4 ingredients make up these delightfully easy Lemon Cool Whip Cookies. Make these cookies to fit any occasion by switching the flavor of cake mix!
Cake mix recipes are so fun. One of my favorites? Strawberries and Cream Cookies. One of your favorites? Buckeye Brownie Cookies. (Which is actually made with a brownie mix, but it’s the same idea.) Take a box mix and make it into something special by thinking outside the box (literally) and adding your own ingredients.
Cake Mix Cookie Recipe
About a month ago, we were visiting my 90+ year old Grandma and she handed us her recipe box. I love looking through recipes. And seeing a stack of recipe cards either typed out (with a typewriter!) or written in my Grandma’s handwriting makes them pretty special.
One of the first recipes I came across were a cookie called Lemon Whippersnappers. They used Cool Whip and a cake mix which caught eye. I’m not sure where this recipe originated, but I have my grandma’s copy and that is pretty special.
Is Cool Whip and whipped cream the same thing?
Although both cool whip and whipped cream try to achieve the same thing in recipes, they are not the same product and can’t always be used interchangeably. If you are going for lower fat, use Cool Whip. If you are looking for more natural product, use whipping cream.
Both are light and fluffy and perfect for dolloping on top of shortcakes and ice cream, but Cool Whip is what we are using in this recipe. I have not tried these cookies with homemade whipped cream.
What is in Cool Whip cookies?
This recipe has just 4 ingredients:
- A box of lemon cake mix
- 1 egg
- 2 cups of thawed Cool Whip
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
And the powdered sugar is just for rolling the cookie dough in, so really, these are just a 3-ingredient cookie.
How to Make Cool Whip Cookies
This recipe is a one-bowl recipe. Simply mix up the cake mix, egg and cool whip. The dough should be easy to mix up but the cookies will be very sticky.
Drop the cookie dough by teaspoons into powdered sugar and roll the dough to coat the cookies. If you have trouble with the dough sticking to your hands, spray your hands with cooking spray first. This trick should help!
As the cookies bake, they spread slightly which give them the “crinkle cookies” look because of the cracked powdered sugar.
**Pro Tip: The hardest thing about making these cookies was that they wanted to stick to the pan just a little. We used a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat and didn’t have any problems with not getting them off the pan, but if you don’t have one of those handy kitchen tools, use parchment paper or spray the pan with cooking spray.**
Cool Whip Cookie Variations
And is your mind spinning with the flavor possibilities here? Carrot cake for the Easter…red velvet for Christmas time…chocolate for any other time of the year. Choose your favorite flavor of cake and bake away.
Enjoy these easy-to-make cookies this summer!
Do Cool Whip cookies have to be refrigerated?
We store our cookies at room temperature in an airtight container.
Can you freeze Cool Whip Cookies?
Yes! These cookies freeze well. If you are freezing them in layers, place parchment paper between the layers so the cookies don’t stick when you defrost them.
Allow the cookies to defrost completely before you unwrap them. This keeps the moisture in the cookies.
Other Easy Cookie Recipes
Lemon Cool Whip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- 2 cups frozen whipped topping (thawed)
- 1 large egg
To roll the cookies:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cake mix, Cool Whip and egg. Stir until well mixed.
- Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Drop the cookie dough by teaspoons into the powdered sugar and roll the dough to coat.
- Place the balls 1 1/2 inches apart on a baking sheet that has been covered with a non-stick baking mat or sprayed with cooking spray.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. Remove them from the oven when they are set, but before they get too brown.
- Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet to a cooling rack and allow them to cool. Makes about 20 cookies (2 1/2" in diameter)
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Melissa Lowe says
Soooo light and tasty! It is hard to stop eating them!
Julie Schwierking says
I love these cookies. I make them with any kind of cake mix and even add in other things. Like chocolate cake mix and Andi mints baking chips. These are so easy and fun.
Julie Clark says
Great ideas!
MarinaBlu says
Could you makes these into bars?
Julie Clark says
I haven’t tried that, but great idea!
Kimberly Pendleton says
One of these customers of mine gave me these cookies this morning call absolutely delicious I had to look up the recipe
Sammy Ann Robbins says
I have seen one recipe calling for two eggs but all the rest say one. Does it matter?
Julie Clark says
We’ve only made it this way, but it would probably work!
kim kinney says
What do you think of swirling in some raspberry jam?
Julie Clark says
Ooo I really like that idea!
Tara says
Saw this on a cooking and baking Facebook page…oh my…I love them! Might go back to the store for other cake mixes now.
Debbie Liston says
I wrote down the ingredients for this recipe, forgot about it, then made it by combining all ingredients. Oops! My flat cookies were still good, but the confectioners sugar is not meant to be mixed in.
Cathie says
Most cake mixes are now 15oz and, the original recipe was made with an18oz box of cake mix, 2-1/4 cups of Cool Whip and one egg. I reduced the Cool Whip to two cups, but they didn’t spread out like they used too. Would an old cake mix cause that problem?
Julie Clark says
Hmmm….maybe? I’m not exactly sure why that would happen.
Cheryl says
Mine are still spreading thin and sticking to the parchment. Ugh
Marry Rutland says
Love these cookies! How long do they keep before you discard (assuming any are left to discard)?
Julie Clark says
3-4 days at room temp. But they freeze well too!