14 Easy Desserts That Start With Boxed Cake Mix

Cookies to dump cakes, and bars to layer cakes to whip up tonight.

By
Devan Grimsrud
Devan Grimsrud
Devan Grimsrud

Devan Grimsrud is a Berlin-based writer, editor, and recipe developer originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. After working in television production with James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Zimmern, she relocated to Berlin and became the managing editor at Kitchen Stories, an international digital cooking platform with millions of active users. 

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Published June 13, 2025
Devan Grimsrud
slices of Easy Berry Chantilly Cake on small plates with forks

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

Whether you're a seasoned home baker or just dipping a toe in, these 14 easy recipes have your back because they all start with a boxed cake mix. You can make quick and easy cake mix cookies or try your hand at a more complicated layer cake. Either way, these are simple recipes you can tackle with confidence!

  • 3-Ingredient Cake Mix Cookies

    Cake Mix Cookies (3 Ingredients) on a cooling rack

    Simply Recipes / Sarah Crowder

    "These three-ingredient cookies are an ideal hack for an easy bake sale or classroom treat and are infinitely adaptable to whatever cake mix and baking extras you have on hand."—Megan Splawn, Recipe Developer

  • Easy Berry Chantilly Cake

    slices of Easy Berry Chantilly Cake on small plates with forks

    Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

    "I really encourage macerating the berries that are added to the top of the cake before the cream for maximum flavor, but you can skip this step if needed and use all fresh berries instead."—Kayla Hoang, Recipe Developer

  • Orange Poke Cake

    Angled view of a slice of orange poke cake and fork on a white and yellow plate with four slices of cake to the side along with a bowl of glaze

    Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

    "What amazes me every time is how incredible this cake tastes for the minimal amount of work. It’s a poke cake, which is a sheet cake that gets poked with a fork when it comes out of the oven and then covered in glaze or syrup that seeps into the holes. This basic technique yields incredibly moist results."—Alison Spiegel, Recipe Developer

  • Hoda Kotb's Ritz Cracker Cake

    Hoda's Ritz Cracker Cake

    Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

    "Not only was the cake a sweet counterpart to the salty crackers, it emphasized the unmistakable butter and salt flavor of the Ritz crackers I know and love."—Mark Beahm, Recipe Developer

    Continue to 5 of 14 below

  • 2-Ingredient Angel Bars

    Squares of powdered sugar topped bar dessert arranged closely

    Simply Recipes

    "This recipe works best with Betty Crocker brand’s “just add water” angel food cake mix. I’ve tried it with other store-bought brands, and the end result was still tasty, but the texture was too fluffy and cake-like."—Jessica Furniss, Recipe Developer

  • Strawberry Kiss Cookies

    Overhead view of strawberry chocolate kiss cookies on a white background

    Simply Recipes / Jessica Furniss

    "The soft and chewy texture of these cookies relies on not over-mixing or over-baking them. Use a spatula to mix the dough until everything is just incorporated into the dough so it looks like play dough. When you bake the cookies, you’ll know they’re done when they no longer look wet and they don’t jiggle. I like to pull them out before the edges start to turn brown."—Jessica Furniss, Recipe Developer

  • Wine Cake

    My Mom's Wine Cake bundt on a platter with two slices cut

    Simply Recipes / Photo by Julia Gartland / Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

    "My mom has always been a practical baker. She has a Rolodex of tried-and-tested recipes collected from family and friends, and she has a tightly curated rotation for school bake sales, events, and entertaining. One of my sibling's and my favorite recipes is wine cake, an incredibly plush, close-crumbed golden center with its thin ring of deep brown crust. It just happens to require just six ingredients and can be assembled in 10 minutes flat."—Erika Kwee, Recipe Developer

  • Chocolate Dump Cake

    Overhead view of a baking dish of baked batter for Chocolate Dump Cake recipe on a tan countertop

    Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

    "Whether eaten warm with ice cream or with a spoon hunched over the baking dish, this quick-to-assemble cake is hard to resist and deeply satisfying for chocolate lovers of all kinds."—Kayla Hoang, Recipe Developer

    Continue to 9 of 14 below

  • Halfway Homemade Coconut Cake

    Angled view of a gray plate of coconut cake with a fork on a gray countertop

    Simply Recipes / Micah Siva

    "Don’t substitute low-fat or coconut milk beverage in this recipe. This cake works because of the addition of full-fat canned coconut milk. Adding a high-fat liquid in place of water helps to shorten the cake, or prevent gluten strands from forming, leaving you with an irresistibly tender crumb."—Micah Siva, Recipe Developer

  • Cake Pops

    Cake Pops on Plate with One Partially Eaten

    Simply Recipes / Claudia Cash

    "Use candy melt circles for your chocolate coating. I used Ghirardelli in this recipe, but have used Wilton, and even bulk candy melts. Using regular chocolate will cause the cake pops to melt in your hands."—Claudia Cash, Recipe Developer

  • 2-Ingredient Pumpkin Quickies

    Pumpkin quickies on a cooling rack (some are plain and some were upgraded using demerera sugar and chocolate chips

    Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

    "An accidental bonus of this recipe? They’re vegan. The pumpkin provides all of the moisture, so there’s no egg or dairy."—Laurel Randolph, Associate Editorial Director

  • My 1-Ingredient Upgrade for Any Boxed Cake Mix

    close-up of the texture of vanilla cake

    Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

    "All you need to do is add 1/2 cup of full-fat ricotta into the mix when you whisk up the wet ingredients called for on the back of the box. Add the dry baking mix and fold until combined, then bake as directed."—Molly Adams, Recipe Developer

    Continue to 13 of 14 below

  • Apple Dump Cake

    A serving of apple dump cake topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a white rimmed blue plate

    Simply Recipes / Molly Allen

    "For this recipe, my go-to apple is Honeycrisp, which has a nice balance of tart and sweet. Granny Smith is another great apple option with a tart flavor profile, along with Gala and Braeburn."—Molly Adams, Recipe Developer

  • Easy Jam Cake

    A square piece of the Easy Jam Cake on a pnik an white plate, with a piece of the corner cut off with a fork, also on the plate with some frosting still attached to the fork

    Simply Recipes / Photo by Julia Gartland / Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne

    "Be gentle and sparse when swirling the jam or it all sinks to the bottom. It’ll still taste great if you go overboard."—Laurel Randolph, Associate Editorial Director

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