Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Hershey's Kisses are soft and chewy, delicious cookies with a pretty pink color and sweet strawberry flavor. Fast, easy recipe that stirs together in minutes -- perfect treat for Valentine's Day and baby showers.
For more pretty pink treats, try Strawberry Popcorn and Strawberry Rice Krispie Bars next!
These soft, chewy strawberry cookies with Hershey's Kisses are ridiculously delicious and cute -- not to mention giving off serious chocolate-covered strawberry vibes. Best part? It's the easiest cookie recipe ever.
❤️You're Going to Love These
- Delicious strawberry cake mix cookies with a soft, chewy texture
- Truly easy strawberry cake cookies -- no need to haul out the mixer or chill the dough.
- Fast, easy dessert with a handful of simple ingredients.
- Impressive-looking, pretty pink cookies with minimal effort
- Easy cookie recipe you can customize with a different flavor of cake mix and Hershey's Kisses
🍓Ingredients
See recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and exact amounts.
- Strawberry cake mix. I used a 13.25 oz. box of Betty Crocker Super Moist Strawberry Cake Mix. Other brands may be a different size. For the best results, add or remove extra cake mix to get to 13.25 oz.
- Flour. A little flour adds more body to the cookie dough and keeps them from spreading.
- Egg and egg yolk. The additional egg yolk adds rich texture without the white, which can cause cookies to spread.
- Hershey's Hugs or Kisses. Hershey's Hugs are made with milk and white chocolate, which taste great with strawberry. Plus the stripes are visually striking. Use any flavor of Hershey Kisses or Hearts or Dove Promises or Dove Hearts.
🍰Substitutions or Variations
- Cake mix. Try different cake mix flavors! Lemon, red velvet, or chocolate cake mix cookies would all be delicious.
- Hershey's Kisses. Keep the chocolate strawberry cookie flavor going with milk or dark chocolate Kisses, or try Birthday Cake or Strawberry Ice Cream Kisses. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Dove Promises, chocolate stars, or any small chocolates can also be used.
- Thumbprint cookies. Skip the Hershey's Kiss and make a thumbprint cookie filled with melted dark or white chocolate, cream cheese frosting, buttercream frosting, strawberry jam, or lemon curd. For the thumbprint, follow the same process in this Candy Cane Shortbread Cookie recipe.
- Drizzle. Add a drizzle of melted white chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips -- either over the Hershey's Kisses or skip the kiss and go with the drizzle instead.
🥣How to Make Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Hershey's Kisses
Step 1: Combine dry cake mix and flour in a large mixing bowl, and whisk to get rid of any lumps. Add the melted butter, eggs, and extracts and stir with a sturdy spoon until combined.
Step 2: With a small cookie scoop or ice cream scoop, scoop 1 tablespoon portions of dough and roll them into balls. Roll the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar and place them 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Step 3: Bake 8-10 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 degrees until the edges are set and the bottoms are very light golden brown. Cool the cookies on the pan for 2 minutes, then gently press a Hershey's Kiss into the center of each cookie.
Step 4: Carefully transfer the cookies to a plate or cooling rack and place them in the refrigerator until the chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes.
👉Top Tip: These are no-chill cookies, so you can bake them right away. If, for whatever reason, your first batch spreads, chill the dough for 30 minutes. If that doesn't help, knead in a little more flour -- start with a tablespoon.
☑️Tips
- Cool the butter after melting so it doesn't scramble the eggs or make the dough too soft.
- If the dough is too soft to easily roll into balls, chill it for 10-15 minutes.
- The Hershey's Kiss will melt on the cookie, then firm up again, which can take up to 2 hours. To speed this up and keep the Kisses from drooping, place the baked cookies in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up the chocolate.
- Be careful not to overbake the cookies. The ideal internal temperature of a baked cookie is around 190.
🎁Storage
- Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for about one week.
- Freeze baked cookies or unbaked cookie dough balls in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw cookie dough in the fridge.
📅Make Ahead
- Store cookie dough covered in the fridge for up to one day.
- Freeze unbaked cookie dough balls in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge, then bake as directed.
❓FAQs
Yes. These are the easiest cookies to customize to your taste. Just swap out strawberry cake mix for a different flavored box of cake mix and make chocolate, lemon, or red velvet cake mix cookies instead! Use your favorite flavor of Hershey's Kisses or chocolate stars -- or make thumbprint cookies and fill the centers with jam, ganache, or lemon curd.
Cake mix sizes are all over the place right now. There are many hacks out there about adding flour or adding flour and sugar to make up the difference. The most reliable method to get any cake mix recipe to turn out as instructed is to adjust your cake mix to the exact size of the cake mix in the recipe -- whether that means buying an extra box and adding a little more or taking some away.
No. There is no need to chill the dough. If, for some reason, your first batch of cookies does spread (I always recommend making a test cookie first!), chill the dough for 30 minutes. If it still spreads, try kneading in a tablespoon of flour.
🎆More Strawberry Dessert Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Hershey Kisses
Ingredients
- 1 box strawberry cake mix (13.25 oz.) I used Betty Crocker
- ¼ cup flour
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 28 Hershey's Hugs or Hershey's Kisses
- ¼ cup sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk the cake mix and flour together to remove any lumps. Add the melted butter, egg and egg yolk, and extracts. Stir with a sturdy wooden spoon until combined.
- Scoop dough into 1 tablespoon portions and roll into balls. Roll the cookie balls in sugar and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are set and the bottoms are very light brown. Internal temperature should read 190. Cool cookies on the pan for 2 minutes, then gently press a Hershey's Hug into the center. Carefully transfer the cookies to a plate and place it in the fridge until the chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes.
Notes
- Cool the butter after melting so it doesn't scramble the eggs or make the dough too soft.
- If the dough is too soft to easily roll into balls, chill it for 10-15 minutes.
- If, for whatever reason, your first batch spreads, chill the dough for 30 minutes. If that doesn't help, knead in a little more flour -- start with a tablespoon.
- Place the baked cookies in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up the chocolate.
- Be careful not to overbake the cookies. The ideal internal temperature of a baked cookie is around 190.
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