Grinch Cookies
Made and loved by thousands every year! These Cake Mix Grinch Cookies are so easy and festive they will be sure to put you in the holiday mood. Print and Pin The ORIGINAL Cake Mix Grinch Cookies at In Katrina’s Kitchen!
Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot,
But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not.
The Grinch hated Christmas — the whole Christmas season.
Oh, please don’t ask why, no one quite knows the reason.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before:
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store–
Maybe Christmas–perhaps–means a little bit more.”
And what happened then–well, in Whoville they say
That the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day.
And then the true meaning of Christmas came through,
And the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches–plus two.
And now that his heart didn’t feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light.
With a smile in his soul, he descended Mount Crumpet,
Cheerily blowing Who! Who! on his trumpet.
Welcome, Christmas, while we stand
Heart to heart… and hand in hand.
Grinch Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 box french vanilla cake mix, dry mix only
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- green food coloring, 1 drop
- 1/2 cup Powdered sugar, or more for dusting
- Sprinkles or candies, large heart-shaped
Instructions
- PREHEAT oven to 350° F.
- In the bowl of your mixer CREAM together cake mix, food coloring, oil, and eggs.
- DROP by Tablespoon into confectioners sugar.
- CHILL dough balls for 20 minutes before transferring to a baking sheet to bake.
- PLACE on baking sheet and press 1 large heart candy/sprinkle.
- BAKE for 8-10 minutes until just set.
- COOL 3-4 minutes on pan before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. SPRINKLE with more powdered sugar if desired.
Nutrition
Recipe Notes for Cake Mix Grinch Cookies
- These are the Original Cake Mix Grinch Cookies- made and loved by thousands every December. Cake mix boxes may have changed proportions since 2012.
- This author prefers this recipe made with Betty Crocker French Vanilla Cake mix.
- The author uses AmeriColor Electric Green gel food coloring and Wilton Jumbo Heart Sprinkles.
- The best way to prevent flat cookies is to scoop the dough into Tablespoon portions and then chill for 20-30 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar and bake.
- These cookies are supposed to look a bit wonky and Grinch-like so embrace the crackles!
Merry Christmas, friends! ♥
Products used in this post:
184 Comments on “Grinch Cookies”
Made these exactly as written and they came out perfectly fluffy at exactly 10 min (with 3 min cooling on the sheet). They are so cute and delicious! I’m giving them out as party favors for my son’s Grinch-themed birthday party. Thanks for the recipe!
I would use a candied cherry on top. Will try these
Hey Katrina! I’ve been looking through a lot of your recipes lately and I wanted to tell you how much I love this idea! I make Cake Mix cookies regularly, but I tend to cut the oil down to 1/3 cup, but I add an extra egg and a single packet of instant pudding mix. It makes the cookies much more dense and flavorful. Then, I chill the dough thoroughly before baking, so my cookies stay puffy! Just sharing my tricks in case anyone wants to try them! I love the Grinch theme and I think I might do a lot of them this year!
Any recommendations for storage? Air tight container? I just made them today and need to keep them tasty until Christmas!
Katrina, Grinch Cookies are my new fav cookie recipe! So easy and cute. I will adapt them for St. Patrick’s Day and Valentines Day! I used 1/2 cup of oil and they were perfect! Merry Christmas! I love your blog😊🎅🏻🌲
Hi! Loved this cookies. I love how fluffy they are. I made this cookies for my family they really liked them except that they thought there were too sweet. Is there any way that I can make them a little less sweet if so can you please help me. I will love to make it for them again. Thank you..
…I am going to see if these will melt the heart of my preteen Grinch. I will write another post on how that works out. 🙂
So if i change the color to red and a white hear can it be a santa cookie?
Yep! I just like the idea of a kinda ugly green “grinchy” cookie with a heart in the middle so that’s why I named it that way. 🙂
Hello so I live in Houston, Texas and I am baking them now but I am well beyond the 8 minute mark I am guessing because of the difference in altitude can you give me your location so I can know the difference. Thank you!
Is there a link to the Grinch Popcorn recipe? Thanks!
I just drizzled melted chocolate over the popcorn and added tiny heart sprinkles. Thanks!
I would love the recipe for the Grinch popcorn treat that is shown in one of the photos. Am I missing it on your website? Thanks!
Wonderful recipe. Thanks a lot for sharing this. I will certainly try it and post the feedback here.
I love this recipe Katrina!
