These Monster Crackle Cookies with the googly eyeballs are an update to our easy Gooey Butter Cookies recipe! A boxed cake mix simplifies the process. They’re rolled in granulated sugar instead of powdered to allow the bright colors to shine through and still give a crackle finish. Candy eyeballs are easy to find online or at your local baking supply store.
Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (16.5-ounce or 460g) box white cake mix. See note below if you can’t find exactly this size *
gel food coloring or other high-saturated food coloring. Pictured is green, purple and blue, but your monsters can be any color.
1/4 cup granulated sugar
candy eyeballs (Wilton sells a package of candy eyeballs in various sizes that is perfect for this project)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add cake mix, and stir until well blended.
- Divide dough into 2 or more portions (pictured: 3) and color each portion a different color with your food coloring.
- Roll into 1″ balls and then roll the balls in the granulated sugar. (If dough is too gooey to handle, chill for one hour first). Place 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove before edges start to brown. Cookies are best if, once removed from the oven, and you break a hot one in half, it seems like raw dough in the center. When cooled, this will set up and result in a nice moist cookie. If you break the cookie in half and it seems fully cooked, it will be a little too dry once cooled.
- While cookies are still warm, press the eyeballs randomly into the cookies. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- * Since this recipe was posted, cake mix boxes have shrunk from 16.5 ounces, to, as of this writing, 15.25 ounces. Many “cake mix” recipes don’t work anymore because a box of cake mix is not what it used to be. My advice: use only recipes that specify EXACTLY what size box this was developed for, and avoid any recipes that just call for “1 box of cake mix” without specifying which size. The Cake Decorist has a great in-depth article on this, but in short:
— to turn a 15.25 oz cake mix into an 16.5 oz mix, add in 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour - Photo courtesy of sheri silver.