Cake Mix Cookies (Half Batch)

Cake mix cookies are sweet, chewy, and easy to whip up with only 3 ingredients! Our small batch recipe uses half a cake mix to make just a dozen delicious cookies. Best of all, you can bake them in a toaster oven or air fryer.

Lemon cookies on a wire cooling rack.

Have you tried making cookies from cake mix before? This popular hack has been around for decades and with good reason.

The baked cookies taste like cake but have crispy edges and soft chewy centers. It’s the perfect dessert mashup!

With only two cookie-eaters in our small household, we needed to cut down on the leftovers. So we took the original recipe and divided all of the ingredients in half.

The result is a small batch of cake mix cookies that are easy to throw together, endlessly customizable (you can make peanut butter cookies!), and great for baking in any oven.

Package of cake mix, measuring cup with oil, and glass bowl with an egg next to a metal wisk.

Recipe Ingredients

  • Half a 15.25 oz Boxed Cake Mix: Yellow, strawberry, lemon, chocolate, funfetti – any flavor you want. If you’ve never divided a mix before, this post for how to make half a cake mix has lots of tips.
  • Large Egg
  • 3 Tablespoons Oil: A neutral-flavored oil like vegetable or canola oil works well. Avocado oil is a good option too or you can swap the oil for melted butter.
  • Optional Mixins: Chocolate chips, toasted nuts, sprinkles, crushed pretzels…you get the idea.

How To Make Cookies With Cake Mix

1. Mix The Dough. Whisk together the egg and oil in a bowl. Then add half a boxed cake mix. At this point, the dough will be super sticky and thick. I find a rubber spatula does a good job of mixing. But if grip or wrist strength is a concern, a hand-mixer might be a better option.

Sticky yellow cookie dough in a glass bowl.

2. Chill The Dough (Optional). To make the dough less sticky and easier to scoop, pop it in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes.

3. Warm Up The Oven. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a quarter sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or lightly oil the pan.

4. Scoop The Dough. Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop the dough onto the pan. The cookies will spread and almost double in size during baking so you’ll want to space them about 2 inches apart.

Cookie dough on a sheet pan next to baked cookies on a sheet pan.

5. Bake The Cookies. Bake until the cookies are puffed up, set around the edges and no longer wet-looking about 8 to 11 minutes. You’ll want to under-bake them a little as the cookies will continue to cook as they cool on the pan.

A dozen cookies cooling on a wire rack.

6. Let Them Rest: At this point, the cookies will be super delicate. To keep them from falling apart, leave them to cool on the pan for at least 5 minutes or until completely cooled.

Quick Note: The cookies will puff up during baking but fall afterward. Don’t worry, this is what gives them a chewy texture in the middle.

Stack of cookies on a wooden cutting board.

Can you bake them in an air fryer?

Yes! The cookies are different: a bit crispier on the edges, smaller, and softer in the center. But still super tasty.

You’ll need to line the air fryer basket (otherwise the dough will get stuck in the little holes). For our cookies, we used a small silicone mat and it worked great. But I have seen others use foil or parchment paper with holes poked in it.

Raw cookie dough scoops in a lined air fryer basket.

To get the timing down for our air fryer we made cake mix chocolate chip cookies using half a Duncan Hines yellow cake mix, chocolate chips, and toasted pecans.

  • When we just scooped the dough the cookies were domed in the center and slightly under-baked in the middle.
  • Pressing the dough down a little before baking resulted in cookies that were baked through.

To find the perfect timing for your cookies, I recommend air frying only two cookies to start. One pressed down and one not. Then you can see which you prefer and bake the rest of the dough that way.

Hands holding two cookie halves with an arrow pointing down to one with the text patted down.

How to Make Air Fryer Cake Mix Cookies

Line the air fryer basket. Scoop the dough or use a tablespoon to drop the dough onto the liner spacing the scoops about 1 inch apart.

Air Fry at 300°F until lightly golden brown, about 7 to 9 minutes (8 minutes was our sweet spot).

Remove the drawer from the air fryer but leave the cookies inside the basket to cool for at least 5 minutes.

Baked golden brown cookies on a silicone mat inside an air fryer basket.

More Tasty Cake Mix Hacks

Not sure what to do with the remaining cake mix? You can bake mini cakes, cookie bars, or save it for the weekend and treat yourself to a light and tender blueberry coffee cake!

More Easy Small Batch Cookie Recipes

Baked lemon cake mix cookies cooking on a wire rack.