I have to share that I’ve tried this multiple times, cutting the oil, adding baking powder, chilling the batch overnight, etc. and they were flattening each time. However, I received a countertop convection oven for Xmas (I opened it early), tried this recipe again (on a whim) and they turned out PERFECTLY! It’s the convection oven that made all the difference for me.
Thank you again – happy holidays!! 🙂
Sheila
I loved this recipe I took the concerns about the cookies being flat and added a small pack of vanilla pudding and made 4 batches they were never flat and they turned out great every time!! Thanks for the great recipe!!
These were a hit with my family and friends but I used a lemon cake mix and it totally beats vanilla. Just had to share!!
Also…after noticing the comments, I wanted to add a couple other things:
1. My cake mixes had pudding in the mix. I had to cook for about a minute longer is all but followed everything the same.
2. Chilled while the oven was preheating (and maybe a little extra).
3. I could not find heart shaped sprinkles so I used molding candy, melted it down and used a heart cut out. It was a pain but for the grinch cookies, it made it worth it.
4. I used other cake mixes to make different flavor and left the recipe the same and they are awesome (vanilla, lemon, chocolate and red velvet)
5. I can get about 2 dozen is all but cake mix is a $1 on sale so it’s the cheapest, fastest, easiest cookie so making two boxes is no big deal.
So, Grinch thought he might like some of these yummy cookies. I bought all the ingredients and put the recipe together with NO issue! Came out fantastic! Grinch’s heart, indeed, grew 3 sizes !.
I would note the following: This Momma elf looked high and low and below and could not find these hearts…finally! yes, but what did my eyes find but a mixed red/pink jar at the Party Store !! the cookies were on ! I also discovered my cake mix was only 15.25 oz (and had pudding) -so I used the 1/3 C oil (thanks for the suggestion)…chilled dough while I was working on them Made them in 1″ balls. Nicely done…Grinch was happy, Momma Elf is happy !!!
Such a great idea!!!
I just made these and I only got 2 dozen cookies. Maybe I made them too big? I also got burning on the bottom of them. I am going to try them again in a few days and add more food coloring and powdered sugar and less veg. oil. they did seem undercooked at eight minutes, but since the bottoms were burning I took them out. Any suggestion on this? Thank you! the cookies are super cute and my kids love them !
If I used two boxes do I just double the ingredients or would this be different?🙂
Just made them!! Did the fridge thing 2 times with each batch. Turned out perfect — side note 8 min was NOT enough. Cooked at least 13!!
Hello, I made these last night for a cookie party I am going to this evening and they tasted delicious but I’m concerned I might have undercooked them. the cookie I tried was soft in texture. Is this how they are suppose to be? I really don’t want to anyone sick. :/ Please help!
It had to cook mine about 13-14 min. First batch was already on cooling rack and I decided to put back in
Hi Katrina,
I can’t wait to try these. Curious if you have ever used the yellow cake mix instead of the french vanilla? I have so many boxes in my house of Yellow. Wondering if it will still work?
These turned out so cute! Everyone loved them! What kind of food coloring did you use? I had to use a lot more than one drop.
Thanks for the recipe!
I looked everywhere for the heart shaped candies, could not find.
Used red hots instead. Very messy to make and the taste was just okay.
Not worth the mess they make. Sorry just being honest.
I may have made mine a bit too big, however, I did need to cook them twice as long as recommended. They were a bit done but I don’t think I could have eaten them if they were cooked less. I also had to use at least 3 or 4 drops of food coloring.
I think that the crinkle cookies (made like traditional cookies) may work just as well and would be a true cookie flavor/texture. They would look very similar – maybe even a bit more cracked just add the green food coloring and heart.
Thanks for the great idea!
Mine are almost ready to go into the oven. Glad I read all of the reviews to am going to place back in the fridge for a bit.
I found the Hearts at Amazon and because of Prime free shipping. I will let you know how mine turn out. Thanks so much!
These are adorable. I would love to make these with a pistachio flavor, do you have any suggestions for how I could do that? Thanks!
I used the hearts from the candy Runts
These cookies are really running even after 15 minutes
You can’t even roll them! Is it missing flour? Help!!!!
Love this idea will try I’m sure we will enjoy.
Love Scrooge
These were awesome, easy, and delicious and took no time to make. Your recipe was spot on!
These turned out adorable! I rolled them quickly so they stayed cold. Kept them in the fridge 30 mns before rolling and another 15 mns after rolling, before baking. Perfect 🙂
Can this dough be frozen ahead of time?
