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Need to whip up a dessert but don’t have a lot of time or energy on your hands? Turn to these 30 easy dessert recipes using cake mix! These recipes turn a boxed cake mix into something that tastes homemade. Your friends and family will never guess you started with a “shortcut” ingredient!
I love baking from scratch and do so all of the time. But there are times when I need to throw together a dessert quickly, and that’s when I love bringing out a box of cake mix.
My doctored cake mix recipe was the original recipe that made me realize how easy it was to take any flavor cake mix and turn it into something special with just a few simple ingredients.
Over the years I’ve made dozens of recipes using cake mix. Not just classic cakes and cupcakes, but cookies and bar desserts and coffee cakes and more.
Whether you’re just learning to bake and want an easy place to start or need an easy recipe to take to your next potluck, you’ve come to the right place.
Tips for making cake mixes taste homemade
There are a few different ways you can make a basic cake mix taste like you spent way more time and effort than you did:
Add pudding mix: Just like when making chocolate chip pudding cookies, a box of instant pudding mix adds flavor and helps the cake stay moist.
Incorporate fruit: Some of my favorite cake mix recipes use fresh, frozen, or canned fruit or pie filling. The fruit adds moisture, sweetness, and flavor for an extra-delicious dessert. Fresh citrus juice and zest can also boost the flavor of a mix with very little effort!
Pair it with a homemade element: Even if you make a cake base with a mix, you can pair it with something homemade to dress it up. For example, fill lemon cakes or cupcakes with microwave lemon curd or decorate the top of any cake with my homemade buttercream frosting.
Don’t over-bake: This is true for any recipe, but is especially important for recipes using cake mix. Watch your baking times and pull the cake or cupcakes from the oven when a toothpick inserted in the center has a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
My 30 favorite recipes using cake mix
I’ve pulled together some of my favorite cake mix recipes for every season of the year and every occasion. From poke cakes and dump cakes to bar desserts and cookies, there’s a little something for everyone here.
Cookie recipes
Ignoring the directions on the box will give you some of the easiest cookies ever. And trust me, they disappear in no time!
Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
4.53 from 23 ratings
If you love red velvet cake, use one of the mixes to throw together these crinkly cookies for Christmas or Valentine's Day.
A white cake mix paired with pistachio pudding mix will give you soft crinkle cookies that are perfect for St. Patrick's Day, but they're great at Christmas, too!
Who doesn't love rainbow sprinkles? Before baking, roll the dough for these Funfetti cookies in rainbow nonpareils for a crunchy coating that makes them extra fun.
Dump cakes get their name from the assembly method: just dump the ingredients in the pan and bake.
A couple of these recipes still require mixing a few ingredients together before adding them to the pan, but I promise that they’re still unbelievably easy.
Blueberry Dump Cake
5 from 1 rating
Fresh blueberries and lemon cake mix make for a bright, summery dessert that's super easy to throw together. Add a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream when serving!
Yes, you can make cobbler with cake mix! If you don't have time for homemade peach cobbler, make this easy one instead with canned peaches and a box of yellow cake mix.
A box of devil's food cake mix, chocolate pudding mix, and chocolate chips make for a rich, decadent, slightly fudgy chocolate dessert. Don't skip the vanilla ice cream for serving!
This pumpkin crunch cake is just like the one my Nana used to make. It's got a pumpkin pie-like layer with a buttery, crunchy topping but is so simple to make. It's a must during the holidays!
Bake a sheet cake, poke holes in it after it’s baked, and then add a syrup or pudding-like filling. The filling seeps into the cake to add flavor and keep it super moist.
Strawberry Poke Cake
4.79 from 14 ratings
This recipe starts with a box of white cake mix, then gets a strawberry jello mixture poured all over it after it has baked. I like to add sliced fresh strawberries to the top, too!
For Oreo lovers, it doesn't get much better than this recipe. I like using devil's food cake mix (but regular chocolate cake mix will do). Add chocolate pudding and top it all off with a mixture of Cool Whip and crushed Oreos.
These coconut cupcakes use french vanilla cake mix and instant coconut cream pudding and are topped with a coconut-lime frosting. They're a tropical, flavorful, and (of course) easy to make.
Yellow cake mix gives the crust for these jam bars a buttery flavor that can't be beat. I love them with raspberry jam, but you can use your family's favorite flavor!
This decadent coconut cake recipe starts with a simple cake that's covered in a sweet and tangy sour cream mixture. Let it rest in the fridge for 3 days for the most incredible cake.
Spice cake mix, plenty of apple pie spice, and diced apples go into this bundt cake. Top it with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce for a delicious fall dessert!
This pumpkin bread recipe may not fit into any of the above categories, but it's too good to leave off this list! Seriously, just 2 ingredients for a simple and delicious quick bread. It's one of my favorite cake mix hacks!