Cake Mix Cookies (Half Batch)

Yield: 12 Cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 9 minutes
Chilling Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 39 minutes

These cookies couldn’t be easier to make. All you need is an egg, oil, and half of your favorite boxed cake mix!

Ingredients

  • 1 Large Egg (50 grams, weighed outside of shell)
  • 3 tablespoons (42 grams) Neutral Oil, like canola oil
  • Half a 15.25 oz Boxed Cake Mix (216 grams or 7.62 Ounces or 1â…” cups spooned and leveled)
  • 1/4 Chocolate Chips (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and oil. Then add half a boxed cake mix and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips if using. The dough will be very thick.
  2. Refrigerate the dough for 20 to 30 minutes to make it easier to handle.
  3. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. If using a toaster oven adjust the cooking rack to the middle position and select the BAKE setting.
  4. Line a quarter sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or lightly grease.
  5. Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop the dough onto the prepared pan. You’ll want to space the cookies about 2 inches apart as they will spread during baking.
  6. Bake until the cookies are puffed up, set around the edges and no longer wet-looking about 8 to 11 minutes. *To find the best baking time for your oven, bake one cookie before making a whole batch.
  7. Leave the cookies to cool on the pan for at least 5 minutes before using a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  8. Once the sheet pan is cool to the touch, scoop and bake the remaining dough.

Notes

Oil: We’ve made these cookies using canola oil, olive oil, avocado oil, and grapeseed oil. An equal amount of melted and cooled butter can also be used.

Cake Mix Measurements: This recipe uses half of a 15.25-ounce boxed cake mix. Do not add the other ingredients on the box, just use half of the dry mix. Get tips for dividing a box of cake mix here.

Mixes: We’ve tried Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, and Pillsbury cake mixes.

Chilled Dough: Chilling the dough makes it much easier to scoop and results in the best-tasting cookies. That said, the cookies can be baked without chilling. They will spread more and have crispier edges.

Air Fryer Directions: Line the air fryer basket. Drop dough onto the liner spacing the scoops about 1 inch apart. Air Fry at 300°F until lightly golden brown, about 7 to 9 minutes. Remove the basket from the air fryer. Leave the cookies inside the basket to rest for at least 5 minutes before removing them.

Rack Placement: In our toaster oven the bottom rack placement works fine, it just baked the cookies faster with crispier edges. If you’re using the bottom rack, you may need to shorten the baking time for your cookies.

Convection Adjustments: Reduce the temperature to 325°F. Begin checking for doneness after 7 minutes and add more time as needed. The cookies will spread less and be a little fatter, thicker, and taller than cookies made using the traditional BAKE setting.

Smaller Toaster Ovens: The cookies will need to be baked in smaller batches and may take longer. Instead, you can bake them into cookie bars. See this Small Batch Cake Mix Cookie Bars Recipe for directions.

Storage

  • Store cooled cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
  • To freeze cookies, cool them completely and then add to a freezer-safe bag in a single layer. For the best flavor, eat within 3 months.
  • To defrost frozen cookies, place a few on a plate and leave at room temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes.


Nutritional Information is an estimate for 1 plain cake mix cookie without any mixins.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 Cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 107Total Fat: 5.1gSaturated Fat: 0.9gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 123mgCarbohydrates: 14.2gFiber: 0gSugar: 7.5gProtein: 1.4g

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8 Comments

    1. Hi Cathy,

      You’ll need 3 tablespoons of oil. It’s the 2nd item listed in the recipe card above.

      In case you were trying to cook from the step-by-step photos, I’ve added it up near the top of the post. Hope that helps!

  1. Absolutely wonderful. I have started baking in small batches for my mother and I. My medication limits my taste buds (come on really, chocolate is mainly tasteless) and I can always taste lemon. These were perfect. I did add about a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice just because I had it. Will definitely make again.

    1. Oh, that’s so great to hear, Sue! The lemon juice is such a smart idea – I’m definitely going to use it with our next batch of cookies 🙂

      Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and share.

      Happy Baking!
      ~ Brie

    1. Hi Margie,

      Thanks for leaving this comment, we tried a few batches in the air fryer and it worked out great!

      To make them in the air fryer, you’ll need something to line the drawer/basket with and to reduce the temperature to 300F.

      Baking the cookies for 8 minutes worked well for us but since each oven/air fryer is different I’d try making just one or two test cookies to start. That way you can get the best timing for your machine first.

    1. Hi Janet,

      We’ve never tried baking cookies in a standalone air fryer, only in traditional ovens and convection toaster ovens. My best suggestion would be to try using settings that are similar to an air fryer cookie recipe you’ve had success with before.

      Happy baking!