Don’t you just love those brilliant recipes that deliver a spectacular, delicious result with the absolute minimum of effort? A wonderful dessert that tastes like it took you hours of careful work, but secretly only took a few minutes to throw together. It is the kind of smart, efficient baking we all need in our busy lives.
What if I told you that the secret to the easiest, chewiest, and most versatile cookie bars is probably already sitting in your pantry right now? It’s that humble and simple box of cake mix. When it is used in a slightly different and clever way, it can magically transform into the most incredible and delicious dessert.
Today, we are unlocking that magic with this recipe for Easy Cake Mix Cookie Bars. This ultimate baking hack is a one-pan wonder that is completely foolproof and so much fun to make. Get ready to discover your new go-to recipe for every single last-minute dessert need.
The Ultimate Baking Hack: Easy Cake Mix Cookies
These Easy Cake Mix Cookies, made in bar form, are the ultimate baking hack for a delicious and convenient treat. The recipe brilliantly uses a simple box of cake mix as a base, which provides the perfect, pre-measured blend of flour, sugar, and leavening agents. This simple shortcut is the secret to creating a foolproof and delicious dessert with very little effort.
A Perfect Simple One-Pan Dessert for Quick Baking Recipes
You will find that this is the perfect simple one-pan dessert. The entire recipe comes together in a single bowl and bakes in one single pan, which makes the final cleanup an absolute breeze. It is also one of the absolute best quick baking recipes for a last-minute party, bake sale, or any time you need a crowd-pleasing dessert in a hurry.
Your Guide: What Can You Add to Cake Mix to Make It Better?
For anyone wondering what can you add to cake mix to make it better and taste truly homemade, the secret is to enrich the batter and add your own high-quality flavors. To turn a cake mix into a cookie bar, you will use melted butter and eggs to create a much thicker, chewier dough instead of a thin cake batter. The simple additions of a splash of pure vanilla extract and a generous amount of good quality chocolate chips will also make your final dessert taste completely homemade.
Why You’ll Love These Cake Mix Cookie Bars
You are going to love this recipe because it is one of the absolute easiest and fastest ways to bake a delicious dessert for a crowd, with no scooping of individual cookies required. You’ll also adore the wonderfully soft, chewy, and rich texture that is like a perfect hybrid of a classic sugar cookie and a fudgy blondie. Plus, it’s a completely foolproof and incredibly versatile recipe that you can customize with an endless variety of cake mix flavors and fun mix-ins.
Nutritional Benefits
While these delicious cookie bars are a wonderful and indulgent treat, making them at home is always a fantastic choice. You get to control the quality of all the additional ingredients you are adding, like using real butter, fresh eggs, and high-quality chocolate. It’s a delicious, comforting, and homemade dessert that is perfect for sharing and is always made with love.
Full Recipe
Are you ready to discover the ultimate shortcut to delicious, homemade cookies for a crowd? This detailed guide will walk you through the unbelievably simple one-pan process for creating these perfectly soft and chewy cookie bars. Get ready to master a new family-favorite that will make you the star of the next bake sale.
Turn a simple box of cake mix into the most delicious and easy cookie bars. This ultimate baking hack uses a box of yellow cake mix to create incredibly soft, chewy, and flavour-packed cookie bars with minimal effort. This is a foolproof, one-pan dessert that is perfect for a last-minute party, bake sale, or a simple and fun family treat.
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Yield: 24 bars | Category: Dessert, Cookie, Bar | Method: Baking | Cuisine: American | Diet: N/A
Essential Ingredients for Cake Mix Cookie Bars
This ultimate baking hack comes to life with just a handful of simple, convenient ingredients.
- Cake Mix: 1 box (around 15.25 oz / 432g) of yellow or butter golden cake mix
- Fat: ½ cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, melted
- Eggs: 2 large eggs
- Flavoring: 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- Mix-ins: 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus more for the top)
Ingredients Notes
A little more detail on our key ingredients will ensure your cookie bars are a spectacular success.
- The Cake Mix: A classic yellow or a butter golden cake mix is the perfect, versatile base for these simple cookie bars. However, the beauty of this recipe is that you can use almost any flavor of cake mix you like. A chocolate cake mix will create a brownie-like bar, while a spice cake mix would be perfect for a fall-themed treat.
