Easy Chocolate Cake Mix Halloween Cookies
These fun and festive Halloween cookies are a cinch to make, thanks to a box of cake mix. It’s the perfect shortcut recipe when you’re short on time!
Chocolate cake mix Halloween cookies are soft and chewy, rich and chocolatey, and chock full of ghoulish candy for the perfect spooky flair.
They’re a delicious addition to a Halloween party spread, a Halloween bake sale, or just as a fun surprise for your loved ones.
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One of the best parts of any holiday is the ability to use small details to bring a smile to the face of your friends and family.
This is particularly true with food choices–sometimes all it takes is a little bit of seasonal sprinkles or colorful candy added to baked goods to make them perfectly festive for the occasion.
That’s exactly how these chocolate cake mix Halloween cookies came to be!
Kids and adults alike love spooky treats around Halloween time, and I love a good shortcut recipe. So I decided to whip up a batch of chocolate cookies, but with the added flair of some ghoulish M&Ms and candy eyes.
The result was perfectly soft and chewy cookies, dotted with candy and chocolate chips–and they disappeared fast in our house!
These cookies are ridiculously easy to make, with just a few ingredients.
Plus, they’re the perfect homemade Halloween treat to bring to a school party, to contribute to a bake sale, or to serve at a Halloween party.
Best of all, nobody will know you didn’t spend hours making them!
More Easy Halloween Recipes:
- Witches’ Brew Halloween Punch (Kid-Friendly)
- Halloween Dessert Dip
- Easy Halloween Bark
- Dipped Halloween Oreos
- No-Bake Halloween Layered Lush
- Easy No-Bake Halloween Treats
Halloween Cookies Made from Cake Mix
For these cookies, I chose to use a dark chocolate cake mix. I like how the darker color provided some extra contrast with the vibrant Halloween hues.
But if you can’t find a dark chocolate mix, a regular chocolate cake mix or devil’s food cake mix would be a fine substitute.
If you don’t have a cake mix on hand, you could make these brownie mix cookies, decorating them for Halloween.
Halloween M&Ms were the perfect way to bring some bright colors to the cookies, but you could also use Reese’s Pieces for a fall flair.
Feel free to change things up a little–if you want to add some Halloween sprinkles or other candy, you certainly can!
I used candy eyeball sprinkles, sometimes putting them together like a pair of eyes, and sometimes spreading them farther apart to look more goofy. This is a good chance to get creative!
If you have Halloween-themed cookie cutters, try this recipe for cake mix holiday cookies.
How to Make Chocolate Halloween Cake Mix Cookies
It’s really easy to make these fun cookies.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Dark Chocolate Cake Mix
- Vegetable Oil
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Halloween M&Ms
- Candy Eyeball Sprinkles
How to Make It:
Find the full printable recipe available below
Mix the cookie dough. First, you’ll combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract using an electric mixer.
This will result in a thick cookie dough.
Add mix-ins. Next, you’ll add the chocolate chips and some of the M&Ms.
Mix on low speed just until those are incorporated throughout the cookie dough.
Shape and bake. Next, you’ll scoop the dough out by rounded tablespoon, then roll the dough into a ball.
Place the ball on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then take some of the remaining M&Ms and press them into the top of the cookies.
This will help ensure that the colors are visible once the cookies have baked.
Add a couple of candy eyes to each round of dough, too, pressing them gently into the dough.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are set. Don’t overbake them, or they won’t be as soft and chewy.
Cool. Last, you’ll let the cookies cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Or if you’re having a hard time being patient, it’s totally acceptable to eat them warm, too!
Notes and Adaptations
- If you can’t find a dark chocolate cake mix, a regular chocolate or devil’s food cake mix will work fine.
- Halloween M&Ms are a great choice, but you could also use Reese’s Pieces if preferred. The chocolate chips can be swapped for white chocolate chips or peanut butter chips, if desired.
- Sometimes you can find Halloween sprinkles that include candy eyeballs. If not, you can buy just the candy eyeball sprinkles.
- You can buy Halloween M&Ms here on Amazon if you can’t find them in your local grocery store.
- Get more shortcut recipes from our list of the best cake mix cookie recipes.
Chocolate Halloween Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounce dark chocolate cake mix
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup Halloween M&Ms (divided)
- 1-2 tablespoons candy eyeball sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer), combine cake mix, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed until a dough forms, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the M&Ms to the mixing bowl, then mix on low speed just until incorporated.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough out by rounded tablespoon. Roll the 1cookie dough into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet, leaving at least two inches in between the rounds of dough.
- Using the remaining 1/4 cup of M&Ms, gently press M&Ms into the tops of the cookies (I add 2-3 to each cookie). Then press candy eyeball sprinkles into the dough.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are set. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- If you can’t find a dark chocolate cake mix, a regular chocolate or devil’s food cake mix will work fine.
- Halloween M&Ms are a great choice, but you could also use Reese’s Pieces if preferred. The chocolate chips can be swapped for white chocolate chips or peanut butter chips, if desired.
- Sometimes you can find Halloween sprinkles that include candy eyeballs. If not, you can buy just the candy eyeball sprinkles.
- You can buy Halloween M&Ms here on Amazon if you can’t find them in your local grocery store.
Nutrition
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