Pumpkin Cookies with Cake Mix are made in one bowl with a box of spice cake mix, pumpkin puree, and white chocolate chips. They're soft and full of fall flavor and can be rolled in an optional cinnamon sugar for a crackly, sweet coating!
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Do you have a box of spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin in your pantry? Then you already have most of what you need for the perfect batch of fall cookies!
These pumpkin cake mix cookies are made in one bowl with just a handful of ingredients. The cake mix covers the flour, sugar, and leavening, and the pumpkin puree keeps the cookies soft and adds lots of pumpkin flavor.
I add white chocolate chips and a little extra pumpkin pie spice to mine and then roll the dough in cinnamon sugar before baking. The cinnamon sugar is optional, but it gives the cookies a crackly, sparkly top that I love.
If you like easy fall baking with boxed mixes, you need to try my pumpkin muffins with cake mix, too. They use 1 cup of pumpkin puree, which is about what you'll have left in the can after making these cookies!
🧡 Why this recipe works
The cake mix covers several ingredients: the flour, sugar, leavening, and warm spices are already in the box, so there's very little to measure. Just add in the cake mix and you're halfway there!
Pumpkin puree adds flavor and makes for soft cookies: ¾ cup of real pumpkin puree adds real pumpkin flavor and gives these cookies a soft, tender texture.
You only need one bowl: all of the ingredients get mixed together in a single bowl, which means barely any cleanup. I love that for a busy fall weekend!
A quick freeze makes the dough easier to handle: the dough is very sticky, but 10-15 minutes in the freezer helps firm it up enough to scoop.
Optional cinnamon sugar coating: rolling the dough in cinnamon sugar gives the cookies a crackly, sparkly top and a little extra sweetness in every bite.
🗒 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make these cookies... as mentioned, it's not much! (be sure to view the recipe card below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Boxed spice cake mix: recipe is for a 15.25 oz box, but I also share adjustments in the recipe card for a 13.25 oz. box. Also, if you only have yellow cake mix, you can use that, too.
- Pumpkin puree: be sure it's not pumpkin pie filling
- Large egg
- Vegetable oil
- Pumpkin pie spice
- White chocolate chips
- Granulated sugar: optional for rolling
- Ground cinnamon: optional for rolling
🎃 Recipe tips
- Mix the cake mix, pumpkin puree, egg, oil, and pumpkin pie spice until just combined and then fold in the white chocolate chips. Don't over-mix or your cookies could get dry.
- Don't worry if your dough looks more like a thick batter than a typical cookie dough. It's very sticky and that's exactly how it should be. I tried cutting some of the wet ingredients, but the baked cookies weren't nearly as moist as with them.
- Because it's so sticky, be sure to freeze the dough for 10-15 minutes before scooping it. This will help firm it up a bit and make it so much easier to handle.
- For scooping, I like to use a #40 cookie scoop, which holds about 2 tablespoons of dough.
- I recommend dropping each scoop of dough directly into the bowl of cinnamon sugar (if you're using it) and rolling it around to coat. The sticky dough grabs onto the sugar really well.
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- If you're skipping the cinnamon sugar, scoop the dough right onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Cookies need about 11-13 minutes in the oven and you'll know they're done when the edges are set.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a rack to cool completely.
These pumpkin cookies with cake mix bake up super soft with a pretty domed top and the cinnamon sugar gives them a bit of a sparkly coating.
The pumpkin and fall spices come through so well and the white chocolate chips add extra sweetness to every bite. I still can't believe cookies this good start with a box of cake mix!
⏲️ How to store
Once the cookies have cooled completely, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days for maximum freshness.
You can also freeze the dough after shaping it if you want. I recommend freezing the dough balls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet (before coating in cinnamon sugar) and once frozen solid, putting them in a sealable freezer bag. You can store them for about 3 months.
Coat dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture before baking.
🎉 Variations on recipe
These cake mix pumpkin cookies are perfection in my eyes, but I have lots of ideas for how you can jazz them up even more! Here are some ideas:
- Swap the white chocolate chips for semi-sweet, milk chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chips to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with cake mix.
- Use cinnamon chips, butterscotch chips, or toffee bits in place of the white chocolate chips.
- Add chopped pecans or walnuts for extra crunch.
- Add dried cranberries along with the white chocolate chips.
- Skip the pumpkin pie spice and the cinnamon sugar for a simple 5-ingredient version.
- Swap the cinnamon sugar for plain granulated sugar or sparkling sugar.
- Use yellow cake mix instead of spice cake mix. Since yellow cake mix doesn't have any spices, swap the ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice for 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.
- Swap the pumpkin pie spice for chai spice.
- Add a little espresso powder to the dough for some pumpkin spice latte flavor.
- Skip the cinnamon sugar and drizzle a simple vanilla icing over the cooled cookies.
- Sandwich two cookies together with cream cheese frosting or pumpkin fluff.
- Use a smaller cookie scoop to make bite-sized cookies (note that they'll need less baking time).
🍰 More cake mix cookie recipes
If you love the simplicity of making cookies with cake mix, try some of my other delicious recipes!
You can also make easy cookies with pancake mix. See all my boxed mix recipes here.
And don't sleep on my pumpkin cheesecake cookies if you're in the mood for a from-scratch pumpkin cookie!
I'm so happy to have these pumpkin cookies with cake mix in my fall baking rotation. They're quick enough to make on a weeknight and still feel special enough to share.
Nobody even has to know you used a box of cake mix (and they'll never be able to tell!)
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Cookies with Cake Mix
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Ingredients
- 1 15.25 oz box spice cake mix
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup granulated sugar optional for rolling
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, pumpkin puree, egg, oil, and pumpkin pie spice until just combined. Dough will be very sticky. Fold in white chocolate chips.
- Freeze the dough 10-15 minutes so it can firm up a bit and will be easier to handle.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If using, stir together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoon of dough out at a time (I like to use a #40 cookie scoop) and drop directly into the cinnamon sugar mixture if using. Roll to coat.
- Place dough on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 11-13 minutes, until set at the edges. Cool cookies for a few minutes before moving to a baking rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
- If you have a 13.25 oz box of cake mix, use ⅔ cup pumpkin puree. This will make about 18 cookies.
- If you have yellow cake mix instead of spice cake mix, swap the ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice for 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.
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