If you are a fan of the sweet-tart flavor of lemon cookies, you are going to be thrilled to learn that you can make these gorgeous cookies using a common baking shortcut. Three ingredient Lemon Cake Mix cookies are topped with the most delicious lemon glaze, and they’re ready in less than 30 minutes.
Lemon Cake Mix Cookies are so simple to make, that you might not even believe the ingredients list. Cake mix, 2 eggs, and some oil come together to make a flavorful cookie dough that bakes up in minutes.
Topped with a simple sugar and lemon glaze, these soft, chewy cookies are tart, sweet, and perfectly citrusy.
I just love a good baking shortcut! While I enjoy baking complicated cookie recipes like French Macarons and Copycat Crumbl Key Lime Pie Cookies, sometimes it’s nice to be able to throw a few ingredients in a bowl and turn them into cookies without so much effort.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Super Easy Cookie Recipe – This shortcut cookie recipe couldn’t get any more simple!
- Delicious Lemon Flavor – Lemon cookies are one of my favorites! This recipe is packed with lemony goodness from the cake mix, and the homemade glaze.
- Easy to Make Ahead – These cookies freeze well, so you can make a batch well before you actually need them.
Lemon Cake Mix Cookies Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Lemon Cake Mix: You need one regular-sized box of cake mix to make one batch of cookies. I’m using Betty Crocker Super Moist Lemon cake mix, but other brands will also work.
- Eggs and Oil: Pay no attention to the instructions on the back of the cake mix box. Add the amounts listed in the recipe card in order to make cookies from the mix instead of cake!
- Flour: This is not entirely necessary, but you can choose to add additional flour to the cookie dough if you’d like the cookies to be thicker. Only add extra flour if your cookie dough seems thin and difficult to scoop into balls.
- Lemon Glaze: the tart glaze for these cookies is a simple mix of fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and powdered sugar.
How to Make Lemon Cake Mix Cookies
- Get Ready: Be ready to bake by preheating the oven to 350°F/180°C and lining 2 half-size baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Make Lemon Cake Mix Cookie Dough: In a large bowl, combine the lemon cake mix, eggs, and oil. Use a spatula to mix the ingredients together until combined. Don’t mix too much, it’s fine if some small lumps remain. if the dough seems thin, you can add up to a cup of flour until it is the consistency of cookie dough.
- Bake: Use a small cookie scoop to create 1 1/2 tablespoon balls of dough. Place them on prepared cookie sheets, 3 inches apart. The cookies will spread quite a bit while they bake. Bake for 12 minutes, and allow to cool on a wire rack.
- Make Glaze: Add 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest to a cup of powdered sugar. Stir to combine. Adjust the consistency if needed by adding additional lemon juice.
- Glaze Cookies: When the cookies have cooled down completely, drizzle the glaze over the cookies and allow them to dry and set.
Recipe Tips
- About the Added Flour – For most brands of cake mix available in the US, you won’t need to add extra flour. Cake mixes available in Europe and elsewhere, plus certain non-mainstream cake mix brands tend to create a thinner dough when mixed into this recipe, so flour is only needed to make the cake mix the consistency of cookie dough.
- Be sure to allow 3 inches of space around each cookie when baking. These cookies can spread quite a bit.
- Don’t try to glaze cookies while they’re still warm. Allow them to cool completely before making and adding the glaze.
- You don’t have to add the glaze. These cookies are still amazing without it! You can drizzle the cookies with melted white chocolate instead of the glaze too.
- Add-Ins: Try adding white chocolate chips or chopped almonds to the cookies before baking.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
- Matcha Crinkle Cookies
- Pistachio Pudding Cookies
- Buckeye Brownie Cookies
- Soft Orange Cookies
- Fruity Pebbles Cookies
FAQs
I didn’t test this specific recipe with butter, but I do think that you could use the same amount of melted, unsalted butter and the cookies will be delicious.
Yes! Add a good quality lemon extract to the dough to give the cookies a lemony flavor.
Store glazed cookies in a single layer in an airtight container and enjoy them within 2-3 days. The cookies can be kept longer, but they will start to get stale after 3 days and won’t be as delicious.
Yes, these freeze well. I suggest freezing them without the glaze though, as it will melt and change texture in the freezer and while thawing. Keep baked cookies in an airtight container or bag in the freezer for 1-2 months.
These Lemon Cake Mix Cookies are so easy to make, and everyone is going to love them! Be sure to Pin the recipe to save it and share it with others.
Lemon Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounce (425g) boxed lemon cake mix
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup vegetable oil or coconut oil
- ½ cup all-purpose flour optional, see note 1
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line 2 half size baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- In a large bowl, combine lemon cake mix, eggs, and oil. With a spatula, mix together until combined. A few lumps are ok, do not over mix. For thicker cookies, add half a cup of flour. You can add up to 1 cup of flour, depending on the texture you'd like. (see note 1)
- Using a small OXO cookie scoop (1 ½ tbsp size), scoop out cookie dough balls and place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 12 minutes, then cool down completely on a wire rack.
- To make the glaze, in a bowl combine the powdered sugar, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Add additional lemon juice to create a thick glaze.
- When the cookies have cooled down completely, glaze the cookies while they are still on the wire rack, so that the glaze can drip off of the cookies if needed. Leave to set until dry.
Notes
- Adding flour is optional, and should only be added if the cookie dough seems very thin. Different brands of cake mix will give slightly different results.
- Be sure to allow 3 inches of space around each cookie when baking. These cookies will spread quite a bit.
- Don’t try to glaze cookies while they’re still warm. Allow them to cool completely before making and adding the glaze.
- To Store: Keep these cookies in a single layer in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Lemon cookies can be frozen without the glaze for up to 2 months.
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
Jacqueline says
Can you make this cookie recipe into bar cookies.
Diana says
Yes! Use an 8-inch square pan, and press the cookie dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 18-22 minutes at 350F/180C, until just done. Allow to cool then slice and serve.