Cake Mix Cookie Bars

With a box of cake mix and just two other ingredients, you can make these easy Cake Mix Cookie Bars! The one-bowl recipe can be prepped in just minutes and results in the most perfectly moist and chewy cookie bars in any flavor you desire.

Jump to:

• 🗒 Ingredients
• 🍪 How to make cake mix cookie bars
• ⏲️ How to store
• 🎉 Variations on recipe
• 🍰 More cake mix recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Did you know that you can make so much more with a box of cake mix than cake or cupcakes?

I've made cake mix cookies, cake mix pancakes, cake mix muffins, and cake mix banana bread. And now I'm excited to share a recipe with you for the best cake mix cookie bars ever!

You'll be amazed by how you can take a simple box of cake mix and turn it into a moist and chewy cookie bar with golden edges.

The best part is this recipe only requires 3 ingredients. But you can also jazz it up with all the add-ins you want!

🗒 Ingredients

Here's everything you need to make cake mix cookie bars (be sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and recipe instructions):

• Melted unsalted butter
• Large egg
• 15.25 oz. box cake mix: any flavor you want! I'll also show you how to make adjustments to the recipe for a 13.25 oz. box of mix
• Optional add-ins: chocolate chips, nuts, M&Ms, sprinkles, etc.

🍪 How to make cake mix cookie bars

With only 3 ingredients, these cookie bars quite honestly couldn't be any easier to make! The one-bowl recipe can be prepped in just minutes.

To start, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13" baking pan with cooking spray or butter or line it with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together melted butter and egg until well combined.

Add cake mix and mix together until combined. The mixture will be thick and doughy.

Gently fold in chocolate chips or other add-ins if using.

And transfer the batter to your prepared baking pan. Use a spatula or the back of a wooden spoon to evenly spread the batter in the pan.

Since dough is thick, you may need to press it into the pan to even it out. Remember it's cookie dough and not cake batter. And cookie bar dough is generally even firmer than traditional cookie dough.

Bake for 18-21 minutes, until the edges are just turning golden. The center of the bars should still be slightly soft.

Just like the ideal chocolate chip cookie.

Be sure to let the cookie bars cool in the pan on a wire rack before removing from pan and slicing into squares.

Really, you can slice them however you want, but I like cutting them into about 24 little squares.

These cake mix cookie bars are the perfect dessert for bringing to a party when you're short of time and low on pantry items.

You don't even have to tell anyone how you made them... Who would ever guess you used a box of cake mix to make incredibly cookie-like cookie bars?

And the bars are even easier to make than cookies since you just spread all the dough in the pan instead of scooping out individual cookies.

⏲️ How to store

When the bars are completely cooled, they should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If you're layering the bars in the container, you can put a layer of parchment or wax paper between them.

When stored properly, these cookie bars should keep fresh for about a week.

🎉 Variations on recipe

I love the simplicity and the versatility of these cake mix cookie bars. You can stick to the three basic ingredients or you can incorporate add-ins.

Here are some fun ideas for variations on the recipe:

• Use whatever flavor cake mix you want. My bars use yellow cake mix, but I've also made them with funfetti and chocolate cake mix. You can even make lemon or strawberry cake mix bars!

• Add chocolate chips or white chocolate chips.

• Add sprinkles for birthday cake cookie bars.

• Add your favorite nuts for some crunch. I like walnuts and pecans best.

• Add your favorite candy, like M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, chopped peanut butter cups, or toffee bits.

• Add cookies pieces for double cookie bars. Of course, Oreo cookies are best, but chocolate chip cookies make these bars almost meta!
• Frost your cookie bars. You can use store-bought or homemade frosting to add another layer of deliciousness to the cookie bars.

Really, the options are endless for how you can add pizzazz to the cake mix bars.

Let me know what you're adding in to your cake mix cookie bars!

I love making baked goods from scratch, but sometimes a boxed mix shortcut is necessary.

And it can still be perfectly delicious!

I hope these cake mix cookie bars make your life a little bit easier and a little bit more delicious!

📖 Recipe