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It’s that time of the summer where everyone is pulling together the cutest 4th of July parties. Everyone googling decorative red, white, and blue foods. Whether you’re hosting or are just a guest looking to bring a fun treat, these patriotic cake mix whoopie pies are so easy to make. That’s right, just some boxed cake mix, powdered Jello, and a few other simple ingredient. Soon, you are on your way to the perfect Independence Day dessert.
Cake Mix Cookies
The secret to this super simple dessert is using store-bought ingredients. Yes, I said it! If I am pulling together a big July 4th cookout, or any gathering for that matter, I want to cut down my time in the kitchen. I am not afraid of a little shortcut, as long as it still tastes good.
Now, in a large bowl, combine 1 box of store-bought white cake mix with 1 small box (about 3 oz) of blue Jello. To this mixture, add in one egg, 4 oz of softened cream cheese, and 1/4 cup of unsalted softened butter. This is optional, but feel free to add blue gel food dye to this as well for a deeper blue color. Without the dye, the cookie will be a light blue, but I add about 1/2-1 tsp of gel dye. Mix together with a hand mixer until a thick dough forms. The mix will be like set sand at first, but begin to darken and form more of a thick dough the longer you mix.
Repeat the same steps in a separate bowl, but this time swap out the white cake mix for strawberry cake mix, the blue Jello for strawberry or cherry jello, and the blue dye for red. I strongly recommend adding red dye here, or the cookie will come out pink. Once both batches of dough are ready, use a small cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop golfball sized balls of dough on parchment line cookie sheets. You can alternate colors or just cook each color on separate sheets. Just be sure to keep the dough balls about 1-2 inches apart, as they will spread slightly. Bake at 325 for 12-14 minutes, or until the bottoms begin to brown slightly.
Patriotic Whoopie Pies
Allow the cookies for about 5 minutes on the cookie tray, then transfer them to a large plate or platter. Now here comes the second shortcut- store-bought cake frosting. I used about 2 container total of whipped vanilla frosting, but cream cheese or buttercream frosting will work perfect here as well. Fill a piping bag with the frosting of your choice. Next, grab one cookie and pipe about 1-2 heaping tablespoons of frosting on the bottom. Grab another cookie and sandwich it with on top. Squeeze together lightly until the frosting begins to push out of the sides.
I chose to do a few color combinations here, 2 red cookies, 2 blue, and one red and one blue per sandwich. Once all of the whoopie pies have been assembled, you can take it one step further for patriotic flare. I personally always have sprinkles for any occasion in my house. I like to take some red, white, and blue sprinkles and pour them onto a small shallow plate. Then, I roll the sides of the whoopie pies in the sprinkles so they stick to the icing.
Once you have all of your gorgeous patriotic whoopie pies assembled and decorated, you can serve them right away. I personally like to pop them in the fridge until about 10-20 minutes before I am ready to serve them, so the frosting and cake cookies stay firm. These little personal desserts are perfect for your July 4th bash, but feel free to switch off the colors/flavors. Black Forest/dark chocolate cake mix with bright orange icing is perfect for halloween, red velvet cake with green icing for Christmas, or even confetti cake for a birthday! This recipe is so versatile, you will find a way to make it for every party!
Want More Shortcut Dessert Recipes?
- Strawberry Lemon Spring Cupcakes
- Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie
- Grinch Cookies
- Blood Orange Upside Down Cake
- Blueberry Muffin Cake
- Blueberry Cheesecake Popsicles
Patriotic Cake Mix Whoopie Pies
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix about 13oz
- 1 box strawberry cake mix about 13oz
- 1 box (3oz) blue raspberry jello mix
- 1 box (3oz) strawberry or cherry jello mix
- 2 large eggs
- 8 oz softened cream cheese
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- red and blue food dye gel to liking
- 2 containers white or cream cheese frosting 16oz each (4 cups total)
- red, white, and blue sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325℉
- Grab 2 mixing bowls. In one bowl, add the white cake mix, blue raspberry jello powder, 1 egg, 4oz cream cheese, and ¼ cup of softened butter, plus blue food dye gel (optional, based on color preference). Mix until a thick dough forms.
- In a second bowl, add strawberry cake mix, strawberry jello powder, 1 egg, 4oz cream cheese, and ¼ cup of softened butter, plus red food dye gel (optional, based on color preference). Mix until a thick dough forms.
- Using a cookie dough scoop or large tablespoon, form golf ball sized rounds of cookie dough, placing each ball about 1-2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- You can alternate colors or bake separately
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the bottoms begin to brown slightly
- Remove from heat, then leave on baking tray for 10 minutes to cool and continue cooking though. Transfer to a flat plate or tray to cool completely .
- Once cooled completely, grab one cake cookie, pipe one or two heaping tablespoons onto the bottom, then sandwich another cake cookie on top.
- Spread sprinkles on a shallow plate and roll the exposed frosting of each cookie sandwich into the sprinkles.
- Chill until serving or serve at room temperature right away.
