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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 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.
Oh my goodness, how CUTE!!!! I love this idea, so fun and so creative!!! (And yummy looking, too!)
Thank you so much, Maria!! Let me know if you make them yourself… they are so easy and delicious and look so cute! 😀
Where do you get the eyeballs? Order them? A chain store? This is adorable, but I have never seen enough eyeballs outside of a kit that I could make these
Hi Cindy! I’ve seen the eyeballs alone at Walmart in the Wilton section as well as at Target in the Baking section. I have also seen the Eyes at Michael’s, Joann’s and Hobby Lobby near the Wilton/Baking sections. Hope that helps. 🙂
Great project !!
I would love you to come and share @ Craft, Create & Inspire linky party !!!
Look forward to seeing you there 🙂
http://lemonpaperdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/craft-create-inspire-linky-party-3.html
Claire x
Omigosh, these are TOO cute! Pinning to make this week. My kids will love them!
I hope they like them as much as my kiddos did!! Thanks for stopping by. 😀
Hello!! I found the eyeballs but only in 1 size….do you know if you bought 2 different packages to get 2 different sizes? Super cute cookies!! Going to make them for the kids’ Halloween Party!! Adorable and thanks for sharing!!
Hi Heather. I bought 2 different packages… one had the smaller eyes and the other had the larger eyes. Hope that helps. 🙂
I really had high hopes for these, however no one in out house like the taste at all. I will make again, for the cuteness alone, but will stick with a basic sugar cookie recipe. Like the commenter in FL, ours were so gooey. I cooked them for a good 18 mins and they still are yucky 🙁 really sad
I totally agree. I bake pretty often, and this is not a great cookie recipe. The dough, even after refrigeration, isn’t great to work with, and it’s a tough balance to take the cookies out in time to be soft enough to place the eyes, because they were still raw on the inside. I ended up taking them out, putting the eyes on, and then finishing them off for another few minutes in the oven. I will make these next time with sugar cookies. The eyeballs were a huge hit, though!
Sorry you didn’t like the cookies. They’re always a HUGE hit at our house. 😉
How do you store them?? Do they need refrigeration because of the cream cheese?
You can store them in an air tight container or plate with saran wrap. Hope that helps!!
Glad its not just me! I thought i Missed a step. Mine were super stiCky aftwr almost 35-40 minutes of refridheration. Have taftes them yet thOugh ??
I would have to agree, Mrs. Captain.
I followed these directions to the ‘T’.
1] The dough was far too sticky to work with so I ended up adding more flour and leaving it in the refrigerator overnight. That recommended 30 minutes simply doesn’t cut it. The dough is way to sticky to work with and
2] The first batch I made was neon pink (least favorite color to experiment). After 13 minutes, I removed them and while placing the eyes, I noticed the cookies were still uncooked. So I put them in the oven after placing the eyes. FYI The eyes can stand 350 degrees for a couple of minutes before they start browning and look horrible. The powdered sugar also starts to brown after 1 minute. So for the second batch I made the balls smaller and cooked for about 12 minutes. I ended up throwing out the pink ones, so instead of four colors, I ended up with three (neon green, neon turquoise and orange).
3] Presentation-wise, these cookies look fantastic. Taste-wise, I wasn’t impressed at all. As Mrs. Captain and Kate stated, next time around, I’ll choose a basic sugar cookie recipe made from scratch. Thank you for an excellent concept, Lil Luna. I see many others liked the taste. I should specify my opinion is due to the fact I have an altered sense of smell that is sensitive to many processed foods, dyes and chemicals. Hopefully, the kids won’t be as picky. 🙂
Sorry you didn’t like the taste. We LOVE them. 🙂 And I must note that we’ve made this recipe SO many times and although the dough is a little sticky, it’s simple to work with if you don’t mind getting your hands a little messy for a few minutes. 😉
I just made these with my 5 year old granddaughter and they were a huge hit! They were also absolutely delicious for both kids and adults.
I used the Wilton candy eyeballs and the neon food coloring (both from Amazon).
We followed the recipe exactly and did not find the dough difficult to work with. My granddaughter had no problem rolling the dough into balls then in powdered sugar.
Thank you, this one is a keeper!
You’re so welcome!! I’m so glad you had fun making these cookies with your granddaughter. They are a fun one for the holiday!