Description
These Christmas Gooey Butter Cookies are pillowy, creamy, and ridiculously easy — a cake-mix shortcut that gives you bakery-style texture with minimal fuss.
Ingredients
Scale
- 8 oz full-fat cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 (15.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
- ½ cup holiday sprinkles
- ½ cup powdered (confectioners’) sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again until glossy and well combined.
- Stir the cake mix into the wet mixture just until a thick, slightly sticky dough forms. Stop mixing the moment the flour disappears — overworking dries the cookies.
- Gently fold in the sprinkles. Try not to beat them into oblivion; you want bright flecks, not a uniformly pink dough.
- If the dough feels too soft to handle, chill it for 30 minutes — this makes scooping a breeze and helps the cookies hold their shape. Chilling yields taller cookies.
- Scoop roughly 1½-inch dough balls, roll each one in powdered sugar until fully coated, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.
- Bake 10–12 minutes. Pull the cookies when the edges look set but the centers still appear slightly glossy — they finish setting on the hot sheet. Don’t overbake.
- Let the cookies rest on the pans for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Quick tips
- Use full-fat brick cream cheese (not the spreadable kind) for the best texture.
- Room-temp ingredients mix more smoothly — but avoid melted butter.
- Roll well in powdered sugar for that classic crackled finish.
- Want thicker cookies? Chill the dough for 20–30 minutes before baking. FYI: it really works.
- Storage
- Store cooled cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can freeze baked cookies (layered with parchment) for up to 3 months — thaw at room temp before serving. To freeze raw dough, scoop balls onto a tray, freeze solid, then bag; bake from frozen, adding about 1–2 minutes to the bake time.
Nutrition
- Calories: 103kcal
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 151mg
- Fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 16g
- Fiber: 0.2g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 14mg