- The Melted Butter: Using melted butter is the key to an easy, one-bowl recipe that does not require an electric mixer. It also contributes to the dense, chewy, and wonderfully rich final texture of the cookie bars.
- The Eggs: The two large eggs are the primary binder in this recipe. They provide structure and moisture, which helps to transform the dry cake mix into a thick and cohesive cookie dough.
- The Chocolate Chips: The most classic and beloved choice for this recipe is a good quality semi-sweet chocolate chip. However, this is a perfect recipe to customize with any of your favorite mix-ins.
How to Make The Ultimate Baking Hack
Let’s walk through the incredibly simple one-pan process for creating these perfect crowd-pleasing cookie bars.
- Step 1: Prepare Your Oven and Pan. First, preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F). Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a little bit of an overhang on the two long sides to create “handles.”
- Step 2: Combine the Ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry cake mix, the melted butter, the eggs, and the vanilla extract.
- Step 3: Mix the Dough. Use a sturdy spatula or a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients together until a very thick and uniform dough forms.
- Step 4: Fold in the Chocolate Chips. Pour the 1 cup of chocolate chips into the bowl and gently fold them into the cookie dough until they are evenly distributed.
- Step 5: Press into the Pan and Bake. Transfer the thick cookie dough to your prepared baking pan. Use your spatula or your hands to press the dough into an even layer that covers the entire bottom of the pan. Sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips over the top of the dough.
- Step 6: Bake to Perfection. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The cookie bars are done when the edges are set and lightly golden brown, but the center is still very soft and slightly puffy.
- Step 7: Cool Completely and Slice. Let the cookie bars cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Once they are fully cooled, use the parchment paper “handles” to lift the entire block out of the pan and slice it into 24 even bars.
Storage Options
These delicious and chewy cake mix cookie bars store beautifully, which makes them a perfect make-ahead dessert. Once the bars have cooled and been sliced, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They will stay wonderfully soft and chewy.
Variations and Substitutions
This incredibly simple recipe is a perfect blank canvas for your own creative additions and variations. You can use any flavor of cake mix you like, from devil’s food to Funfetti to spice cake. You can also easily swap out the chocolate chips for other mix-ins like white chocolate chips, M&M candies, chopped nuts, or rainbow sprinkles.
Practical & Valuable Tips
For the absolute easiest removal and cleanup, lining your pan with parchment paper with an overhang is a non-negotiable step. The most important tip for a soft and chewy cookie bar is to be very careful not to overbake them; you want to pull them from the oven when the center still looks a little bit soft. Finally, for the cleanest possible slices, it is crucial that you let the cookie bars cool completely in the pan before you try to lift them out and cut them.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make these cookie bars with a different flavor of cake mix? Yes, absolutely! That is the best part about this recipe. You can use almost any of your favorite cake mix flavors, like chocolate, Funfetti, red velvet, or spice cake, to create a completely different and delicious cookie bar.
- My cookie bars turned out dry and cakey. What did I do wrong? Dry and cakey bars are almost always a result of overbaking. It is very important to pull the bars from the oven when the center still looks a little bit soft and underdone. They will continue to set up and firm up as they cool in the hot pan.
- Can I make the dough ahead of time? Yes, you can prepare the cookie dough and press it into your prepared pan, then cover it and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before you plan to bake it. You may just need to add a few extra minutes to the baking time.
- Can I use oil instead of melted butter? You can, but the final flavor and texture will be slightly different. For the richest and chewiest result, melted butter is the highly recommended choice for this recipe.
- How do I store these cookie bars to keep them soft? The best way to store these bars and keep them soft and chewy for as long as possible is in an airtight container at room temperature. A classic trick is to place a small piece of regular sandwich bread in the container with the bars; the bars will absorb the moisture from the bread and stay incredibly soft.
Conclusion
These Easy Cake Mix Cookie Bars are the ultimate baking hack for a delicious, quick, and incredibly easy dessert. It’s a dish that proves that with one simple shortcut, you can create a treat that is unbelievably soft, chewy, and tastes completely homemade. It is a foolproof, versatile, and crowd-pleasing recipe that is perfect for any occasion. This is a true game-changer for Easy Desserts. If you love this simple and delicious baking hack, don’t forget to share it and save it to your favorite cookie recipes board on Pinterest!
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