Fresh strawberries, graham cracker crumbles, cream cheese frosting, all piled on top to create THICK strawberry cheesecake cake mix cookies. Trust me, you’ll want to save this recipe!

I experimented a bit with my usual cake mix cookie formula which uses a whole 8 oz block of cream cheese. I reduced the cream cheese down to 6 oz which yielded a slightly firmer texture that held up better outside of the fridge, but it still had enough to level up the texture and flavor of a standard cake mix cookie.

Boxed Cake Mix Size Variety

An important thing to note, is that cake mix boxes seem to be shrinking each year. Several years ago they contained over 18 oz and now some are down to only 13.25 oz. Yikes! Make sure to get a mix that has at LEAST 15.25 oz of mix in it.

Taste of Home: The Surprising Reason Why There’s Less Cake Mix in Your Box

Freeze Dried Strawberry Flavor in Cookies

Freeze dried strawberries are also added in to enhance the strawberry flavor of the cake mix. Cream Cheese Cake Mix cookies are seriously so easy to whip up and are one of my favorite quick desserts!

Kate Naturals Organic Freeze Dried Strawberry Powder for Baking & Drinks. Natural Strawberry Flavoring for Cakes, Icing & Smoothies (4oz, No Added Sugar)

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Something I’ve noticed with cake mix cookies is they sometimes bake in a slightly wonky circle, so I recommend doing the Cloudy Kitchen “cookie scoot” technique to scoot them back into place. When the cookies are fresh out of the oven, take a round cookie cutter that’s slightly larger than the cookies, place it around each one and swirl it in a circle to scoot the cookies back into perfect shapes. If I don’t have a circle cookie cutter that’s large enough, I’ll sometimes use a large mouthed glass or even a bowl. Just make sure to use something that won’t melt touching the hot baking sheet!

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting

While the cookies are baking and cooling, whip up your cream cheese frosting! This frosting is what puts the “cheesecake” in these Strawberry Cheesecake Cake Mix Cookies! Be sure to beat the cream cheese and butter together until well combined, but don’t overdo it. Over beating in this stage can sometimes make your frosting a bit soupy. If it does get a bit soupy, you can always pop it in the fridge for a bit once you’ve finished it to firm it up.

Frosting the Strawberry Cheesecake Cake Mix Cookies

Once the cookies have completely cooled, use an offset spatula or a butter knife to frost the tops using your cream cheese buttercream.

Ateco 1385 Offset Spatula with 4.5-Inch Stainless Steel Blade, Wood Handle, 4.5 Inch, natural

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Toppings for Strawberry Cheesecake Cake Mix Cookies

Shortly before serving, top each cookie with crumbled graham crackers and diced strawberry pieces. The toppings are best eaten fresh! If you’d like an alternative to the fresh strawberry topping, you could also use crumbled freeze dried strawberries. Serve chilled, and enjoy!

Looking for more Cake Mix Cookie Recipes?

Lemon Poppyseed Cake Mix Cookies

Strawberry Cheesecake Cake Mix Cookies

Thick strawberry cake mix cookies topped with cream cheese frosting, crushed graham cracker, and fresh strawberries. A simple showstopper!

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Bake Time 17 minutes mins

Total Time 47 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 10 cookies

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 oz room temperature butter
• 6 oz cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 box 15.25 oz strawberry cake mix
• 1 cup freeze dried strawberries
• 1/3 cup flour

Cream Cheese Frosting

• *This amount of frosting makes enough to do a thin covering as shown in the photos. If you'd like a thicker coating, I'd recommend doubling the recipe.
• 3 oz cold cream cheese (6 tbsp)
• 1 oz salted butter (slightly softened) (2 tbsp)
• 6.4 oz confectioner's sugar (1.5 cups)
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2-4 pinches salt (to taste)

Assembly

• 3 graham crackers (crushed into small/medium pieces)
• 8 oz fresh strawberries

Instructions

 

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Pulse freeze dried strawberries in a food processor until it becomes a fine powder. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, (or the bowl of an electric mixer), beat butter until smooth.
• Add in the cream cheese, and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Add egg and beat until fully incorporated.
• With mixer on a low speed, add in cake mix, freeze dried strawberry powder, and flour, and beat until just combined. Scrape down sides as you go to ensure even incorporation.
• Using a large cookie scoop, place cookies onto a standard half baking sheet, placing no more than 8 cookies per tray.
• Bake 17 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are set and the center no longer looks wet and doughy. Rotate your tray halfway through baking.
• When cookies are fresh out of the oven, scoot them back into perfect circles. Place a cookie cutter, large mouth glass, or bowl that's slightly larger than your cookies around each cookie and swirl it around until the edges have scooched back into an even circle shape.
• Allow cookies to fully cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Don't mix for more than a minute or two or the frosting may become soupy.
• Slowly add in powdered sugar and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Add in vanilla, salt, and lemon juice, and beat until combined.

Assembly

• When cookies are cool, frost each one with cream cheese frosting.
• Dice strawberries and set aside.
• Crush graham crackers and set aside.
• Shortly before serving, top with crushed graham crackers and diced strawberries. Best served chilled and on the day of assembly. Enjoy!

Notes

If cream cheese frosting feels soupy, place in the fridge to chill and firm up a bit before frosting. If it still feels soupy, you can add a little bit of powdered sugar at a time until you’ve reached your desired consistency. 

Keyword Buttercream Sugar Cookies, Cake Mix, Cheesecake, Chilled, Cream Cheese, Desserts, Easy, Graham Cracker, Quick, Recipes, Strawberry

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