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We have been making Gooey Butter Cookies almost our whole lives! They’re one of our favorites, which is why we decided to make a lemon version. We are glad we did, because today’s Lemon Cake Mix Cookies have become a family favorite!
These cookies are soft, flavorful and beyond simple. You just need 5 ingredients (including our shortcut cake mix) and some powdered sugar to dip them. The cream cheese and butter in the recipe make these cookies melt in your mouth.
Other than chilling the dough for half an hour, these lemon cream cheese cookies can be made quickly, and with the help of the kiddos. For more lemon cookies, try our Frosted Lemon Cookies and the Lemon Sugar Cookie recipes as well.
Why we think you’ll love it:
- A favorite shortcut. A cake mix makes this dessert EXTRA easy with just a few ingredients.
- Bright flavor. We love lemon and these easy cookies are gooey and chewy with plenty of tasty lemon flavor.
- Saves you time. The chilled dough can easily be made ahead of time, and baked cookies are PERFECT for freezing for a last-minute treat!
Lemon Cake Mix Cookie Ingredients
- 1 (15.25-ounce) box of Lemon Cake Mix – use only the cake mix powder in the recipe
- ½ cup butter softened – We use unsalted butter, see How to Soften Butter Quickly
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract – or 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 large egg – room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- optional ingredients – Add white chocolate chips to the dough, top with toasted coconut, or even drizzle a powdered sugar/lemon glaze on top of your baked cookies.
How to Make Lemon Cake Mix Cookies
STEP 1. PREP. Preheat oven to 350°F.
STEP 2. BATTER. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter, lemon extract, egg, and cream cheese until fluffy.
STEP 3. Add in cake mix and beat until smooth. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
STEP 4. ROLL. Add ½ cup powdered sugar to a small bowl. Roll dough into ½-1 inch balls and dip in powdered sugar. Placed on greased cookie sheet.
STEP 5. Bake for 12-13 minutes. Sift these easy lemon cake mix cookies with more powdered sugar if desired. ENJOY!
Lemon Cake Mix Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (15.25-ounce) box lemon cake mix
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 egg
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- With a hand mixer, beat butter, lemon extract, egg, and cream cheese until fluffy. Add in cake mix and beat until smooth.
- Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Add ½ cup powdered sugar to a small bowl. Roll dough into ½-1 inch balls and dip in powdered sugar. Placed on a greased baking sheet (or line the pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat).
- Bake for 12-13 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking pan before transferring them to a cooling rack. If desired, sift more powdered sugar over the tops. ENJOY!
Video
Notes
- Do not make the cake into batter. You will only be using the lemon cake powder in the cookie recipe.
- We always use room-temperature cream cheese and eggs because they incorporate the best.
- This dough is a little sticky. We chill the dough and use a cookie scoop to help make it easier to scoop. This also prevents flat cookies!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- Do not make the cake into batter. You will only be using the lemon cake powder in the cookie recipe.
- We always use room-temperature cream cheese and eggs because they incorporate the best.
- This dough is a little sticky. We chill the dough and use a cookie scoop to help make it easier to scoop. This also prevents flat cookies!
Recipe FAQ
To add even more flavor to these cookies, mix 1 teaspoon of lemon zest into the cookie dough. You can use lemon juice to make a lemon glaze to drizzle on top of the baked cookies.
Store the cookie dough, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days, or freeze cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. See How to Freeze Cookie Dough for tips.
Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days or in the freezer for 3-4 months.
More Like This
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Gooey Butter Cookies
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Cake Mix Snickerdoodles
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Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies
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Lemon Cookies
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
1 hr 27 mins
Lemon Sugar Cookies
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Frosted Lemon Cookies
14 mins
Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
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This recipe was originally published April 2018.
Your lemon cake mix cookies are just excellent. Made them for three different parties over
the Easter Week and they were completely gone each time. The recipe was requested so many times that by the third party I printed out your recipe to hand out to guests! Those were also gone!’
Wonderful to know how easy to make and easily pleasing to so many!
