The Grinch may be a meanie, but these Grinch cookies are super nice! Kids will love these green cookies, and you’ll love how simple they are to make using a box of cake mix as the base.
Using cake mix to make these Grinch Cookies is one of my favorite baking shortcuts. Cake mix has flour, sugar, flavoring, and leaveners already in it, so there is very little measuring involved. This recipe is fool proof!
The grinch is properly represented in these fun Christmas cookies with some green food coloring and heart shaped sprinkles, because the Grinch, whose heart was two sizes too small, ended the story with “his heart grew three sizes that day”.
Anyone who has enjoyed the story of how the grinch stole Christmas will recognize the heartwarming Christmas story immediately in these cute Grinch cookies.
Need more Christmas Cookie ideas? Make festive Christmas Meringue Pops, or soft Ricotta Cookies.
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Why You’ll Love These Cookies
- Chewy and Soft: Cake mix cookies have a very specific texture, like cake, but denser with a soft, chewy center and slightly crispy edges. This is such a great recipe – grinch cookies are so yummy!
- Easy Themed Cookie: You can spend your time decorating cutouts to look like the grinch, or you can make these easy drop cookies that are just as fun and festive. Just one sprinkle on each is all the decorating you’ll need to do.
- Snowy Tops: A powdered sugar dusting on these cookies gives them a snowy look which is perfect for Christmastime.
- Cake Mix Cookies: This shortcut means that you’ll spend less time measuring messy ingredients.
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Cake Mix: You’ll need one standard size vanilla cake mix(most are about 15oz.). Avoid yellow cake mix, as the color will not be quite right, but any brand of white cake mix will work.
- Butter, Canola Oil, and an Egg: We aren’t using the ingredients exactly as recommended on the back of the cake mix box, because we aren’t making cake, we’re making cookies! Adding butter, reducing the amount of eggs, and omitting the water makes the cake mix into a thick cookie dough.
- Powdered Sugar and Cornstarch: Mix these two together to create a powdery, snowy effect on your grinch cookies.
- Green Food Coloring: I suggest using a gel food coloring for this recipe. Gel colors are so much more bright than liquid ones. The “green leaf” color from this set of gel colors is the perfect grinch green.
- Heart Shaped Sprinkles: You must represent the grinch’s heart! Heart sprinkles (leftover from valentine’s day desserts, or grab some here) are perfect.
Grinch Cookies Directions
- Prepare: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside. In a medium sized bowl, combine powdered sugar with cornstarch and set aside.
- Mix Cookie Dough: In a separate bowl, combine softened butter with oil and eggs. Using a hand mixer, beat until well combined. Add the cake mix and continue mixing until combined. The batter will be thick.
- Make it Green: Add green food coloring and mix again. Add a little bit at a time until you reach the desired shade. Wilton “green leaf” gel coloring is perfect for this.
- Scoop and Roll: Using a small cookie scoop, scoop dough balls directly into the powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture. The dough balls will be very soft, so gently roll them in the mixture and transfer to cookie sheets.
TIP: These cookies will spread! Use a small cookie scoop (1 tablespoon) and expect the finished cookies to be 2 – 2.5 inches in diameter.
- Bake: Bake, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies have puffed up. If you cook for too long, the edges will brown and change color so try to avoid that.
- Cool and Decorate: Remove the cookies from the oven, allow to cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. To decorate with hearts, make a “glue” from 1 tablespoon of water mixed with the leftover corn starch and sugar. Glue one heart sprinkle to each cookie.
Recipe Tips
Handle with Care: The cookie dough will be thick, but softer than other drop cookie dough. Using a cookie scoop will help you to transfer the dough to the powdered sugar mix without a lot of mess.
Skip the extra sugar: You don’t have to roll the dough in cornstarch/powdered sugar if you don’t want to. The grinch cookies will still be delicious, they just won’t be snowy.
