Name: Grinch Cake Mix Cookies
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 (15.25 ounce) box vanilla cake mix ((I used Betty Crocker)); ⅓ cup vegetable oil; 2 eggs; ½ teaspoon vanilla; Green food coloring (gel kind); ⅓ cup confectioners sugar; ⅓ cup cornstarch; Candy hearts or sprinkles

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

I love Grinch cake mix cookies because nobody ever has to ask what they are, since that little red candy heart in the middle gives it away. They’re soft and chewy, with a slightly crinkly powdered sugar outside and a sweet vanilla flavor. Kids especially love them, and they’re so easy to make.

Green Grinch cake mix cookies with red candy hearts on a white plate beside Christmas greenery.

Grinch cookies are such a fun Christmas cookie to bring to holiday parties and cookie exchanges. They’re great to bake with kids, too, since all the dough needs is a scoop and a quick roll through the powdered sugar.

I keep this Grinch cookies recipe simple on purpose and always start with a basic vanilla cake mix. It gives me that bright Grinch green and a classic vanilla taste, which is exactly what I want on a holiday cookie tray.

These cookies have a spot on my list of favorite Christmas cookie recipes. Cake mix cookies are my shortcut to a quick batch, and you’ll find more in all my easy cookie recipes. If you’re planning a Grinch movie night, set a bowl of my Grinch punch right next to the cookie plate.

HOLIDAY FAVORITE

I wanted an easy Grinch cookie that was cute, without having to make and decorate sugar cookies from scratch. So I started with a box of cake mix and some green food coloring.

The only decorating is one little red heart pressed on top of each cookie before it bakes, and that heart is what makes them a Grinch cookie. It’s such an easy way to do something cute for the holidays, and that’s always a win this time of year.

Read This Before You Scoop the Dough

This dough is thicker and stickier than regular cookie dough, and that catches a lot of people off guard. It isn’t a dry dough you can roll around in your palms, so don’t expect it to act like one.

Chill the dough for the full 20 minutes so it’s firm enough to scoop. Then scoop each ball straight into the powdered sugar mixture and gently shape it once it’s coated, since the coating is what keeps it from sticking to your hands.

Keep the rest of the dough in the fridge while each pan bakes. If it’s still really soft, give it a little more time in there rather than adding anything to it. Skipping the chill is how you end up with dough stuck to everything and cookies that spread flat in the oven.

Key Ingredients

Vanilla cake mix: I use Betty Crocker vanilla cake mix in the 15.25-ounce box because it’s easy to dye green. Any white or yellow cake mix will work too.
Vegetable oil: Oil is what keeps cake mix cookies soft on the counter for days instead of drying out, so I use it instead of butter here.
Gel food coloring: Use gel food coloring, not liquid, because liquid makes the dough looser and gel gives you a more intense green.
Powdered sugar and cornstarch: The cornstarch keeps the powdered sugar from clumping and helps it coat the dough evenly, so the balls don’t feel wet once they’re rolled. You can’t taste it after baking, only the sweet powdered sugar on the outside.
Candy hearts or sprinkles: I order my red candy hearts on Amazon, but you don’t have to track down a specific candy heart, and red sprinkles still give you the Grinch look. Red hots, a red M&M or a little heart piped with my sugar cookie icing work too. If you use red sanding sugar, press it on while the cookies are still slightly warm so it sticks.

Green Grinch cake mix cookies with red candy hearts beside a bottle of milk and Christmas decorations.

How to Make Grinch Cake Mix Cookies

Step 1: Mix the Green Dough Stir the cake mix, oil, eggs and vanilla together in a large bowl, then mix in the gel food coloring until the dough is evenly green. It will be thick, and that’s how it should be. Bright green Grinch cake mix cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl with green food coloring and a spatula.

Step 2: Chill and Make the Coating Pop the bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes. While it chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment and stir the powdered sugar and cornstarch together in a small bowl.

Step 3: Scoop, Coat and Flatten Use a 1½ tablespoon cookie scoop to drop the dough straight into the sugar mixture, then gently shape each ball once it’s coated. Set them on the baking sheet and flatten each one lightly with the bottom of a glass. Green Grinch cookie dough coated in powdered sugar being flattened with a glass.

Step 4: Add the Red Heart Press a red heart on top of each cookie. Unbaked Grinch cake mix cookies topped with red candy hearts on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Step 5: Bake and Cool Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the tops crackle and the edges are set. In my oven that’s right at 9 minutes, and the centers still look soft when I pull them. Let them sit on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then move them to a wire rack. Baked green Grinch cake mix cookies with red candy hearts on a baking sheet.

Tried It and Loved It

These cookies turned out perfect. My daughter thought I bought them at a bakery. I will definitely make them again.

– Kate

62 More Comments

Making Them Ahead and Storing Them

You can make the dough ahead and keep it in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours, covered tightly with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. The dough firms up as it sits, so let it rest on the counter for 10 to 15 minutes before you scoop.

To freeze the dough, scoop it into balls without the sugar coating and freeze them on a baking sheet until solid. Then move them to an airtight container for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake, let them thaw on the counter for about 30 minutes, then roll them in the powdered sugar mixture and bake as usual.

Baked cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. To freeze them, let them cool completely and store them in a freezer bag for up to 2 months. Put wax paper between the layers if you stack them, and thaw them to room temperature before serving.

grinch cake mix cookies on top of a plate.

Why are they called crinkle cookies?

The powdered sugar coating cracks as the cookies bake, which leaves white crinkles all over the green tops. Plenty of people call these Grinch crinkle cookies, and my red velvet cake mix cookies crinkle the same way.

Why did my cookies spread flat?

A hot baking sheet is usually the reason, so let it cool before the next batch goes on. Warm dough spreads too, so keep it chilled the way I explain above, and old or expired cake mix can cause it as well.

Can I make Grinch cookies with a gluten-free cake mix?

I haven’t tested one myself. A reader made these with a gluten-free Funfetti cake mix for a cookie swap and said they worked great. If you try it, treat it as your own experiment rather than my recipe.

More Christmas Cookies to Make

Here are a few more Christmas cookies to add to your tray.

4.24 from 39 votes