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Crinkle Grinch cookies are a worthy addition to your festive baking list. If you’re looking for red or green Christmas cookies, these definitely add a touch of fun to your holiday table! Enjoy munching on Grinch cake mix cookies while watching your favourite Christmas movies. Can you think of a better combo than Grinch Christmas cookies and festive movies? Nope, me neither!
These red and green cookies are so fun and festive. They’re easy to whip up and Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without them.
You might also enjoy cranberry lemon pistachio cookies, cranberry pistachio bark and cranberry bliss bars (a Starbucks copycat!)
Grinch heart cookies are soft and cake-like which is no surprise given the main ingredient in the recipe is cake mix. I love adding the little hearts on top, although you can get as creative as you like with easy cake mix cookies.
I usually go for Grinch heart cookies, but you can add literally anything you want. Make them pink with red hearts (for Valentine’s Day) or any other colour you want with literally any other topping or embellishment. I used these large hearts.
What You Need for Easy Cake Mix Cookies
Along with good quality parchment paper sheets you will need the ingredients themselves. A box of vanilla cake mix or white cake mix (if you prefer) pairs up with oil, eggs, and green food colouring. Then you need some icing sugar (also called powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar) for dusting, plus some large heart sprinkles.
I mainly use gel food colourings these days. It gives baked goods a more vibrant colour than liquid food colouring. You can use whichever kind you want. Also if you want to split the dough into two, you can make half green cookies and make the other half red.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!
How to Make Crinkle Grinch Cookies
Grinch Christmas cookies are really quick and easy to make! Cream the cake mix with the oil, eggs and food colouring. At this point you should pop the dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so. This means you will be able to cut out cleaner circles and the cookies will hold their shape better while they cook.
Roll a little ball of the dough in icing sugar. Repeat with the remaining dough. You will get about 20 cookies if you use tablespoon-sized pieces. Now press your heart sprinkles (or whichever embellishment you’re going to use) in the centers. Give them another 5 minutes chilling time in the refrigerator.
Crinkle Grinch cookies take somewhere between 6 to 8 minutes to cook. Then you can leave the grinch cake mix cookies to cool in the pan and then on a wire rack. Now all you need to do is eat them!
Why are They Called Crinkle Cookies?
Perhaps you’re curious about the name. These green Christmas cookies are known by some as crackle cookies or snow-topped mountains. Dirty snowballs is another name, although I prefer Grinch cake mix cookies since they’re green! They expand as they bake, making the pretty crinkles. Hence the name!
Have you read The Grinch book or seen the movie? The original Grinch was black and white and had pink eyes. In 1996 the book was turned into an animation and that’s the first time the Grinch was green. If you want to make black and white cookies with pink hearts (or eyes) go ahead!
Using cake mix is a great shortcut when making cookies. Not only is it ideal for crinkle Grinch cookies but you can use it for other cookie recipes as well. Along with the cake mix you only need oil, eggs, and food colouring, so perhaps you already have all of those. In that case, make those Grinch heart cookies today!
Green Christmas cookies are a wonderful idea for Christmas. Can you think of anything cuter? The kids will love them and the grownups love the taste of Grinch Christmas cookies too. You just can’t go wrong with this tasty snack. Crinkle Grinch cookies might become a fixed Christmas tradition for you in the future and these easy cake mix cookies are certainly simple to put together.
If you like these cake mix cookies, you might also like Cranberry Orange Biscotti, The BEST Chocolate Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs or The Best Christmas Movie List Ever.
Crinkle Grinch Cookies Recipe
Crinkle Grinch Cookies – Easy Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 Box vanilla cake mix
- 1/3 Cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- food coloring, Green
- 1 Sprinkle Icing sugar, for dusting
- 1 Pinch sprinkles, Large heart-shaped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the mixer bowl, cream together cake mix, food coloring, oil, and eggs.
- Chill the dough for 15 minutes.
- Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and then roll in icing sugar.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and press a large heart sprinkle in the middle.
- Place baking sheet and cookies in the fridge to chill for 5 minutes.
- Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.
- Let cool on pan and then remove to cool completely on a wire rack
Notes
Nutrition
Make some leading up to Christmas, then perhaps another batch for Christmas day itself. These disappear fast because they’re cake-like, cute and of course delicious.
Let me know if you make these Crinkle Grinch cookies! If you are looking for other Grinch themed recipes, you might like this adult Very Merry Melon Grinch Green Cocktail or these Grinch Heart Cookies – Stained Glass Window.
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
I make these every year! So cute