CARAMEL APPLE CAKE MIX COOKIES

Caramel Apple Cake Mix Cookies are easily made with a cake mix, chopped apples and Rolo candies. Cake mix cookies are so simple to make and these ones taste like caramel apples!

Caramel and chocolate just go so well together – if you love that combination also, you should try our Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies! Or our Chocolate Caramel Cake Mix cookies – those have Rolos in them too!

CARAMEL APPLE CAKE MIX COOKIES

Caramel Apple Cake Mix Cookies are so easy to make! Add butter, brown sugar, an egg, and vanilla extract to a yellow cake mix and then add some chopped apples and Rolo candies. The original recipe that I found called for dried apples, but I prefer to use a fresh apple – the choice is totally up to you!

What are cake mix cookies?

Cake mix cookies are cookies that are made with a box of cake mix as the base ingredient. Because many of the dry ingredients used in cookies are also the same ingredients you find in a boxed cake mix, you usually only have to add a few more basic ingredients to make soft and chewy cookies!

One of the things that I love about cake mix cookies is that it is so easy to change up the flavors a little bit, just by swapping out the cake mix that you use. For example, this recipe for Caramel Apple Cake Mix Cookies asks for a yellow cake mix, but you could easily swap in a white cake mix, a spice cake mix or even a chocolate cake mix and the results would all be delicious!

Some tips for making the best Cake Mix Cookies:

• Make sure your butter is softened, NOT melted! One of the most common errors in cookie making is using butter that is either really cold and hard, or using butter that is too warm and melted. If you have time, just leave butter out on the counter for about 1-2 hours before making your cookies. If you are like me and don’t plan your cookie cravings that far in advance, just place the butter in your microwave and soften in 5 second intervals, being very careful to pull it out before it melts. I actually like to use the defrost setting on my microwave to soften butter- I don’t know the technical reasons behind it, but it seems to soften the butter more evenly and takes a little bit longer so I’m less likely to start melting it! 
• Preheat the oven. This will help your cookies turn out right every time!
• Use a cookie scoop! If you want all your cookies to be perfectly shaped and have them all be the same size, a cookie scoop is the way to go.
• Use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Doing this will make it really easy to remove the cookies from your cookie sheet so that you don’t have to scrape them off the pan – they will just slide right off in perfect shape!
• Don’t over bake the cookies – when I take mine out of the oven, they still look slightly under baked but they will continue to bake on the cookie sheet for a couple more minutes so that’s ok!

Ingredients in Caramel Apple Cake Mix Cookies

Rolo candies – These are kind of the star of this cookie recipe, so don’t leave them out. I use two-three (1.7 ounce) packages, which is between 14-28 Rolo candies. Cut the Rolos into quarters and mix them into 2 tablespoons of the cake mix before adding to the other ingredients.

Yellow cake mix – You will need one box of a yellow cake mix. You can easily swap this out with a white cake mix or a spice cake mix or even a chocolate cake mix if you want to change up the flavor!

Butter – You will need a stick of butter, softened to room temperature. For best results, make sure to use real butter.

Brown sugar – Adding just 1/4 cup of light brown sugar to the cookies will make them taste more homemade and give them a richer flavor.

Egg – One large egg will bind everything together.

Vanilla extract – Just a teaspoon of vanilla extract adds a lot of flavor. The higher the quality of the vanilla, the better.

Apple – Peel and chop one apple into small pieces. Honeycrisp or Fuji apples work best, but any variety of crisp, tart apple will work perfectly.

How do you make Caramel Apple Cake Mix Cookies?

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a small bowl, toss the chopped Rolos with 2 tablespoons of the cake mix to prevent them from sticking together. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the rest of the cake mix with the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract.

Fold in the chopped apples and the chopped Rolos until all ingredients are well combined.

Use a cookie scoop to drop tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Bake for 11-13 minutes or until just barely set in the center. Let the cookies cool for about 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

What kinds of apples to use in cookie recipes?

My favorite type of apple for baking (and eating!) is the Honeycrisp variety. These apples are very crunchy and they hold up well during the baking process. Sometimes the Honeycrisp apples are really expensive, but Fuji apples work really well too so that is a great alternative. You just don’t want to use a soft apple (like Red Delicious) because generally the flavor isn’t as strong and the softer apples tend to get mushier when baked. You could also use pieces of dried apples in these cookies, but I definitely prefer using fresh ones!

Can you freeze cake mix cookies?

Yes, you can freeze cake mix cookies! You can freeze the baked cookies by cooling them completely and then wrapping in plastic and placing in a Ziplock bag in the freezer. When I freeze cookies, I prefer to freeze the dough in ready-to-bake balls, so that I can enjoy my cookies “freshly baked” when I am ready to make them. In order to do this, you will:

1. Scoop the cookie dough into balls (cake mix cookies tend to be a little sticky in dough form so you may want to chill the dough for about an hour to make this step easier).
2. Place the cookie dough balls on a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about an hour, until cookie dough balls are frozen.
3. Take all of the frozen cookie dough balls and place in a Ziplock bag or an airtight freezer safe container. Put them back into the freezer until ready to bake.
4. When you are ready, place the cookie dough balls on a prepared cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. I like to let the balls thaw for about 10-15 minutes and then bake according to normal instructions.

MORE DELICIOUS APPLE COOKIE RECIPES TO TRY:

• SNICKERDOODLE APPLE PIE COOKIE CUPS
• CARAMEL APPLE SNICKERDOODLES
• APPLE CINNAMON OATMEAL COOKIES
• APPLE CIDER SNICKERDOODLES
• BUTTERSCOTCH APPLE COOKIES
• APPLE PIE COOKIES
• CARAMEL APPLE OATMEAL COOKIES
• APPLE PUMPKIN OATMEAL COOKIES
• SPICED APPLE COOKIES
• APPLE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
• APPLE CINNAMON SCOOKIES

Caramel Apple Cake Mix Cookies are easily made with a cake mix, chopped apples and Rolo candies. Cake mix cookies are so simple to make and these ones taste like caramel apples!