Chocolate Cake Mix Crinkle Cookies – A Cream Cheese and Cake Mix Cookie

Chocolate Cake Mix Crinkle Cookies is a recipe that uses chocolate cake mix and cream cheese to make a delicious and easy dessert. This shortcut recipe is a cross between a classic crinkle cookie and a gooey butter cake. An extra helping of mini chocolate chips makes these a double chocolate delight.

Ingredient List for Double Chocolate Cake Mix Cookie

• Cream Cheese, softened
• Margarine, softened
• Large Egg
• Vanilla Extract
• Chocolate Cake Mix, dry (unprepared)
• Mini Chocolate Chips
• Powdered Sugar (confectioners’ sugar)

I love chocolate. For real, it’s my favorite food, and I think it should have its very own food group. Maybe, that’s why I love these chocolate crinkle cookies using dry cake mix so much.

Or maybe, it’s because they are actually a double chocolate crinkle cookie.  Yes, that’s right. There are mini chocolate chips stirred right into the batter.  We’ve made these without the chocolate chips, and there’s no comparison.  You have to add chocolate chips.

Cream Cheese and Cake Mix Cookie

My daughter and I created this double chocolate cake mix cookie for her 4-H project in the category “Creating with a Mix.” This project requires you to make a new recipe using a boxed mix.  Specifically for this year, she had to make a drop cookie.

I’ve been making Classic Crinkle Cookies for years, so making a shortcut version with my daughter was really fun. These chocolate crinkles using cake mix are actually even better than the classic version. The texture is lighter and airier. Plus, there’s extra chocolate which is always better in my humble opinion.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies with Cake Mix

Have you ever tried a Gooey Butter Cake?  Oh my, if you haven’t then stop and do it right now. It is lifechanging, and they are so good that I’ve created a bunch of different variations including Chocolate, Chocolate Chip and Lemon.

What does Gooey Butter Cake have to do with Chocolate Crinkles with Cake Mix? Well, these Cake Mix Chocolate Crinkles have a block of cream cheese in the recipe that gives a similar texture as a Gooey Butter Cake. Chocolate Cake Mix PLUS Gooey Butter Cake PLUS Chocolate Crinkles equals Chocolate Cake Mix Crinkles. It’s a match made in heaven.

How to Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies using Cake Mix

Step by Step Instructions

1. In a large bowl, cream softened cream cheese and softened margarine together with an electric mixer or stand mixer.
2. Add egg and vanilla extract to mixture. Beat until smooth.
3. Mix in dry chocolate cake mix. Stir in mini chocolate chips.
4. Using a small cookie dough scoop, make a dough ball and drop into a bowl of powdered sugar. Roll to coat dough ball.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 14 to 15 minutes.
6. Cool for a few minute on pan and then remove to cooling rack or wire rack.

Storage Instructions

Let cookies cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container, and store at room temperature. To freeze, place cooled cookies in a freezer zip-lock bag or air-tight container. Store for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.

For the full recipe steps and ingredient amounts for crinkle cookies with cake mix and cream cheese, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post. 

Recipe FAQs

• Be sure cream cheese and margarine are softened before creaming.
• Substitute butter for margarine, if desired.
• To lower the fat, use softened Neufchâtel cheese instead of cream cheese.
• If needed, use regular chocolate chips instead of mini chocolate chips.
• The dough for these cream cheese cake mix cookies is very sticky.  I recommend using a small cookie scoop, dropping them directly into a bowl of powdered sugar. The powdered sugar will coat the cookies making them less sticky. Then, you can finish rolling into a ball by hand, if desired.
• Try different flavors of cake mix for new variations. A lemon cake mix with white chocolate chips is one combo that comes to mind!
• Check out our Amazon Store for some of our favorite pantry essentials and kitchen gadgets.

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