Cool Whip cookies are soft, chewy cake mix cookies rolled in powdered sugar, so the tops bake into a snowy, crackled shell over a tender middle. They take five ingredients and one bowl, which makes them an easy bake for a cookie tray, a bake sale or a weeknight treat. Each one comes out about 2.5 inches across, with a soft center and lightly browned edges.
How to make Cool Whip cookies: stir a box of cake mix with a tub of thawed whipped topping, an egg and vanilla, chill the dough for 30 minutes, then roll heaping tablespoons in powdered sugar and bake at 350°F for about 16 minutes.
Why You’ll Love It
- Five ingredients, one bowl. No mixer, no creaming butter and sugar.
- Soft and chewy under a crackled, sweet powdered sugar top.
- Any flavor you like. Chocolate, lemon and strawberry cake mix all work with the same method.
- Dough you can make a day ahead and bake when you need it.
Ingredient Notes
Cake mix. Use one 15.25-ounce box. The flavor of the mix is the flavor of the cookie, so pick chocolate, lemon or strawberry, or whatever suits the occasion.
Whipped topping. One 8-ounce tub of frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed before you start.
Egg and vanilla. One large egg holds the dough together, and a full tablespoon of vanilla rounds out the boxed-mix flavor.
Powdered sugar. Half a cup in a bowl is enough to coat all 24 cookies. Don’t skip it: the powdered sugar is what keeps them soft and chewy and gives them that crackled look.
Ingredients
- 1 box cake mix (15.25 ounces; chocolate, lemon or strawberry)
- 8 ounces frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed (1 tub)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, for coating
How to Make Cool Whip Cookies
1. Mix the dough. Stir the cake mix, thawed whipped topping, egg and vanilla together in a large bowl with a flexible spatula for 4 to 5 minutes, until fully incorporated. The mixture will be thick.
2. Chill the dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Heat the oven and set up. While the dough chills, heat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Put the powdered sugar in a medium bowl.
4. Coat each cookie. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough (it may be a little sticky) and drop it into the powdered sugar. Toss with your hands until fully coated, then place it on a baking sheet, spacing the cookies evenly apart, 12 per sheet.
5. Bake. Bake for 8 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets from bottom to top and from front to back. Bake about 8 minutes more, until the powdered sugar has cracked and the cookies are browned around the edges.
6. Cool. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
How to Get the Crackled Sugar Top
The finished top should look like a snowy white shell split into cracks, with the darker cookie showing through. Three things get you there.
Chill first. Straight out of the bowl, the dough is thick and tacky. Give it the full 30 minutes in the fridge, covered, before you scoop. If you mixed it the day before, it’s ready to go straight from the fridge into the sugar.
Coat it heavily. Drop each heaping tablespoon straight into the sugar and toss it with your hands until no dough shows.
Watch the tops, not just the clock. The cookies are ready when the sugar has cracked all over and the edges have browned. Pull them while the centers are set but before they get too brown, so they stay soft and chewy once they cool.
Tips for Success
Why did my cookies come out different sizes?
The scoop changed as you went. Use a heaping tablespoon every time and you’ll get 24 cookies about 2.5 inches across, 12 to a sheet, and they’ll all finish baking together.
Why is one tray paler than the other?
The trays didn’t swap places. After the first 8 minutes, move the top sheet to the bottom and the bottom to the top, and turn both front to back. Don’t skip the swap, even if the cookies look fine.
Variations
- Lemon or strawberry: swap the chocolate for a lemon or strawberry cake mix. The method and bake time stay the same.
- Chocolate espresso: with a chocolate cake mix, use 1 tablespoon brewed espresso in place of the vanilla.
- Smaller cookies: drop the dough by teaspoons instead, 1 1/2 inches apart, and bake 8 to 10 minutes, until set.
Storage & Reheating
Keep the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They don’t need reheating; serve them as they are.
What to Serve With It
Put them on a cookie tray with no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies, carrot cake cookies and Baileys Irish cream chocolate chip cookies. If you like easy bakes that start from a box or a short list, add Easter cake mix cookie bars, 3-ingredient lemon bars and 4-ingredient turtle bars.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make 3 ingredient Cool Whip cookies using cake mix?
The three ingredients are cake mix, whipped topping and an egg. This recipe adds a tablespoon of vanilla to the dough and a powdered sugar coat on the outside, but the base is the same.
Can I make the dough ahead?
Yes. Mix the dough, cover the bowl and keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Scoop, coat and bake as usual when you’re ready.
Can I use an 18 1/4-ounce cake mix?
Yes, with the same 8-ounce tub of whipped topping. Bake the cookies 10 to 12 minutes at 350°F, until the sugar cracks.
How many cookies does one box make?
About 24 cookies when you use a heaping tablespoon of dough for each one.
Final Notes
Have the powdered sugar bowl ready before the dough comes out of the fridge, so you can scoop and coat in one go. Tell me in the comments which cake mix flavor you tried.
Cool Whip Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 box cake mix 15.25 ounces; chocolate, lemon or strawberry
- 8 ounces frozen whipped topping such as Cool Whip, thawed; 1 tub
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar for coating
Instructions
- Stir the cake mix, thawed whipped topping, egg and vanilla together in a large bowl with a flexible spatula for 4 to 5 minutes, until fully incorporated. The mixture will be thick.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- While the dough chills, heat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Put the powdered sugar in a medium bowl.
- Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough (it may be a little sticky) and drop it into the powdered sugar. Toss with your hands until fully coated, then place it on a baking sheet, spacing the cookies evenly apart, 12 per sheet.
- Bake for 8 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets from bottom to top and from front to back. Bake about 8 minutes more, until the powdered sugar has cracked and the cookies are browned around the edges.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
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