If you don’t want to pay to buy the heart candies, simply make some Royal icing using (egg whites and powdered sugar) and dye it red. Pipe the hearts on a sheet tray and let them dry. Then use them in place of the stire bought candy hearts. You can flavor Royal icing, too.
I realize you tested several batches about oil and cookies not setting up, etc.
I tried these tonight, but cut the recipe in half because I’m just testing the recipe myself because I wanted to make them for my nieces and nephews for Christmas. I realized later though that I cut everything in half EXCEPT the cake. They turned out perfect though!!!
Thanks for the recipe, these will be a huge hit!
fanulous making these and I think I might add pistachio flavored instant pudding for flavor!
So cute. Love the little red heart nose!
Cute! I am going to use this in a roundup. If it is not okay to use a picture (and link back to you), let me know… 🙂
Where did you get that adorable Grinch cookie serving tray?…….I’ve got to have one!!!
I love these! I made them for Christmas this year and they’re delicious! Very easy to do and really, really cute. The popcorn treat looks great, too. Thanks for these! 🙂
Found the key to the Grinch Cookies ! After reading the posts about the cookies coming out flat I experimented and they came out wonderful !! I went between the oil amounts and added a bit more than 1/3 cup and not a half cup, then I added a 1/2 teaspoon of baking power to the cookie mix to pump up the “puff”. Perfect !!! and adorable cookies !!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe !!! A keeper for sure !!
These are super cute and I love the Grinch so of course I had to try them. I would alter the recipe to make them taste better. My kids love Pilsbury Fufetti cookies and you use 1 stick of butter and one egg. Or check a box of Funfetti cake mix and see the directions on converting it into cookies. I would think the same directions would work on any flavor of cake mix. Thanks for the cute idea!
I put one drop of food coloring, and they aren’t very green. A pale yellowish green. Mine were flat as well. Measured out 1 T exactly. Bake them for 8 minutes exactly. The lil hearts save the cookie! 🙂
Next time maybe one more drop.
i was windering if red m&ms might work in pkace of the heart candies?? I know im grabbing at straws here but i guess they’d still look cute lol
So I just finished baking these amazingly adorable and not to mention delicious cookies! They came out just like the picture!! I used 1/3 cup of oil and chilled my dough overnight. I also left them in the oven for 9 minutes. I only let them cool for a minute on the pan and then removed them immediately. I found leaving them too long on the pan flattened them. These are so cute and are sure to be a hit at my Christmas cookie exchange tonight. Oh and I ordered the heart sprinkles from Amazon (prime). I wish I could post my picture of them!! 🙂 Merry Christmas Who-ville!
I would love to see! Feel free to post on Facebook or Instagram and tag me. Thanks!
I have them baking in the oven right now. I followed the recipe as stated above and mine are fluffy. I also had no problem with having them oily. I don’t know if it was because I hand mixed them first and then used the hand mixer or because I just lucked out.. I’m thinking maybe I might use a lemon or lime cake mix next time as they cookies look like they should be lemon/lime.
I found the the red sprinkle hearts at Michael’s….the bottle comes with red/pink hearts mixed.
Thanks for letting us know! And yes that’s the same pack of sprinkles I found.
I made them with butter Crisco instead of Veg. oil. and they turned out much better .
Thanks for letting us know!
These look so cute! I can’t wait to try them. To those with the flat cookie problem: I haven’t made these yet, but as a general rule, if you chill cookie dough for at LEAST 2 hours (overnight is better), it maintains its shape better when baking. This applies to the vast majority of cookie recipes. Hope that helps! I will post again once I try these babies out. My daughter has been obsessed with the Grinch this year!
Thanks for your comments. I hope your daughter loves them! Feel free to tag @KatrinasKitchen on Instagram if you snap a pic.
We are trying these this year for Christmas!! Unfortunately we can’t keep the cookies raised, they keep falling flat and don’t look as fluffy as yours. Any suggestions?
Please see the updated notes. I tested 3 batches this week to figure out the mixed reviews. I found chilling the dough balls after rolling them in powdered sugar helps. Thank you for your comments!
These are SO cute. I found the hearts at Williams Sonoma (they are a little pricey but the only place I could find them locally right away). One question … my cookies turned out flatter than yours pictured. They looked puffier right after coming out of the oven but then deflated somewhat. What the??? They still look cute, just not AS cute. Any idea what the problem might have been?
Please see the updated notes. I tested 3 batches this week to figure out the mixed reviews. I found chilling the dough balls after rolling them in powdered sugar helps. Thank you for your comments!