Strawberry cheesecake cookies are an easy recipe to make because they are made with a strawberry cake mix! They only take about 5 minutes to mix together and all that’s left is baking them!
Adding cream cheese makes strawberry cookies thick and chewy! I love adding white chocolate chips!
This strawberry cheesecake cookies recipe was originally published in 2017. The post has been updated to include tips to make sure they turn out perfectly every single time and new images. I’ve added additional chilling time so they cookie dough won’t be as sticky and will be easier to work with. Other than that, the recipe stayed the same!
Most of the time I’m creating recipes from pantry ingredients I always have on hand. If you haven’t ever really been into food storage start with cake mixes!
Of course, you can use them and just a few other ingredients to whip up a cake. Or, you can get creative with them and make strawberry poke cake, cake mix banana bread, or use them to make rhubarb cobbler.
But, boxed cake mixes are also great for making cookies! Strawberry cake mix cookies are easy because the boxed mix already has the dry ingredients all ready to go! It’s a fantastic time saver!
Why This Recipe Works:
First, strawberry cream cheese cookies are delicious! They’re thick, chewy, and that strawberry cake mix gives packs these cookies with flavor!
Adding cream cheese to cookies makes them soft and chewy and gives them a bit of a tangy flavor! Cream cheese balances all the sweetness of the cheesecake cookies!
Cake mix cookie recipes are EASY! These strawberry cookies only have 4 ingredients and take about 20 minutes to whip up!
Ingredients:
All you need is 4 simple ingredients! I’m also going to give you ideas for add-ins! Or, you can doll this strawberry cookies recipe up for holidays like Valentine’s Day
Cake Mix: You can use any brand you love! Duncan Hines, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, your favorite store brand…anything goes! Don’t worry about gathering all the ingredients listed on the back of the boxed cake mix. Every brand of cake mix is a little different color pink.
Cream Cheese: Use regular full-fat cream cheese. Using reduced-fat cream cheese will make the cookies flat because it has a different fat content and moisture content.
Butter: I use real butter because my family owns and dairy farm and I think it’s the only way to go! Plus, it tastes better! You can use salted or unsalted.
Egg: One whole egg. This one is pretty straightforward!
Powdered Sugar: This step is optional, but you can roll the cookie dough in powdered sugar before baking them.
Add-ins: I love strawberry cookies with white chocolate chips! Milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips makes them taste like chocolate-covered strawberries! Adding chopped walnuts gives the cookies a nice crunch!
Extras: It’s fun to roll strawberry cheesecake cookies in sprinkles before baking them! You can use any holiday-themed sprinkles.
How to make Cheesecake Cookies:
Since this strawberry cheesecake cookies recipe begins with a cake mix it’s extra easy to make! Let’s walk through the steps!
Step 1: Using an electric mixer, beat room-temperature cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. This takes about 2 minutes.
Step 2: Add an egg and beat until fluffy.
Step 3: Add cake mix and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Step 4: Chill the cookie dough for 60 minutes. See the note below to speed up cookie dough chilling.
Step 5: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 6: Scoop cookies and roll them into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the cookie dough balls in powdered sugar (this step is optional). Set cookies on a parchment paper lined, or lightly greased baking sheet.
Step 7: Bake cheesecake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Be careful to not overbake the cookies. The centers should still be a little bit wiggly. Let rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes and the cookies remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
How to get cream cheese to room temperature.
It’s really important to use room temperature cream cheese or else the cookie dough will be lumpy.
Counter top: Let the cream cheese sit at room temperature on the counter top for at least 30 minutes or until softened. This is my favorite method if I’m planning ahead.
Microwave: Remove the cream cheese from the foil wrapper and set on a microwave safe plate. Heat in the microwave for 20 seconds, repeat if needed, until cream cheese is soft but not warm.
FAQs and Tips:
Be sure to cool cookies before storing them. They can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. Strawberry cheesecake cookies freeze well too. They’ll keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Yes! Scoop the cookies into balls. Freeze on a cookie sheet. Once the cookie dough balls are completely frozen remove them from the sheet and store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months.
Adding cream cheese to cookies makes them soft and thick because you’re adding extra fat to the cookies.
Sometimes I roll the cookie dough balls in chocolate chips to make sure they have plenty of chocolate chips on top of the baked cookies. It’s optional! If you don’t the tops of the cookies will have a pretty crackled gooey butter cookie look!
