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Soft, luscious Christmas Gooey Butter Cookies are easy, and perfect for holiday festivities. Whether it’s for a party, holiday cookie exchange or gifts for the neighbors, these are perfect.
Who doesn’t love food with word gooey or butter in the title! Try these other incredible gooey foods, Ooey Gooey Chex Mix, Ooey Gooey Lemon Coconut Butter Bars and Gooey S’mores Cookies.
Christmas Gooey Butter Cookies
These are not only tempting and fun, the powdered sugar coating makes them extra special. Adding almond and orange extracts makes them taste like Christmas. They are usually a favorite around the holiday dessert table.
Adding the sprinkles to the dough adds color and fun. When you add them afterwards too, it gives a bit of crunch and fun. I love the crunch from the small round sprinkles. They are melt in your mouth amazing. These Gooey Butter Cookies are definitely a cookie recipe you will want to have on hand.
Christmas Cookie Ingredients
Fun and few ingredients to make delicious morsels of goodness.
- Butter: Bring to room temperature
- Cream Cheese: Softened
- Egg: Large not medium
- Almond and Orange Extract: Perfect Christmas flavorings
- White Cake Mix: The secret to making it easy
- Sprinkles: Make it festive and fun
- Powdered Sugar: Creates the dusting of snow look and flavor
Making Gooey Butter Cookies
Super easy to put together.
- Cream: In a medium bowl cream together butter and cream cheese. Add the egg, almond extract and orange extract and mix till combined.
- Add: Add the white Cake Mix and mix until combined.
- Stir: Stir in 1/4 cup of sprinkles
- Refrigerate: cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to 24 hours.
- Roll: Place powdered sugar in one bowl and remaining 1/4 cup of sprinkles in another bowl. Using a 1 inch cookie scoop, scoop out dough and roll into a ball. Sprinkle with a few extra sprinkles and roll in powdered sugar and completely cover the dough.
- Bake: Place on a greased cookie sheet, bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Tips and Variations Gooey Butter Cookies
- Flavor: The amount of extract gives a hint of flavor, so you can use any flavor you’d like lemon, coconut, vanilla, peppermint etc. You can also just use the decadent flavor of the cake mix.
- Sprinkles: You can use any different colors of sprinkles to create the colors you’d like.
- Type of Sprinkles: Jimmies in the batter don’t seem to dissolve. Other sprinkles that don’t dissolve will work too. Use any other type of sprinkle on the outside.
- Cake Mix: You can different type of cake mix to create different color and flavors, you really get creative with the cake mix and extracts.
- Bake: Don’t over bake them, otherwise they won’t be soft and gooey.
Storing Christmas Butter Cookies
- Store: Gooey butter cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Dough: Roll the dough out and freeze on a cookie sheet for half an hour before transferring to an airtight freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and bake as directed.
- Freeze: Freeze completely cooled cookies in an airtight freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. thaw and roll in powdered sugar.
More Holiday Cookie Ideas
Everyone needs a good holiday cookie recipe go to, try these out.
- Double Chocolate Peppermint Cake
- Perfect Gingerbread Cookies
- Gingerbread Sugar Cookies Bars
- Christmas Cornflake Wreaths
- Best Christmas Crack Recipe
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Christmas Gooey Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 c. unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract opt.
- 1/2 tsp. orange extract opt.
- 1 pkg. white cake mix
- 1/2 c. sprinkles divided
- 1/2 c. powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese. Add the egg, almond extract and orange extract and mix until combined. Add the white cake mix and mix until combined. Stir in 1/4 cup of sprinkles. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour or up to 24 hours. The longer the dough chills, the less sticky it will be.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place powdered sugar in one bowl and the remaining 1/4 cup of sprinkles in another bowl. Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop out dough and roll into a ball. Sprinkle with a few extra sprinkles and roll in powdered sugar, completely covering the dough ball. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for two minutes before removing to wire rack. Makes around 42 small cookies.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
First Christmas trying these and made them twice, once with only Almond extract, the second with both. Would recommend both. These cookies are so soft and yummy and stay soft for days. Highly recommend them. Use all colored sprinkles for anytime of year, I sure will.
I can’t wait to make these. Thank you!
I think these are great and fun, especially to do with the kids! Instead of orange extract, I replaced with pure vanilla extract. (DO NOT USE IMITATION EXTRACTS!) I do not have a small cookie super so I had to eyeball the one inch size. I think you should just be familiar with your oven because I had to cook mine for about 2 to 3 minutes longer than what the recipe calls. Always remember though they will set up after they have cooled. However, 10 minutes of baking they never set. Moist, fun, and tasty!
I just made these and they are so yummy! I followed the advice from Stacey and rolled the cookie dough into the sprinkles and the powdered sugar rather than putting 1/2 of the sprinkles in the batter and I’m so glad I did. They came out perfect and none of the color bled into the cookie dough. Also, I only used the almond extract and I added 1 heaping teaspoon of sugar into the cookie dough because I wanted the cookies just a tad bit sweeter and they are perfect for us. These cookies are easy to make and definitely a keeper on my Christmas cookie list. Thank you for sharing, Alyssa!
WOW! Super easy, and they taste amazing. I followed the recipe and they came out perfect! I will be using this recipe again for my work cookie exchange!
Took mine out of the oven a few minutes ago. I wish I would have only rolled them in the sprinkles rather than mixing them into the batter. By mixing them into the batter, it turned the batter a purplish color. I did roll them in additional sprinkles before baking to hopefully make the color not as noticeable. After baking, the color was more of a light brown. I shook some additional powdered sugar onto the top of them after taking them out of the oven and they look better. They taste good and definitely love the 2 flavorings
I just made the batter and it is really crumbly, like sugar cookies. Yours looks smooth. Any idea what I did wrong? These are a pretty simple looking cookie, and I am (usually) a proficient baker.
Unless a second baking will salvage these cookies I will never make them again. They didn’t look done at ten minutes s i gave them two more. They were still mushy and under baked. Like eating raw cookie dough
Can you use a cookie press for these?
I’m wondering if you can substitute a different flavor for the orange (dang picky boys!)? Like maybe Cherry? Or double that almond? Have you tried anything else? These sound utterly delicious, though!
I made these per the recipe. You can’t even tell they have Orange In Them. They taste like almond cookies.
I made these with extra almond instead of the orange and they were delicious!
Used same amount of vanilla extract as the almond. My grandson asked if I got them at the bakery that he loves.
I just made these & the bottoms burned due to the powdered sugar & ruined 2 good cookie sheets and set off my smoke alarm. ?? Warning – use parchment paper!!!
Jenn, how long will these cookies keep?
Do our think these would work with a gluten free cake mix?
Yes! Made them tonight with a gluten free cake mix and they were a big hit!
Yes. I used Pilsbury funfettie cake mix and they were delicious. Fixin to try some with chocolate devils food cake mix.
Do these need to stay refrigerated since they have cream cheese in them?
Did you refrigerate your cookies??? Also can they be frozen?
I just made these but skipped the extracts/sprinkles/ and powdered sugar part (lol). But they were one of the best cookies I’ve ever tasted! So yummy and I like how it was less sweet than most cookies. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
I love cookies like these, can’t wait to try! They certainly look delicious 🙂
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Happy Valley Chow