My cake mix cookie bars are my number one go-to easy dessert recipe. This recipe is one of the most loved on my blog. Don’t miss it!

Many years ago, my mother-in-law introduced me to using cake mixes to make cookies. Mind=blown!

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Cake Mix Cookie Bars Recipe - I've scoured Pinterest for the best cake mix cookie bars recipe and this is THE ONE folks, be sure to repin it and try it to see what I mean!

After poking around the web for a good cake mix cookie bars recipe recently—because I heart easy recipes—when I came across a great cake mix cookie bars recipe on Southern Bite called The Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Ever.

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It’s true, this recipe is dead simple, and you’ll end up with soft, golden, ooey-gooey cake mix cookie bars chock full of chocolate chips and M&M’s. Seriously, these are crazy good.

I mean, come on. Look at these photos.

It literally took me like 5 minutes to dump a few simple ingredients into a bowl, pour it into a baking dish, and throw it in the oven.

I am an instant gratification kind of girl, and while I enjoy baking, I don’t have the patience for anything really fancy. I wish I did!

These cake mix cookie bars would make an excellent addition to a holiday party, especially if you’re crunched for time and want something warm, chewy, and delicious with very little fuss.

I have to admit, I could tell these cake mix cookie bars were going to be heavenly just by the way the batter looked and smelled.

The batter was golden, and the bright holiday M&M’s looked like a smattering of twinkling festive ornaments in the bowl.

Of course, after the holiday season, you could use just plain chocolate chips, regular M&M’s or even mini peanut butter cups as mix-ins. Your options are really endless with this recipe.

I’m a fan of soft and chewy, but you could bake these another 10 minutes for crispier cake mix cookie bars.

Before you run off to pin and print this recipe (which you totally SHOULD), I can’t let you leave before I send you over to my special chocolate raspberry bars and my chewy pecan pie bars!

Ingredients

1 Box yellow cake mix I used Betty Crocker
1 Small box instant vanilla pudding just put in the powder!
1/4 Cup water
3/4 Cup vegetable oil
2 Eggs
1 Cup chocolate chips. I used 1/2 cup holiday mini M&M’s and 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips.

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Combine cake mix, pudding, water, vegetable oil, eggs, and chips or M&M’s in large bowl.
Pour the batter (it’s going to be thick) into a greased 9×13 pan. I sprayed my dish with nonstick cooking spray which worked well.
Bake your bars for 20-30 minutes (I took mine out at 25.)
It may look sort of raw in the middle but if the edges are just golden and starting to get crispy, it’s probably perfect.

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Nutrition values are estimates, sourced from an online nutrition calculator. This information should never be considered a substitute for medical advice. Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

Course: Desserts

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49 Comments

Thank you for this recipe we love it. It is a huge success every time.

What do I do if I don’t have a box of pudding ??

Crissy Page says:

at

I would get a box of pudding, or find a recipe that doesn’t call for pudding. :)

Reply

These cookie bars are always a hit! I’ve used this recipe for years… but haven’t made them since I noticed Betty Crocker decreased their cake mixes to 13.25 oz. Any modifications to the recipe now that most cake mixes are 13.25 oz instead of 15.25 oz?

Crissy Page says:

at

Wow, you know, I never really thought about it! I haven’t tried that yet!

Reply

Instead of baking them as bars, could they be scooped out and baked like a cookie?

Crissy Page says:

at

Haven’t tried it, but probably!

Reply

When using a boxed cake mix to make cookies or bars, does it taste like a cake or like a cookie? I am curious of the texture.

Try chocolate cake mix and peanut butter chips.

Love this bar recipe! I have made these many times around the holidays with the original recipe (yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding, chocolate chips, & M&M’s), they are always a huge hit! For a different variation in the Spring / Summer, I made this bar recipe using lemon cake mix, cheesecake pudding, & white chocolate chips)… oh my! Those were divine too! I could also see cheesecake pudding & white chocolate chips working well with strawberry cake mix or even pineapple cake mix to make other variations of these amazing cookie cake bars !

4.46 from 162 votes (147 ratings without comment)