If you like lemon, you will LOVE these cookies. And if you love quick recipes that you mix together in one bowl with one spoon and have out of the oven in less than 20 minutes, then definitely keep reading. This is definitely one of the easiest recipes I have ever encountered. You may have seen a version of this recipe before – a cookie recipe based on a box cake mix. I have seen variations floating around the Internet for a couple of years now, but this is the first time I gave them a try. I was admittedly a little hesitant because I do try to make everything from scratch, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to have a quick shortcut in your back pocket for those days when you need to throw something together in a hurry. This is a delicious solution for those kind of days.
Taking a bite into these cookies and you truly get a “burst” of lemon. The lemon cake mix is augmented with lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract. If you wanted to spice things up a bit, you could also substitute limoncello for the lemon juice in the recipe. Mmmm… The cookies, not surprisingly, have a soft and cakey texture. Rolling them in powdered sugar provides a perfect balance to the tartness of the lemon. I think they would be a wonderful addition to a brunch spread, great for a wedding or baby shower, and a great complement to afternoon tea.
More Lemon-y Goodness:
Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes
Lemon Meringue Pie
Lemon Burst Cookies
Yield:
1 (18.25-ounce) package lemon cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Zest of 2 lemons
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon lemon extract
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
2. Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract until well blended.
3. Place confectioner’s sugar in a bowl.
4. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and roll in confectioner’s sugar until lightly coated and place on baking sheet.
5. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
(Adapted from Playing House and My Baking Addiction)
Tags: Cookies, lemon
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These are so good! I’ve had a recipe for the chocolate version using cake mix and I decided to mix it up and try the lemon cake mix and man they were the perfect blend of sweet and tart.
Your pics are beautiful!!
I’ve seen these! I’m like you in that I get into that thinking where everything is better made from scratch, but it doesn’t hurt on the days when you want something, and it really doesn’t taste horribly, either. So pretty, too!
Ohh I’m so glad you liked these! I had the same reaction to using a boxed mix, but when augmented with the extra lemon, it definitely brightens up the flavor and makes it taste more “real.” Yours came out beautifully, I love the powdered sugar crust.
OMG those look so good! I love a great lemon cookie!
I absolutely love lemon so I’m definitely intrigued! I’ll have to try and remember to pick up a lemon cake mix when I’m at the store so I can try these out!
Wow, these look and sound delicious! I just love anything lemon and can’t wait to try them!
They really look like they are bursting with lemon flavour – what an interesting and easy looking recipe – just my type
These are so pretty!
These look crazy good!
Yum! I love a quick cookie recipe when I’m in a pinch.
I love lemon. These look and sound wonderful!
Wow that’s so neat to use cake mix! I bet you could use any kind of cake mix and just substitute the extract/juice.
I need to make me some Cherry Chip ones!
These look lovely!
I have seen these before, they look so pretty! I usually don’t use mixes, but I just might for these:)
I love lemon, and these look perfectly cheerful for the rainy, gloomy weather we’ve had lately.
My mum used to bake these when I was little!
Lemon is one of my favorite flavors and I love being able to take store bought cake mix and make it my own.
oh totally fun!! they are SO YELLOW!! hehe, they sound delicious to me! And I love any recipe that you can make in one bowl!
Cake mixes can really come in handy when you want home baked cookies in a hurry. And with all the natural, organic, and gluten free cake mix options, they are becoming better for you all the time. Your lemon cookies look luscious.
These look great!
Hi there, I love your cookies and I really want to try making them. I just wonder that I don’t have a ready cake mix package, can I do with the normal cake flour plus baking powder / baking soda/ salt and can you suggest the proportion? Thanks a lot
What an amazing colour these cookies have! I love the idea of using the cake mix as a base, especially when you get such delicious looking results
Those are some beautiful cookies! The insides look wonderfully cake-like and moist.
I have a friend who loves lemon. I’ll have to send her your way for this recipe
Oh how pretty…what a burst of sunshine!
Hi Kokotaru,
I think you could probably take a butter or sugar cookie recipe and add the lemon zest, juice and extract to it for a lemon cookie. I would probably use the same amounts as are listed in this recipe and then scale up depending on how the first batch comes out and how strong you like your lemon baked goods. I hope that helps!
sounds like lemon burst & looks like sun burst. Just the look of it uplifted my mood.
wow, lemon cake mix, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract, i could feel the lemon fragrance here!
I don’t bake much but wow! do I love these cookies!!! Thanks for sharing it. See ya around Foodbuzz.
