Cake Mix Snickerdoodles

These Cake Mix Snickerdoodles are so quick and easy to make – and they look and taste just like made from scratch! The cinnamon sugar coating is added twice for the most flavor.

Recipes stop being easy to me when I have to measure out a million separate baking ingredients… Which is why I love doctoring up cake mixes. A box of yellow cake mix makes amazing Snickerdoodles.

And it’s much quicker and also budget-friendly if you catch a sale or use store-brand. And I know that cake mix is something you can get if you receive food assistance, so I think it’s always good to have some ideas that aren’t just for making plain cake – especially heading into the often expensive holiday season!

Ingredients you’ll need

This is just an overview of the ingredients needed – scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for exact quantities and instructions.

Ingredient notes

• Cake mix: Yellow cake mix really is my favorite here and yields the most classic Snickerdoodle. You can do white in a pinch, or even spice cake mix for a spiced snickerdoodle.
• Oil: A neutral vegetable oil is best.
• Cream of tartar: This adds the authentic tang to the cookie and I know many people would cuss at me if I didn’t included it, haha! But if you don’t have it… Honestly, just skip it and you will still have a delicious treat.
• Cinnamon/sugar: If you have store-bought cinnamon sugar on hand, you can just use that in place of the granulated sugar and ground cinnamon.

How to make Cake Mix Snickerdoodles

1. Combine the wet ingredients in a large measuring jug, and combine the dry ingredients in a separate mixing bowl.

If you’re skipping the cream of tartar, you can just whisk together the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl and then stir in the cake mix.

2. Cover and chill the cake mix in the refrigerator for at least one hour. It’s too soft to work with otherwise.

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3. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and divide it evenly between two bowls; set one bowl aside for the baked cookies later.

4. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls (about 2 teaspoons of dough each). Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar and set 2 inches apart on lined cookie sheets.

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5. Bake the cookies at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Please bake one tray at a time, or the cookies will not bake evenly! The cookies are still soft once they are done, do not overbake or they’ll be tough!

6. Allow them to rest on the cookie sheet on the counter for one minute, then remove and immediately toss in the fresh bowl of cinnamon sugar (they are hot, so use a spatula or two forks for carefully tossing). Cool on a wire tray before storing in a cookie jar.

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Recipe tips

• Do not use an electric mixer to beat the ingredients for the cookie dough, you will add too much air to it and the cookies will come out fluffy and cake-like.
• Do not skip the chilling, or the cookies will come out too flat.
• When shaping the cookie dough balls, you need to knead/squish each portion of dough 2-3 times before rolling, else they won’t come together.
• The cookie dough is a little bit sticky, but that’s how the cookies turn out soft. If your hands get messy, wipe them in between rolling the cookie dough balls. The dough is quite oily, so that should help with the rolling, too.
• Make sure you’re not overbaking the cookies, they really are still very soft when you remove them from the oven. Otherwise, they come out too tough.

Storage tips

Store the cookies in a cookie jar or airtight container on the counter for 3-4 days. I don’t like to freeze these because the cinnamon/sugar coating gets a little messy while defrosting.

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