For the Hearts: If you can’t find heart shaped sprinkles, you can use red icing instead to pipe small hearts onto the cookies. Heart shaped candies, like cinnamon hearts (if you don’t mind the spicy flavor!) can be used as well. In a pinch, red M&Ms could work too.
Go Easy with the Color: Too much green food coloring will make your cookies the wrong color. When adding the gel color, use a toothpick or skewer to add just a little bit at a time until you have a nice medium green shade.
Don’t Overbake: You don’t want to see any browning on the tops or edges of these cookies. Use a timer, and pull them out of the oven right when they are finished to avoid browning.
What to Serve with these Grinch Cookies
Host a Grinch movie viewing party! You can be watching the Grinch movie with Grinch cookies, some popcorn, and slow cooker hot chocolate or mulled wine for the adults!
More Fun Christmas Cookies
FAQs
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.
You certainly can, but without the green coloring these cookies won’t be nearly as grinch-y. I think it could be fun to turn some of the cookie dough pink though, and have some Cindy Lou Who themed cookies as well!
The dough for these cake mix cookies doesn’t need to be chilled at all, which is another reason why I love this recipe so much.
These Grinch Cookies are going to be perfect on your Christmas cookie platters! Make sure to pin the recipe so you have it when you need it!
Grinch Cookies
Ingredients
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ⅓ cup (75g) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon canola oil or vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 15.25oz/425g box cake mix
- Green food coloring Note 3
- Heart shaped sprinkles or candy melts, Note 2
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine powdered sugar with corn starch and set aside.¼ cup powdered sugar, ¼ cup cornstarch
- In a separate bowl, combine butter with oil and eggs. Using a hand mixer, beat until well combined (30 seconds).⅓ cup (75g) unsalted butter, 2 large eggs, 1 tablespoon canola oil
- Add the cake mix, and mix until combined. The batter will be thick.15.25oz/425g box cake mix
- Add green food coloring, and mix again. I used Wilton green leaf gel coloring. Add enough to reach the desired shade.
- Using a small cookie scoop, scoop dough balls directly into the powdered sugar and corn starch mixture. The dough balls will be very soft, gently roll in the mixture and transfer to the cookie sheets.
- Bake, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies have puffed up. If you cook for too long, the edges will brown and change color so try to avoid that.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
- To decorate with hearts, use the leftover corn starch and powdered sugar, take 1 tablespoon and mix with 1 tablespoon of water. Use this as glue and attach the hearts. Or use icing.
Notes
- You don’t have to roll the dough in cornstarch/powdered sugar if you don’t want to. The grinch cookies will still be delicious, they just won’t be snowy.
- If you can’t find heart shaped sprinkles, you can use red icing instead to pipe small hearts onto the cookies. Heart shaped candies, like cinnamon hearts (if you don’t mind the spicy flavor!) can be used as well. In a pinch, red M&Ms could work too.
- Too much green food coloring will make your cookies the wrong color. When adding the gel color, use a toothpick or skewer to add just a little bit at a time until you have a nice medium green shade.
- You don’t want to see any browning on the tops or edges of these cookies. Use a timer, and pull them out of the oven right when they are finished to avoid browning.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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Comments & Reviews
Betty P says
The dough was a lot thicker and stickier than I was prepared for what that might have been because my butter wasn’t as soft as it should’ve been in the beginning. Really great recipe. I took a picture I wish I could’ve posted.
Jessica says
These are a family favorite, just came back to grab the recipe and realized I didn’t leave a comment. Tasty and not overly sugary. And totally cute.
Sam says
We made these with the kids and it was so much fun. We didn’t have the cute heart-shaped sprinkles (I just ordered some for the next time), but followed the recipe as written. It worked out perfectly. It was a fun afternoon activity. I enjoyed one with a cup of coffee and they had it with milk. I will be making it again.
admin says
Thank you so much for the awesome review, Sam! I’m so glad to hear you all loved the cookies!
Tara Obrien says
So fun and super easy to make! These were a hit with everyone last night, not just the kids!
FunCookieRecipes.com says
Glad you all enjoyed the cookies!