Easy Funfetti Cookie Sandwich Recipe with Cake Mix

Ready for colorful cookies fun enough to be the life of the party? Introducing the jumbo Funfetti cookie sandwich filled with cream cheese frosting and garnished with vibrant sprinkles!

One of the more popular cake mix recipes, Funfetti cookies are thick, gooey, and cheerful. Bake them with a cake mix, spread some icing in the middle, and have the perfect dessert. Easy, gorgeous, and delicious.

This fun treat is perfect for birthday parties, holiday gifts, and teacher appreciation lunches. They look impressive, and because they're so large, one cookie sandwich will satisfy any sweet appetite. 

It's time to make the sandwich you'll be known for. Unleash the sprinkles!

You'll Love This Recipe -- Here's Why

• They'll bring a smile to your family's face. No one can look at Funfetti or even say Funfetti without a boost of cheerfulness.
  
  This special treat packages all that cheer, playfulness, and taste together. It is a one-of-a-kind fun snack idea everyone will love.

• It's an easy recipe to throw together. Forget all the measuring and preciseness. Using a cake mix takes time and stress out of baking.
  
  The cookie dough and frosting come together quickly. And the decorating is as easy as making any sandwich. 

• Funfetti cookies freeze like a dream. You may have a few hefty cookies left over. But no worries. Freeze them for 6 months and enjoy them whenever you like.

Ingredients

You'll need simple ingredients. Here's list broken down by cookies and frosting.

For the Cookies

• Funfetti cake mix. Starting with cake mix is the key to an easy recipe.

• Instant vanilla pudding mix. This secret ingredient makes these easy homemade cookies moist and flavorful.
  
  I tried the recipe with and without the pudding mix. Adding pudding mix improved the flavor noticeably.
  
  After all, you wouldn't want to eat cake made from a mix without doctoring it up first, right? So, don't make cake mix cookies without improving the flavor either.

• Unsalted butter. Melted butter tastes so much better in cookie recipes than vegetable oil. 

• Large eggs. Use room-temperature eggs.

• Sprinkles. Jimmies are the best!

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

This special cream cream frosting won't get thin and runny, thanks to a few proven techniques.

• Unsalted butter, cold, straight from the fridge. Don't use room-temperature butter for this recipe.

• Powdered sugar

• Cream cheese, cool, room temperature

• Heavy cream (use only if the frosting is too thick)

Substitutions

• Use vanilla buttercream frosting in place of the cream cheese frosting.

• Swap out Pillsbury Funfetti boxed cake mix and use Betty Crocker party rainbow chip or King Arthur gluten-free confetti cake mix instead.

• Try white cake mix plus 1 cup of rainbow sprinkles.

RELATED:  See how long cake batter lasts in and out of the fridge.

Variations

• Reduce the size of the cookies and make mini Funfetti cookie sandwiches.

• Make Funfetti cookies with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. Skip the sandwich cookies.

• Bake sugar cookie sandwiches.

• Try Oreo cake mix cookie sandwiches.

• Make a monochromatic treat with a single color of sprinkles. For example, use only pink or blue sprinkles if you're hosting a gender-reveal baby shower.

Equipment

• Nordic Ware cookie sheet (buy here)
• Parchment paper (buy here)
• Large cookie scoop (buy here)
• Cookie ring (buy here)
• Piping bag (buy here)

Directions

Prep, bake, make the frosting, and decorate. Easy. Let's break it down.

Prep Work

• Bring the cream cheese to room temperature so it is ready to mix into frosting. Set it aside while you bake the cookies.

• Preheat the oven and line the baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

• Melt the butter in a medium bowl in the microwave. Set it aside to cool for 2-3 minutes.

• Pour the cake mix and pudding mix into a large bowl. Stir the melted butter and eggs into the dry ingredients.
  
  Scrape the sides of the bowl to thoroughly mix all the ingredients until the dough reaches the desired consistency.

• Stir in the extra sprinkles.

• Rest the dough for 10 minutes, allowing the moisture to be absorbed and the texture to lose some stickiness.

Bake the Cookies

• Scoop the cookie dough balls with a large scoop (2 tablespoons size is ideal). Roll the dough ball in your hands to make it smooth. 

• Space the cookie dough about three inches apart on the lined baking sheet.

• Flatten the balls. Place a square of parchment paper on top of the cookie. Then, press the cookie with the bottom of a round glass. Try to make each cookie the same thickness. 

