Bring the Christmas magic with these adorable Grinch Cookies. Made with cake mix, this recipe features simple instructions using vanilla cake mix, a splash of green dye, and a single heart sprinkle. Make a fun movie night tradition with these easy-themed cookies.
Why This Recipe is the Best
These Grinch Cookies are the ultimate easy Christmas treat—bright green, super soft, and finished with a single red heart that makes them just as cute as they are delicious. We make them every year while watching The Grinch as a family, usually alongside our Grinch Truffles and Grinch Punch. It’s become one of our favorite holiday traditions!
Not only are they quick to whip up with simple ingredients, but they’re also the perfect treat to make with kids or bring to a cookie exchange. The red heart sprinkle is the final touch that brings the whole theme together, and we’ve found the best time to add it is right after baking, so it stays perfectly placed. Cozy, festive, and fun—these cookies are a must during the Christmas season.
For more cake cookie ideas, try our Cake Mix Cookie Base, where you can make any flavor you'd like. We also have Strawberry Cake Cookies and Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies. These are quick and easy three-ingredient cookies.
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Key Ingredients
This is a basic cake cookie recipe turned spectacular with a little food dye and festive sprinkles.
- Cake Mix- Use your favorite brand of vanilla cake mix. We suggest Duncan Hines or Pillsburry. Avoid Betty Crocker because it's a smaller amount of cake mix. If you do use it, you'll have to adjust the recipe to add ½ teaspoon corn starch to the mix, then use 5 Tablespoons oil and 2 eggs.
- Cooking Oil- Through recipe testing, vegetable oil works best in this recipe. You can also use avocado oil or olive oil. Avoid butter. It gives the cookies a strange texture.
- Eggs- Use room temperature eggs for the best baking experience. You'll also want to use the whole egg so the white cake mix has a dash of yellow to enhance the green color.
- Food Dye- To get that iconic Grinch look, you'll add a splash of neon green food dye into the cake mix. Because the cake mix already has a yellow hue, the colors combine to make the perfect Grinch green. But if it's looking too green, add a small amount of yellow.
- Heart Sprinkles- Use cinnamon hearts, this is the most traditional. We had the best luck when we bought sprinkles that had hearts in them and picked them out. Or you can find them online.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Grinch Cookies
Learn how to bake Grinch cookies! These step by step instructions are sure to grow your heart. Use the photos for extra assistance.
- In a medium mixing, bowl whisk together the eggs and oil. Add the green dye.
- Pour in the cake mix and combine with a spatula. Don't overmix.
- With a cookie scoop or your hands, add dough balls to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes at 350°F.
- Remove from the oven and add a heart sprinkle to each cookie. Press gently to help it stick to the cookie.
Hint: This is a sticky dough. Wet your hands to help form the dough balls without making your hand a mess.
Common Mistakes
I recommend adding the heart after baking. I tried a few different things for the hearts, and all of them bled a little bit. If they aren't sticking well, add a dab of powdered sugar mixed with a tiny bit of water to the back and let it dry.
Top tip
If you're having a hard time getting your heart to stick to the cookie, make a paste with water and powdered sugar. Add a small drop to the cookie and then place the heart on top of the sugar mixture.
Fun Grinch Foods
We love Grinch themed Christmas foods, try out these recipes:
Recipe
Easy Grinch Cookies
Ingredients
- 15.25 oz vanilla cake mix see note 1 below for other cake mix sizes
- 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil or avocado oil
- 2 large eggs
- green gel food coloring neon, see note 2
- red heart sprinkles or candies see note 3
- powdered sugar and water optional, to make the heart stick, see note 4
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Whisk together eggs and oil then add the green food coloring. You want it to be a stronger green as the cake mix will dilute the color a bit. Stir in the cake mix with a spatula. Form dough balls with your hands and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Dampen hands slightly if they get sticky. Bake for 7-10 minutes. After the edges have set and the tops turn matte, they will puff up more about 1-2 minutes later. Once this has happened, remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing. As soon as removing from the oven, add the heart.
- If the heart isn't sticking combine 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar with a few drops of water until a paste has formed, then place a tiny amount on the back of the red heart candy or sprinkle and attach it to the cookie. Allow it to try and it will stick! Enjoy!
Notes
- While testing these cookies I used many brands. My favorites were Duncan Hines and Pillsbury. One brand came in a 13.25 ounce box. For this size add ½ teaspoon corn starch to the mix, then use 5 Tablespoons oil and 2 eggs.
- I highly recommend using "neon green" food coloring. If you can't find any, add a little extra yellow to your green.
- I found many of the hearts I tried bled when I baked them into the cookie. Place the sprinkle or candy on the cookie as soon you remove it from the oven. I found that slightly dampening the sprinkle (if using sprinkles) helped it stick better.
- You can also combine 1 Tablespoon of powdered sugar and a few drops of water until a paste forms and use a dab of that on the back of the candy to get it to stick.
Nutrition
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Where to find Grinch Hearts
The little red hearts on these cookies make them extra special, but there are so many ways to add them! Cinnamon hearts are the most traditional choice. Unfortunatly, for us cinnamon candy isn’t popular in our area, so we had to get a little more creative.We found success with a sprinkle mix that included red hearts (many stores carry these, especially around Valentine’s Day).
Another easy option is using red cake writing gel to draw hearts directly onto the frosting for a cute, personalized touch. Make sure they are completely cool before using this method. No matter what you choose, these cookies will look just as adorable!
Substitutions and Variations
Try some of our favorite substitutions and variations for different fun flavors!
- Crinkle- This cookies crinkle well already on their own, but you can add an extra crinkle by rolling the dough ball in powdered sugar before baking. It will give it a snowball effect.
- Pistachio- For pistachio flavor, use a pistachio cake mix.
- Oreo- Use an Oreo cake mix and dye it green to get that Grinch look. You can also add a cream filling in the middle to create Grinch sandwich cookies. Use our filling recipe.
Storage
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Make sure they are completely cooled before storing. You can also easily freeze both the baked cookies and the dough balls. If you are freezing the dough balls, be sure to thaw them in the refrigerator before baking to ensure even baking.
Andrea says
We love making these easy cake cookie Grinch Cookies every Christmas!