Easy to make Pumpkin Spice Cake Mix Cookies have only four ingredients and are in and out of the oven in 30 minutes. Bake up a batch and smell all the flavors of fall!
One of my favorite seasons of the year for baking is fall. Truly, it’s one of the few times of the year my pumpkin spice seasoning gets a real workout!
It works well because I’m able to share lots of baked goods with friends, teachers and neighbors during harvest time. Mini pumpkin pies, pumpkin cookies...you get the idea.
Pumpkin Cake Mix Cookies
I’m all for baking from scratch, but there comes a time when I need a good cake mix shortcut and that’s exactly what these four, count ‘em 4 ingredient pumpkin cookies are!
Few Ingredients: All we need for these cake mix cookies is four ingredients! Plus, all the measuring is done for you when it comes todry ingredients. Okay, technically a few extra if you want to add icing to your cookies, but that’s not totally necessary. Droolwrothy, yes but not critical.
No mixer required: You don’t need to get the stand mixer or hand mixer out. The way I look at it, we’re burning calories while stirring which is a total farm girl win!
Make Ahead: This cookie dough can be made ahead of time and frozen, which is a big deal with it comes to prepping for Halloween and Thanksgiving celebrations!
I’ll cover how to do that in just a sec.
Ingredients in Pumpkin Spice Cookies
For this easy peasy recipe, all you’ll need is:
- a box of your favorite vanilla cake mix. I used Betty Crocker’s French Vanilla mix. You could use yellow cake mix in a pinch, or I’ve heard of people using Spice Cake Mix but I haven’t personally tried it. Mostly because I always have vanilla cake mix on hand!
- vegetable or canola oil
- eggs
- pumpkin pie spice - if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice on hand you can make your own pumpkin pie spice.
That’s it for the cookies! If you want to add icing, you’ll just need powdered sugar and milk!
How to make this pumpkin cookies recipe
- Grab your favorite cookie sheet and line it with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat.
- In a large bowl, mix your pumpkin spice, oil, eggs, and cake mix. Just use a spatula or wooden spoon and it will easily mix together.
- Scoop about two tablespoons of the dough into balls and place them onto the sheet pan. Be sure to leave room for the cookies to spread slightly.
- Bake 9-11 minutes. You don’t want the cookies to get golden, so once you see them just geting color on the edges, it's time to pull them out.
- Let the cookies to cool right on the sheet pan for five minutes before you transfer them to your cooling rack.
Cool completely before icing them. - To make the icing, whisk together the sugar, milk, and pumpkin spice. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies.
Tips for making the best pumpkin cake mix cookies
Don’t over bake the cookies. As soon as you see them turing the lightest golden brown, it’s time to pull them from the oven.
Let them rest on the baking sheet before moving them to your cooling rack. Because the cookies are so soft and moist, they need time to set up.
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Store these at room temperature but don’t cover in an airtight container or they’ll get sticky to the touch.
If you love pumpkin spice, you’ll also love these Soft Pumpkin Cookies with cream cheese frosting!
FAQS
Does it matter what brand of cake mix I use?
I found these work with any brand cake mix.
Can I use butter instead of oil?
You can trade the oil for melted butter to give you a slightly chewier cookie.
How do I store these, and how long are they good for?
You can store them in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to four days for maximum freshness.
Can I freeze these cookies?
After letting them cool, you can place them in a freezer bag and freeze them for up to a month. I like to scoop the cookie dough and put them in a sheet pan in the freezer; once frozen, I transfer them into a freezer bag. This way, I can bake off a few cookies at a time to enjoy fresh-baked cookies.
Can I mix the dough ahead of time and cook them off later?
Yes, you can! I recommend pre-scooping them into an air-tight container. Then you can store the dough in the fridge for up to one week.
Can I make this into a bar cookie instead of individual cookies?
If you would like to make a bar-style, press it into a greased small baking pan. Then bake for 20-25 minutes until it’s cooked through.
Other cookie recipes you’ll enjoy
- Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
- Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
- German Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies
- Sprinkle Cookies
- Easy Brownie Mix Cookies
Give these easy pumpkin cookies with cake mix a try and leave a review below!
Pumpkin Spice Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 15.25 ounce box vanilla cake mix
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon pumpkin spice
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons milk
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice
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Instructions
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Mix the 15.25 ounce box vanilla cake mix, ½ cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs, and 1 Tablespoon pumpkin spice in a mixing bowl until the batter is well blended.
- Scoop about two tablespoons of the dough into balls and place them onto the sheet pan, making sure to leave room in between each cookie.
- Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes. You don’t want the cookies to get golden. If you see them starting to get color on the edges, remove them from the oven.
- Allow the cookies to cool right on the sheet pan for five minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool before icing.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons milk, and ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This Farm Girl Cooks is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
lori says
i had a good bit of a carrot cake box mix leftover that i decided to try these cookies with. removed the pieces of carrots, added pumpkin pie spice and voila, worked great. these were simple and delish. i took a chance in figuring out measurements of the oil etc. considering i had to add my own cake mix mix that i use to replace the missing amount in the 15 oz box, it speaks highly of how simple these cookies were to make.
Ann Caffey says
Oh yum. These were great with my afternoon coffee. Thank you for the simple recipe!🍪☕️
Mishka says
What about using a spice cake mix? Double up on the fall flavors!
Deanne Frieders says
Great idea!