This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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 Suckers, Monster Rice Krispies Treats, and Apple Monster Teeth.
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 so cute!! Im thinking of making them for my employees and my child’s halloween party! About how many cookies does one batch make?
It can make quite a few..anywhere from 2-4 dozen, depending on how big you make them 🙂 They’d be a hit!
Any idea if these freeze well? I have a halloween party that I need to make ~50 cookies for — I’d love to make them in advance and freeze
I personally haven’t tried freezing them. I wish I knew! I don’t see why if you made the dough, froze it, then baked them, they shouldn’t turn out. They will be a hit!
Hi, I made the cookies together with my sister’s children over the weekend, and they simply loved them! Thanks for sharing:-)
What a fun uncle!! Thank you so much!! I’m so glad they liked them!!
These cookies are too cute — and your photography is gorgeous! Was wondering if you use Tailwind — because I am starting a new tribe called CHRISTMAS COOKIES and I’d love for you to participate! If you’re interested, send me an e-mail and I’ll invite you! Thanks!
These are so yummy! The dough needs to chill longer than a half hour to get a really good cracked effect (~1 hour). The eyes stick fine if you do it as soon as cookies come out and you give them a little push. Thanks for the idea!!
Thanks for stopping by Meg..glad you like them!
I *love* these cookies! So cute! I want to make them for my kid’s Halloween party at school, but due to peanut allergies everything needs to be homemade. Is there an ingredient list I can use to replace the box cake mix?
I know its several years since you posted this but I tried this last weekend for a horror movie night with my friends. They were a big hit. Making them again right now for tomorrow’s potluck at my office! The taste was great, too. Nice and fluffy. Almost cake-like (which I suppose makes sense since it uses cake mix). Even my extremely picky roommate liked them.
Thanks so much for giving them a try! Glad they were a hit!! Have fun and thanks for letting me know!
This is my go to cookie recipe . I have always received high reviews any where I take these. Yes , the dough can be hard to work with the key is to make sure it’s chilled at least 30 minutes , I put mine in the freezer divided in half . I leave one half in the freezer while I work on the first half. It also really helps to coat your hands in powdered sugar. My ultimate favorite version is white cake mix with chopped pecans added . When not using the cute eyeballs I dust mine with a little powdered sugar after they cool . Don’t give up on this recipe , you can use so many different flavors and ingredients . Get creative !!!! I’ve done coconut cake mix and rolled in coconut, added chocolate chips , used chocolate cake mix and peanut butter chips . The variations are only limited by your imagination. But tonight we are making the monster version for the kids in our family for Halloween.
Thank you Melissa for sharing those ideas!!! That’s what I love about these cookies!! They are for sure one of my go-to cookie recipes! Thanks again!
I love these! they’re so cute! I tweaked the recipe a little bit. I added a full teaspoon of Vanilla (which is what i do to all my cookie recipes, I double the vanilla) and about a half a cup of white chocolate chips and made them in orange and purple . I also did them in chocolate since I wanted black cookies, but added a half a cup of semi sweet chocolate chips instead of white. They look awesome and smell so good. I made them for my family, as well as my best friend in the Navy, and I got high praises all around!
Those are great changes!! I’ll have to try them! They sound cute 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing!
We made these today! I only had enough eyeballs for 2 per cookie, except the last cookie only got 1! I had blue, pink and yellow food gel colors that I used, leftover from a princess cake. 🙂 It was hard to mix in the color into the dough, but these were pretty good! We watched Goosebumps while making them!
https://s6.postimg.org/dibzg6q1t/2016_10_08_Gooey_Monster_Eyes_Cookies_0009.jpg
How fun!! Sorry, you ran out of eyeballs!! Thanks so much for giving them a try 🙂