Chilling strawberry cheesecake cookies is important because it helps keep the cookies from spreading too much. Thicker cookies stay softer than thin cookies! This cookie dough is really sticky if it’s doesn’t chill long enough.
If you don’t have 60 minutes to chill the cookie dough you can use my speed chilling method. Scoop cookie dough into balls and set in the freezer for about 15 minutes. The cookies should be firm. Roll the cookie dough balls until smooth and then roll in powdered sugar. Bake as directed!
More Strawberry Recipes:
- Strawberry Poke Cake
- Strawberry Sangria (Virgin)
- Strawberry Salad Dressing (Insanely delicious)
- Strawberry Milkshake
- Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie
- 25 Easy Strawberry Recipes
Other Cake Mix Cookie Recipes:
Here are a few other cake mix cookie recipes! My family goes back to these recipes over and over again because they are so easy and everyone loves them! Be sure to check out all my easy cookie recipes!
- Butterscotch Cake Mix Bar Cookies – Made with white cake mix
- Homemade Mint Oreos – Classic mint chocolate flavor
- Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies – gooey bar cookies
- Homemade Carrot Cake Oreos – with cream cheese frosting
- Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cookies– so fun for Easter
- Chocolate Mint Cookies – made with a chocolate cake mix
Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 1 whole egg
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 15 ounce box strawberry cake mix
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar optional
- 1/8 cup Valentines sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth and fluffy. Add egg and mix again.
- Add dry cake mix and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Chill cookie dough in the refrigerator for 60 minutes. Or, scoop cookies and drop them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Freeze for 15 minutes. The cookie dough should be firm and not sticky.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease.
- Scoop cookies into 1 ½ inch balls. Roll until smooth. Roll in powdered sugar and then in sprinkles if desired.
- Place cookie balls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
Shazia says
Hi so I tried this recipe today and it tastes amazing. Loved the smell. But the underneath keep getting dark brown so the top can bake and not be too soft. Is that how it’s supposed to be or I’m not sure what am doing wrong.
Amy Engberson says
The bottoms of the cookies will brown a little bit. That’s normal, but they shouldn’t be too dark. Cookies will brown more if they’re baked on a dark cookie sheet. Maybe try lining it with parchment paper.
Katie says
Love the flavor but my cookies turned brown on the outside very quickly. Any idea why? I baked at 350 on air bake in a medium sized toaster oven. Maybe I need to adjust the temp for the small space? Any insight would be much appreciated. They were golden brown even before cooked all the way through. Around 5 minutes
Amy Engberson says
I’ve never baked cookies in a toaster oven before so I’m not sure how that affects the baking time/temperature. It sounds like the toaster oven was too hot and almost broiled the cookies instead of baking them. Do you have access to a traditional oven? If not you could try making them into smaller cookies so they would bake through quicker, and maybe reducing the temperature to 325 degrees to allow the insides of the cookies to bake too.
Kara says
Very easy to make. I recommend you refrigerate the dough prior to rolling into balls. We also split the recipe and put white chocolate chips in half and dark chocolate chips in the other half. We enjoyed them all!
Amy Engberson says
Yay! I’m glad you loved them! Isn’t it fun to have options with the chocolate chips! Either way, you can’t go wrong!
Sharon says
Can i half the recipe? 1 whole egg or should i use half of a beaten egg?
Amy Engberson says
You can half the recipe. You’ll want to make sure you have exactly half of the amount of cake mix too. When cutting a recipe in half that only has one egg I usually beat the egg and use half of that amount. Let me know how it goes!
Rebecca says
Very pretty but not very good tasting. Had to bake for close to 30 minutes. Followed every step as written. Even my 14 year old granddaughter said they were “just ok.” I would not make again. I did make a drizzle of white icing to zig zag over them to give them some sweetness, that helped some.
Stranded says
Quick question, I cooked for 10 minutes as your instructions said to, but the cookies were super gooey still. So I read through the entire post and realized that the cook time said 30 minutes. So I’m confused on how long to actually cook them. Also, after I mix all the ingredients and it says to roll the cookies…how do you do this without the dough sticking? I felt like a hot mess trying to roll the dough and it was sticking alll over my hand.
Amy Engberson says
Hi there! First of all, you can always spray your hands with nonstick baking spray to keep the cookies from sticking to your hands. If it’s still too sticky you can add flour a Tablespoon at a time unitl they aren’t sticky anymore. Be careful though because adding too much flour will cause the cookie to be hard. I’m wondering if your dough is extra sticky because your ingredients were a little bit warmer than room temperature. It’s hard to say without being there.