Thanks so much
Awe, that makes me so happy!! Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I am so glad they were a hit!
Very good and simple!!! Will be added to my baking desert list. Thank you for sharing.
My cake mix is 13.25 oz. (Thank you Betty Crocker 🤦♀️)
Do you know how I should adjust recipe for this amount of mix?
The recipe should turn our more or less the same even with the smaller cake mixes now. You could take a Tbsp of butter and cream cheese out if you’re worried about it, but I think the cookies will still turn out quite similar!
About how many cookies does the lemon cake mix cookies make?
I do not like to use lemon extract. Can I use lemon juice or zest instead? And how much? Thank you.
Can you use cake mix with pudding already in the mix?
Yep!
These lemon cake cookies are the kids fav after snack! They love the summer flavor vibe of the cookies as well as their texture! Such a great treat!
oh my goodness! I cannot thank you enough for this delicious recipe! all my friends ate this up at our game night!
These lemon cake mix cookies are so soft and delicious! Thank you for the recipe, I’ll definitely be making these again!
We’re doing a narrow-boat trip with a picnic for older people, so we will definitely be baking these delicious-looking goodies.
Thank you
Can I use bottle lemon juice instead of extract?
Yes. Lemon juice is a bit more tart and acidic, but it should work to swap. You’ll have to let us know how the cookies turn out!
So if I’m reading this right you don’t flatten the cookies? You just bake them in a ball ?
Correct!
Can I use parchment paper instead of greased cookie sheet?
Can I use parchment paper instead of a greased cookie sheet.
Can I use parchment paper instead of a greased cookie sheet.
You bet!
I’ve used to recipe for all cookies. Change the cake mix box to your liking! Everyone loves cookie day. Thank you
I’m not a huge lemon fan, but my husband is. These made me change my mind. So good!
Can you use this recipe to make snickerdoodles bu changing the lemon cake mix and extract to vanilla and using granulated sugar and cinnamon instead of powdered sugar?
Absolutely!! That sounds delicious and such a fun twist on the recipe!
I’ve made these twice and they are really delicious. I was wondering if this same recipe could be used for chocolate chip cookies but just use yellow cake mix, vanilla extract, and add chocolate chips🤔 Do you think it’s possible?
Absolutely! We actually have that very recipe on our site. We call the our Gooey Butter Cookies. And you could totally add chocolate chips to these. https://lilluna.com/recipe-tip-of-the-week-gooey-butter-cookies/. Another great cake mix/chocolate chip cookie mash up are our Cake Mix Cookie Bars: https://lilluna.com/cake-mix-cookie-bars/ These have m&m’s and chocolate chips but you could just use chocolate chips if you’d prefer.
Awesome sauce! I’ll give these a try. Thanks so much!!
When short on time these cake mix cookies are the thing.
I do roll my cookies first into white granulated sugar and then roll in powdered sugar before baking.
Love it! The more sugar the better! 🙂
I was thinking for making these cookies cause they sound so yummy. But I was wondering if I could add some raspberry and make them into raspberry lemonade cookies? Do you have any suggestions on how much I should add and what I should use?
I haven’t tried adding raspberries to this cake mix cookie recipe but if you do try it out I would suggest using frozen raspberries instead of fresh because they hold up better in the batter and tend to look more pretty coming out of the oven. The fresh raspberries usually create a mess in the batter and they don’t turn out looking as good. As far as taste goes – they taste the same. I would add however many raspberries you think looks like a good ratio of “batter to berry”. Hope this helps!
Great recipes but how can I print “magic custard cake” recipes?
Did you flatten them slightly before baking? Mine were very tasty but didn’t look as good as yours. Mine were still a half ball but good.
I do flatten them slightly by using the bottom of a drinking glass and pressing down on the dough ball very lightly to flatten it out just a bit. Hope this helps!
These cookies are like eating air! Light and moist! Perfect tea cookies.
I’m so happy you like them! Thanks for sharing!
Just made these, and our family loves them! 💛
Yay! So glad to hear the cookies were a hit!
