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Fun, bright and festive cake mix cookies are all dressed up to look like monsters. Gooey monster cookies are great all year long!!
If you need more monsters try Monster Bark, Monster Rice Krispies Treats, and Monster Cupcakes.
Kid Favorite!
We love cake mix cookies, and when my son was having a Monster themed birthday party, we decided to change up our classic cookie and make them match the party!
I couldn’t help but think of the Gooey Monster Eye Cookies I made a month or so ago but decided to add some more colors and just a few more eye balls.
The result? Gooey Monster Cookies that are now a new favorite and are requested all year long, especially around Halloween!
How to Make
BATTER. Beat butter, vanilla, egg and cream cheese until fluffy. Mix in cake mix.
COLOR. Divide batter into bowls for the amount of colors you want. Add food coloring to each individual bowl and mix until all combined. Chill for 30 minutes.
BAKE. Roll into balls and dip in a bowl of powdered sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet and pat down a bit. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
Note: Do not bake the eyes. They will turn to goo and/or burn in the oven.
DECORATE & ENJOY! Add candy eyeballs while cookies are still warm. ENJOY!
Tip: When a batch of cookies are baking put the dough back in the fridge to chill. Bake the cookies in small batches as you need to add the eyes after you pull the cookies out of the oven. Unless you have helpers it can be tricky to get all the eyes on each cookie before they cool off.
Tips + Variations
Although these cookies are supposed to be “Gooey Monster Cookies” you don’t want them so gooey that they are raw. Here are a few tips to help you troubleshoot cookies that are too gooey:
- Did you use the correct size cake mix.
- Do not mix up the cake mix according to the directions on the box. For these cookies you only need the cake mix powder and then you mix it with the ingredients listed in our recipe.
- Not chilling the dough long enough. You can even put it in the freezer for a bit.
- Different ovens may require a different bake time. Add a few extra minutes if necessary.
- If the dough still feels too sticky for your liking add a tablespoon of two of flour to firm it up.
Storing Tips
MAKE AHEAD OF TIME. You can make the dough ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to bake them. Do not add the powdered sugar until right before baking.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Form the dough into balls and put them on a baking sheet. FREEZE them until solid then transfer them to a freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw before baking.
STORE baked cookies in the fridge for 3-5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
For a few more FUN HALLOWEEN RECIPES:
- Graveyard Dirt Cake
- Gummy Worm Jello Cups
- Boo-Nilla Ghost Milkshakes
- Candy Bar Trifle
- Witches Brew
- Pumpkin Guacamole
Gooey Monster Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1/2 c butter softened
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 egg
- powdered sugar
- food coloring I used NEON food coloring to make them more vibrant
- candy eyeballs
Instructions
- Beat butter, vanilla, egg and cream cheese until fluffy.
- Mix in cake mix. Divide batter into bowls for the amount of colors you want.
- Add food coloring to each individual bowl and mix until all combined.
- Chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll into balls and dip in a bowl of powdered sugar.
- Place on greased cookie sheet and pat down a bit.
- Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
- Add candy eyeballs while cookies are still warm. ENJOY!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are too cute, my boys would love them!
Thanks!! You’ll have to make them for them 🙂
Hi!
I want to follow your recipe for my son’s birthday next week, but I was wondering what this line meant:
1 8 oz Cream Cheese Bar
is it 1/8 oz that you mean?
Thank you for this great post!
It’s 1 cup cream cheese or 1 (8oz) bar of cream cheese (which is how it is sold in the store if not in a tub). 😉
I found this cookie recipe on Pinterest in time for Halloween this year and they were perfect. The cookies were yummy and soft and delicious. I’m going to use the same recipe and make more cookies for Christmas just without the eyes.
Hello hello, I’m about to try this monster cookie recipe as a halloween treat for my students, I was just wondering how many cookies can be made from one batch? Thanks!
just saw the answer to my question so no need to answer (about 2 dozens) 🙂
My SO and I saw these and thought they looked so cool! We went to Target to find the eyeballs (which they had) but they also had this new Duff Goldman cookie mix for Halloween. “Jeepers Creepers”. Waaaat?! We ended up going with the mix, since it was actually cheaper than the eyeballs themselves. Just thought I’d leave that here 🙂
How did it turn out with that mix?
The colours looked great, but the cookies were a bit on the sweet side (birthday cake flavoured?). Good texture, chewy insides with crisp edges and a box made about 20-25.
We made them to share, so I stretched the eyeballs out (there’s about 100 per kit) over a batch of chocolate cookies. Added extra Halloween decorations to make them creepier. I’d recommend the kit for convenience (1 box – $3.99).
I’ve never tried them with that cake mix, but the regular cake mix always turns out great. Way to go on stretching everything out!! 😀
I absolutely love the monster cookies! I am having a monster themed birthday party for my daughter’s first birthday. How many cookies did you get out of your recipe?
I’m so glad you like them. We got almost 2 dozen out of them but it depends if you want big or small cookies. Ours were about 2.5 inches. 😉
These are adorable! We just used the Wilton Candy Eyeballs for some Halloween cupcakes. They are such a fun product and so easy to decorate with!
Yes they are – I use them for so many of my Halloween treat!! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!!
These are seriously some of the cutest cookie I’ve ever seen. How many cookies do you usually get out of this recipe?
THANK YOU!! I can usually get 2 dozen out of one batch. 😉