Yes, baking time should be 8-10 minutes per cookie sheet. I ended up baking three cookie sheets full of cookies which gave me a total cooking time (for all three sheets) or between 24-30 minutes. They should be a litte doughy when you first remove them from the oven. They will set up as they sit.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions!
Beth Canavan says
I made these cookies last year for Christmas for the first time, they quickly became a family favorite. My sons request them and in fact I now have my youngest sons fraternity hooked as well. I have baked countless dozens for them just this semester and they still are requesting more. My daughter and her daycare staff have become fans as well requesting them every time my daughter comes to visit or I visit her. I admit they are very yummy and incredibly easy to make. I normally am an old school baker and prefer to make things from scratch but these cookies are one thing I’ll make an exception for
Amy Engberson says
Hi Beth! Thanks for taking time to comment and let me know how much you enjoy these cookies! I’m with you, I usually make cookies from scratch, but sometimes I need a little shortcut. And why not when they taste this amazing! Have a fantastic day!
Morgan says
These are absolutely delicious and not too hard to bake! I have a daughter and we started cooking and baking and this has definitely made our top list! Thank you!
Amy Engberson says
I love that you got to spend time in the kitchen with your daughter! Cookies are always a hit!
Lindsey says
So I made these last night and used Christmas sprinkles. They didn’t set and harden at all. I folllowd the directions exactly.( except I didn’t use nuts) The 2nd batch I left in the over for 15 minutes and they were still way too soft. Any suggestions.?
Amy Engberson says
Hmmm. I’m not exactly sure what happened. They do usually set up after they cool and set for a minute although they will always be a soft cookie. It’s always hard to know exactly what happened when I can’t see the process happening.
Melody says
I made these cookies. Had to cook longer than 8-10 min. Cookies are really soft so I cooked longer and they lose the nice red color . They do firm up when cool. I made them for Xmas.
Amy Engberson says
Hi Melody! These cookies are very soft and can look underbaked when you take the out of the oven. Hopefully that helps!
Diana says
Do they need to be stored in the refrigerator and how long are they good for once you make them?
Amy Engberson says
Hi Diana! I don’t store them in the refrigerator because my family devours them in no time. If I thought I was going to have leftovers I would store them in the fridge. I’m guessing they would last a couple days or maybe even a little longer if they were in the fridge!
chris cunningham says
Hi– these look awesome! I am assuming that they can be frozen.
Thanks
Chris
Amy Engberson says
Hi Chris! I haven’t actually ever had these cookies last long enough to get them to the freezer. I’m guessing they would freeze just fine though!
Annabam says
Can I pre-make the cookie dough the night before and bake it the next day?
Amy Engberson says
I’ve never tried that before but I’m all about make ahead recipes. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. You might want to let the dough come to room temperature before baking or the cookies will have a different texture. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
Angie | Big Bear's Wife says
I think that I would love both versions of this cookie! I think I’ll need to make them both just to try them though! hahaha
Amy Engberson says
I agree! You totally need to try both of them out! Ha!
Bec says
I’m a sucker for anything cheesecake, and these cookies are too cute to resist! Great recipe!
Amy Engberson says
Cheesecake is a huge weekness of mine!
Sabrina says
I love baking with strawberry flavors! This is a perfect Valentine’s Day cookie!
Amy Engberson says
My kids always want them for Valentine’s Day!
Erin @ The Speckled Palate says
YUM! I love that these cookies are so easy to pull together, and they’re so perfect for this time of year. I could definitely go for one right now…
Amy Engberson says
They are super easy to make which makes my life easier!
Dee says
These are the prettiest cookies ever! I’ve made strawberry cake mix cookies before, but I need to try your version and add some chocolate chips!
Amy Engberson says
Thanks! Chocolate chips make everything better!
Des @ Life's Ambrosia says
Loving the color! These look perfect!
Amy Engberson says
Thanks!
Erren says
These are so pretty and pink and perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Amy Engberson says
Thanks!The kids love getting them in their lunchboxes on Valentine’s Day!
Lucia Harley says
Can u make an order & ship them if someone wants to purchase them?
Amy Engberson says
I wish I could! I don’t actaully offer that service! Thanks goodness they are so easy to make that I bet you could whip up a batch in just a few minutes!