You are such a talented women! Lovely pictures and fantastic recipe. Thank you so much for sharing.
Those look wonderful, like a burst of sunshine
How simple too!
I made those last night and they are so moist and lemony. I was worried because the batter was a bit on the runny side, but it turned out perfect. Yum
I’ve been wanting to try a recipe like this…your cookies look so beautiful!!!
Stunning pics!
Ooo yum these look awesome! I’ve made chocolate crackles before which look just like this but obviously are dark brown/black.
I have seen these “crinkle” type cookies made with chocolate and with strawberry cake mix but never with lemon. These definitely sound delicious.
These cookies are great! I just made a batch for a breast cancer fund raiser bake sale. I used a white “french vanilla” cake mix, sub 2 tsp vanilla extract instead of the lemon and a couple of drops of red food color. This might be the fastest, easiest cookie recipe ever! Everyone loved them. Thanks for posting it!
Pret a Gourmet – Thanks for stopping back with a review. Your vanilla version sounds fabulous! And for such a great cause! Glad to hear they were a hit
Michelle, these look superb, like little explosions of lemon. Fantastic!
Rosie of Books And Bakes
I love your blog!!! I make a version of these that only calls for 4 oz cool whip, 1 egg and a box of cake mix (any flavor). Lemon cake mix is probably my favorite, and I like to add some lemon zest to the dough to amp up the lemon. I’ve made DOZENS of variations, including spice cake mix with finely chopped candied ginger mixed in. Everyone loves my semi-homemade cookies and can never believe it when I tell them how easy they are!
WOW!! Do you think I can try these with oranges/satsumas? They’re an abundance in my backyard!
I’ll admit, these do look good. I’ve never made cake mix cookies. Like you, I prefer to make things from scratch. But I love lemon and I love simple cookies, so I think I need to give these a try.
Hi Jessica – You could definitely substitute orange in this recipe; I hope you enjoy them! Let me know how they turn out!
Hi!
). I was wondering if you could tell me what I could replace it with? pleaseee ^^
I must say that I really love your recipes! In fact I have already done some of them to my friends and they just loved them ! I really wanted to do the lemon burst cookies too but unfortunetly where I live they don’t have lemon cake mix(there was only chocolate and tiramisu
Hi Hiratana,
Thank you for the comment; I’m so thrilled to hear that you enjoy my site! As far as the cookies go, the formulation for the recipe is built on the cookie mix, but you could certainly try it with the chocolate mix and make chocolate cookies, adding in some chocolate chips. And tiramisu cookies sound like they would be divine!
I made these over Christmas and they were a huge hit…as a matter of fact, they were the favorite! I can’t believe how refreshing and light they are…the lemon zest and juice (I used freshly squeezed) made for a truly amazing cookie. thanks for sharing!
Hi Michelle!
We’ve featured your lemon burst cookies these week on http://www.canigettherecipe.com as we discussed and do they ever look fabulous! Thanks again!!!
I love love love lemon and these cookies look adorable. Thanks!
I baked these up last night! They have a perfect texture, and taste great! Thanks!
These are great – I made them for a BBQ and everyone loved them. Thanks!
These just popped up as I was looking at today’s post, and anything lemon catches my eye! My mom used to make them (minus the tweaking) back when the recipe made its debut on the back of Duncan Hines cake mix boxes. I was sent many batches of these little lemon delights back in my college days in the seventies – Mom thought it was so clever to use the cake mix for cookies! Will make these and travel down memory lane and think of my Mom, thanks so much for the memory.
Aw, what a great memory, thank you for sharing Paula! Enjoy the cookies!
I would usually say, “If it’s not chocolate, why bother,” but in this case it’s lemon. After chocolate, I love lemon anything,sweets, meats, soup, anything. This is a great simple, company’s halfway throught the door recipe. Thnx
I whipped up a batch of these for my daughter to take to a cookie exchange party. She was driving in that same day and didn’t have time to bake the cookies herself. These cookies were a HUGE hit at the cookie party, everyone LOVED them! The dough is pretty soft, so I chilled them for a couple of hours before I made balls and rolled them in the powdered sugar. They are just so pretty and the texture is perfect!
So I am really interested in trying these beautiful cookies but I just tried making their chocolate counterpart last night–forming the cookies was such a disaster! I gave up after awhile and ate the rest of the dough by myself. They wound up delicious but the batter is too thin for me to form clean rounds which I can roll in the powdered sugar. Any tips on how to form them to be as pretty as yours?