• Optional: Cut the cookie dough with a 2 to 2½ inch cookie cutter so all the cookies are the same size. Combine all the remaining dough and form more cookies.

• Bake in the oven for 11 to 13 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. The middles may not look completely done, but they will finish baking with the residual heat when out of the oven.

• Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and turn the oven off when all the cookies are done baking.

• Shape the cookies uniformly with a round cookie ring (larger than the cookie). Position the cookie ring around the warm cookie, ensuring that the ring completely encircles the cookie.
  
  With the cookie inside the circle, rotate the ring around the cookie for about 5 seconds. The cookie sides will pull in, making the cookie rounder. Repeat this technique with all the cookies. 

• Place the cookie sheet on a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes.

• Transfer the cookies from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack. Cool them completely.

Make the Frosting

Note: The cream cheese should be at cool room temperature before making the frosting. However, the butter should be cold, straight from the fridge.

• Cut the cold butter into 3 or 4 pieces. Beat the butter in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer on high speed until the butter starts to soften.

• Cream butter with half of the powdered sugar. Beat until the powdered sugar is crumbly and absorbed into the butter.
  
  Then, add the rest of the sugar. Beat until the whole mixture is crumbly and no powdered sugar is left on the bottom of the bowl. 

• Add the cool, room temperature cream cheese and beat on medium speed until combined. If it is too thick, mix in cream (a teaspoon at a time) to thin it out.

• Fill a pastry bag with the frosting.

Assemble the Cookie Sandwiches

Only assemble the sandwiches when the cookies are completely cool.

• Pipe 2 to 3 teaspoons of the frosting on the bottom of a cooled cookie. Spread the frosting evenly on the cookie half.

• Top each iced cookie with a second cookie to make a sandwich. Press gently so the icing slightly extends out of the sides.

• Ice half of the cookies and reserve the other half for the sandwich top.

• Pipe a line of frosting around the cookie perimeter edges. Then drop sprinkles on the wet frosting. Gently press the sprinkles into the frosting, if necessary, so they stick. The cookies now have a colorful border.

• Serve the cookies right away.

Tasty Tips

• Let the cookie dough sit for 10 minutes. At first, the dough will look sticky and a bit oily. But just leaving it for a few minutes will make it the perfect scooping texture.

• Shape the cookies with the cookie ring so your cookies are the same size. This might not be a big deal for other cookies.
  
  But for sandwich cookies, you need two cookies that match each other. Otherwise, your sandwich will look weird.
  
  And if swirling the cookie inside the cookie ring isn't doing the trick, you can cut a larger baked cookie with the cookie cutter. That will guarantee all the cookies are the same size.

• Don't frost warm cookies. You'll have to be patient while the cookies cool down. But if you frost them too soon, the frosting will melt and run.
  
  Then you won't have pretty cookies anymore.

RELATED: Find out how long cake mixes last. They last longer than you think! And even slightly older mixes make fantastic cake mix cookies.

How to Store

Store any remaining cookies in an airtight container in the fridge. Because the cookie sandwiches are made with cream cheese frosting, they need to be refrigerated.

The cookies will last 3 to 4 days before they begin to dry out. For longer storage, freeze them.

How to Freeze

The best way to freeze leftover cookies is by flash-freezing them first. This technique is a better way to keep the frozen cookies from sticking together.

This means you don't have to thaw the whole batch every time you crave a single cookie.

Here's how to do it:

• Place cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. The parchment keeps the cookies from sticking to the pan.

• Freeze for 1 hour.

• Remove the cookies and transfer them to a freezer container or zip-top bag.

• Label the bag and return it to the freezer. Freeze for 6+ months. For even more protection, wrap the cookie sandwiches in plastic wrap before putting them in the container.

Frequently Asked Questions

What to Serve with Funfetti Sandwich Cookies

• A scoop of ice cream. You can never go wrong with cookies and ice cream.

• Hot chocolate. Make a cup of cocoa easily by stirring melted chocolate chips into milk.

• A glass of milk.

Craving More Delicious Cookies?

Here are a few cake mix cookie recipes to drool over.

• Lemon cake mix cookies with lemon juice white chocolate glaze

• Oreo cake mix cookies with simple American buttercream

• Cherry chip cake mix cookies with a splash of almond extract to bring out the cherry flavor

• Butter pecan cake mix cookies with toasted pecans and toffee bits

• Pineapple cookies with pineapple glaze and coconut

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