown quickly. Using parchment paper will help keep the bottoms from getting too brown.
- Store these easy lemon cake mix cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- If, by chance, there are leftover cookies, place them in a freezer safe container, in between layers of parchment paper. Freeze for up to 3 months. Make sure the glaze is completely set before freezing.
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More Lemon Desserts
- Lemon 7 Up Bundt Cake
- Basic Lemon Cake Recipe
- Lemonade Icebox Cake
- Lemon Mint Spritzer
More Cake Mix Recipes
- Cake Mix Cookie Bars
- How To Make A Box Cake Mix Taste Homemade
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
- Lemon Bundt Cake
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Lemon Cake Mix Cookies
These lemon cake mix cookies are so fresh & moist that they'll be gone in no time! Use a lemon cake mix & a few fresh ingredients for the best sweet treat.
Rate this Recipe Print Recipe Pin Recipe
4.62 from 13 votes
Servings: 20 cookies
Author: Ann Drake
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes minutes
Refrigeration time 3 hours hours
Total Time 3 hours hours 22 minutes minutes
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest (zest from one lemon)
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
For the Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest (zest from one lemon)
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, cream cheese, egg, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Beat for one minute with an electric mixer on medium high. Make sure to scrape sides and bottom of bowl.
Add cake mix in two increments, beating well and scraping sides & bottom of bowl between additions.
Cover mixing bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven 350 degrees F.
Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Using a medium scoop, drop the cookie dough on the cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cookies will not brown on the top, but the bottom should be light golden.
Place a cooling rack on a cookie sheet.
Put baked cookies on the cooling rack/cookie sheet.
To prepare glaze: mix together powdered sugar, milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Glaze should pour off a spoon, but should not be runny. Adjust with more powdered sugar, or more lemon juice, to get desired consistency.
Using a spoon, drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.
Store in an airtight container, with wax paper between layers of cookies.
Notes
Dough will be slightly sticky. Using a scoop makes dropping the batter much easier.
I heard from a reader who said she put the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes instead of the refrigerator for 3 hours. I haven’t tried it myself, but that’s a big time saver!
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If you make this recipe, and love it, please come back to leave a comment and a 5 star rating. I would really appreciate it, and it would help me so much. Thank you!
This simple recipe makes the easiest cookies that have a fresh and bright lemon flavor. They are perfect for special occasions, family gatherings, and after school snacks.