Super easy and very soft and moist! I subbed a white cake mix as I didn’t have lemon on hand and upped the lemon extract to 2 1/2 tsps. And I didn’t chill for 30 minutes as I was pressed for time. Will be making these again. Thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing what you do! 🙂
Is there a substitute for lemon extract
You can substitute lemon juice for lemon extract. 1 tablespoon of lemon juice equals 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract. You can also use orange juice if you don’t have lemon juice on hand. Hope this helps!
I took these to a whole new level today by adding diced frozen strawberries.
Perfect! That would be so good! Thank you for sharing that!
I love the ease of these cookies! Not to mention how good they are!
Best cookies ever! I am NoT a cookie maker but these are super easy and delicious!
Yay! That makes me so happy to hear! Glad you tried them. Thank you!
This recipe is… average at best. I added extra lemon juice and zest and they still had no flavor. The result is cakey and crumbly, not soft and chewy!
Thank you for trying them!
These cookies are aMazing!! They turned out fluffy and super moist! I added a little extra lemon extract…but that was more for me. I have a feeling that i’ll Be making these a lot!!
Perfect! Happy you liked them! Thank you!
We absolutely love these cookies! Have made them several times, so good and so simple even the kids can help. What lemon cake mix do you normally use? This most recent time making them I used Betty crocker and they weren’t quite as good as when I normally make them using Duncan Hines. Just curious is you had a fav cake mix. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
These are my go-to cookies when I am in a rush. So simple to make and everyone loves them. Lemon is always a good idea!
Love your gooey butter cookies & these lemon ones are so good! Lemon is such a refreshing flavor, perfect for Spring!
Cake mix makes this recipe a breeze. So loght and refreshing, love the lemon taste.
Easy peasy cookies, right? Glad you like them! Thank you 🙂
Do I need to follow the directions on the cake mix or just use the contents of the cake mix with the other ingredients you have listed?
Nope, you will just add the cake mix with the other ingredients 🙂 Enjoy!
I like to make my “cookies really quick” and put most in 9×13 or 1ox15 pan spread thin. Is this possible? Peanut butter or Chocolate chip work really well with just a basic riciepe. I love lemon anything, sooohelp me out. Thanks
I personally have not tried, but I don’t see why not. I will have to try that way!
This is a terrific lemon cookie!
I am obsessed with these cookies! They are so delicious!
I am so happy I found this recipe! These cookies were so DELICIOUS and they didn’t last long here!
These were so light and flavorful; made them for my daughter’s bake sale and sold out! Can’t wait to make them again or myself!
Amazing Lemon cookies recipe!
could this dough be pressed into a small silicone mold and baked into a shape?
I personally have not tried, but possibly 🙂
Fantastic! So simple and so delicious! I just made 3 batches of these to go in the favor bags for my daughter’s BIRTHDAY Party. I have no doubt everyone will love them!
Awe, thank you for sharing them 🙂 I hope they were a hit!
These cookies were so gooD. So light and airy. Best cookies recipe hands down! Thank You.
Yay..glad you liked them! Thank you so much!
If you like lemon you’ll love this cookie. Easy to make with simple ingredients.
I’m not a huge fan of lemon however, these cookies are to die for!
I have had these cookies in other flavors & I think the lemon is one of my favorites! Lemon is so refreshing. I took these to a church function & everyone wanted the recipe!
Just made these tonight and they were marvelous! Didn’t change a thing. Although they did stay in the fridge 2 hours before I had a chance to bake them! Just perfect, thank you!
I am glad you think that!! We love them! Thank you for letting me know!
I’m making these right now, and after chilling the dough for 30 minutes, I tried to roll the dough into balls. The dough is a little sticky and hard to roll. Any suggestions?
It is still a little sticky, but should still roll, once in powdered sugar. You could always leave it in the fridge a little longer. I hope they turned out 🙂
so much food, I would most like to try this recipe……..
looks fresh and tasty….
They are! Let me know what you think! Thank you!