Molly, I’ve made these a few times now, and I found that I HAVE to chill the dough. Because I was in such a rush, my dough only got a couple of hours chill time, but I returned the unformed dough to the fridge in between reloading the cookie sheets.
If you’re in a rush, put the cookie dough/batter in a freezer safe dish, stash it in the freezer for about 30 minutes and work from the outside of the dish towards the inside and return the dough to the freezer in between.
Good luck, I hope this helps you a bit. These cookies are definitely worth the wait.
Thank you so much! I chilled these in the freezer for about an hour and they rolled relatively cleanly and i now have beautiful lemon cookies. Wonderful suggestions/blog in general!
Happy to help, just my own personal experiences.
These were delicious! I made them for Christmas this year and everyone loved them!
Do you think it would work to add blueberries to batter, or would that mess with the consistency? I’m trying to find some form of lemon/blueberry cookies for a friend’s bday present, and this recipe looks gorgeous.
LOVE the blog!
Hi Rachel, I would use dried blueberries; fresh ones would add too much moisture to the cookies. Sounds delicious!
Dried blueberries are a GREAT idea!
Sue
Hi Michelle,
Maybe I missed it but I was wondering if you could tell me about how many cookies this recipe makes?
Hi Amber, This makes about 30 cookies.
These are by far one of the best tasting cookies ever! Everyone I make them for falls head over heels for them! I was wondering if you have ever made them with lime juice/zest instead of the lemon for lemon lime cookies? It sounded good to me!
Hi Samantha, I’ve never done the lime thing, but if you love lime go for it, I’m sure it would be great!
I am making these with the lime addition tonight! I will let you know how they turn out!
I made these with the addition of lime zest and lime juice and they came out pretty good. I think I added too much lime but they were still tasty.
Wanted to try this lemon cookie first before making them for a housewarming party in a week or so – they were superb. I did have to add 2 T. of all purpose flour to the dough prior to rolling it in the powdered sugar. I live in an area with high elevation and always seem to have to add a tad more flour – worked perfectly without messing with the lemony flavor. Also had to add 5 extra minutes to bake time. Wasn’t until after I made them that I saw the hint about getting the dough really cold first – never thought of that. But wanted those who live up in the mtns. to know that an extra couple tablespoons of flour will help bind it to make balls. Think I rolled mine in a little more powdered sugar as they came out more white than yours appeared to be in the photo. Great pictures by the way – very tempting. Love your blog. I’ll have to try the chocolate flavored ones- husband will LOVE those I’m sure. Thanks!
I only had strawberry cake mix on hand when I tried this recipe and it was incredible, Just like strawberry lemonade. Thank you for introducing me to one of my favorite cookie recipes!!
I’m making these for a cookie exchange; how many cookies come out of one batch? Thank you!
Hi Jordynn, This recipe makes about 30 cookies. Enjoy!
Looks really beautiful. However… cake mix???? Seriously?!
I want to see what I’m putting into my food, not just have box of that and this mixed up.
Hi Marketa,
I didn’t want to use a cake mix either so this is what I did and they turned out great so I thought I’d share. Just mix all of the dry ingredients (except the powdered sugar) first and then continue her original recipe. Use the following ingredients instead of the ones listed in her recipe.
Ingredients:
1/2 cups sugar
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon softened butter
Zest of 3 lemons
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
Just what I was looking for. I can’t wait to try these lemon burst cookies. A zillion thank yous for this recipe.
I was wondering if anyone knows if it makes any difference whether I use Eureka lemons or Meyer lemons or Lisbon lemons? Any opinions on that? Where I live we don’t have easy access to fresh lemons but I can get them if I go online and just google ‘buy lemons online’ and am amazed at what I can order directly from growers. The nice thing about that is that if you order direct from the orchards, the growers pick them right off the trees and ship them direct — a tip I learned from my cousin in North Dakota. This way I get fresh lemons picked from the tree without all the time sitting in cartons, trucks and warehouses.
Candace
Eureka lemons are the ones you most commonly find in grocery stores. Libson lemons are also commonly found in supermarkets but have a higher acidic level then Eureka lemons and are a bit more bitter, but juicy. Meyer lemons are not as common and have the least acidic level and are generally more sweet. When I made this recipe I used Eureka lemons and I thought the recipe turned out great, but I’m sure that Libson lemons would be good as well considering all of the sugar to help ease any bitterness, and Meyer lemons would probably also be good as well if you’re looking for a very sweet lemon cookie