Soft and fluffy chocolate rolo cookies filled with rich gooey caramel. Only 5 simple ingredients including a devil’s food cake mix makes these so easy whip up with an amazing soft and chewy texture.
Love soft and chewy chocolate cookies? Try brownie mix cookies, triple chocolate cookies or chocolate crinkle cookies, too!
Table of Contents
Chocolate Cake Mix Cookie
Rolo cookies combine the chewy goodness of a chocolate cookie with the rich caramel flavor of Rolo candies. I made a few tweaks to my favorite cake mix cookie recipe to create these cookies with a soft and gooey caramel center surrounded by a warm chocolatey cookie and they are absolutely the best!
These rolo cookies are SUPER simple to make and are my new favorite indulgence! Who wouldn’t love a little chocolate caramel surprise in the middle of a rich chocolate cookie?! It’s perfection, just like in my salted caramel chocolate chip cookies!
The texture is super soft and fluffy from the cake mix, with the perfect ratio of rich caramel to chocolate. I also love to roll my cookie dough balls in powdered sugar to add an extra hint of sweetness. Now don’t you just want to take a bite?!
5 Simple Ingredients!
These homemade rolo cookies are the perfect combination! Using the cake mix saves time and ingredients. They are easy to make and come together easily with these five simple ingredients!
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Cake mix: Devil’s Food cake mix gives these cookies a deep, rich chocolate flavor. You can always use a box of regular chocolate cake mix, however, the chocolate flavor won’t be as bold. This will create a flour mixture with all the dry ingredients.
- Oil: Vegetable oil works best in this recipe and keeps the texture super moist and delicious.
- Eggs: Add in 2 large eggs (even if the package calls for a different number of eggs, only add in 2).
- Rolo caramels: These get stuffed in the middle of each cookie. I like to unwrap them all first before getting started on the dough.
- Powdered sugar: For an extra hint of sweetness, the cookies are rolled in powdered sugar right before baking. You don’t have to do this, but it definitely makes a difference!
How to Make Rolo Cookies with Cake Mix
These four steps will make the best rolo cookies in minutes! Rolo drop cookies have a caramel center that bursts with flavor once you bite into it. It is a sweet and savory cookie!
- Dough. In a large mixing bowl, stir together cake mix, oil, and eggs until combined. Then place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill (this will make the dough easier to work with since it’s a bit sticky).
- Stuff. Using a medium cookie scoop or spoon, scoop out the dough into your hands. Roll it into a loose ball shape, then add a Rolo candy in the middle. Wrap the dough around the candy, making sure the Rolo is covered completely.
- Roll. Then roll it into a ball again and coat it with powdered sugar. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake. Bake in oven at 350°F for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookies are set. You don’t want them to brown. Allow to cool on the pan for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a cooling wire rack.
Baking Tips
These helpful baking tips are the perfect ways to make these chocolate rolo cookies even better! Follow these quick tips to learn how to make the dough just right. Rolo cookies are the best!
- Chill the dough: This makes the dough easier to work with since it’s a bit sticky at first.
- More chocolate flavor: Add in chocolate chips for an extra chocolaty taste (about 1/2 cup).
- No powdered sugar? No problem! I like the extra sweetness it adds, but the rolo cookies will still taste delicious without it.
- Leftover candy: If you have extra rolo candies leftover, try making these rolo pretzels or rolo pretzel turtles. It’s the perfect easy way to use them!
- Salt: Add a sprinkle of sea salt over top for an extra flavor!
Recipe FAQs
When mixing the ingredients together, make sure to not overmix. This will leave your cookies dry and fall apart when baked. Warm up in the microwave to help soften the rolo cookies.
Skip the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and unsweetened cocoa powder and just use a cake mix with all the dry ingredients.
Rolos came out in 1937 in a gold foil tube. It is a chocolate candy with caramel on the inside.
5 star review
“These cookies are sooo amazing! We’re seriously obsessed! Thanks for sharing!”
-Chelsea
Make-Ahead + Freezing
You will love these rolo cookies chilled or at room temperature! They are easy to make ahead of time or keep in an airtight container until ready to enjoy. Take your cookies to the next level with these rolo-filled cookies!
- Make-ahead: You can easily make the dough ahead of time and freeze it. Simply roll the dough into balls, then freeze on a baking sheet for 30 minutes. Once hard, place dough balls into a zip-top bag and freeze. Then remove from the freezer and bake!
- Freezing: These rolo cookies also freeze well after they’re baked. Let cool completely, then place in a freezer bag and freeze.
More Cookie Recipes to Try
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Rolo Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounce box Devil's Food cake mix
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 bag Rolo candies
- powdered sugar (for rolling the dough balls)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine the cake mix, oil and eggs in a large bowl. Stir together until combined. Then chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (this will make the dough easier to work with since it's a bit sticky).
- Using a medium cookie scoop or spoon, scoop out the dough into your hands. Roll it into a loose ball shape, then add a Rolo candy in the middle. Wrap the dough around the candy, making sure the Rolo is covered completely. Then roll into a ball again and coat with powdered sugar. Place dough balls on baking sheet.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookies are set. You don’t want them to brown. Allow to cool on the pan for a couple minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Notes
- To make-ahead: You can easily make the dough ahead of time and freeze. Simply roll the dough into balls, then freeze on a baking sheet for 30 minutes. Once hard, place dough balls into a zip top bag and freeze. Then remove from freezer and bake!
- Freezing: These rolo cookies also freeze well after they’re baked. Let cool completely, then place in a freezer bag and freeze.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: 5 Ingredients Or Less, American, Cake Mix Cookies, Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies, Cookies, Desserts, Freezer-Friendly
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
I made these cookies with Devils Food Cake mix & they were delicious!
The only thing I did differently was add in a step…
when they came out of the oven there was a big “hump” in the middle where the Rolo was placed. I used my spatula to lightly press down on each cookie to spread the caramel a bit.
I got exactly 24 cookies which pleased me to no end, because rarely does that happen when following other’s recipes.
Highly recommend… this is a keeper!!
Love these
So happy to hear you love the Rolo cookies!
I know this recipe has been around for a while, but I’d like to know how you’d adjust this for the modern cake mix size. My box is now 13.5 oz.
It should still work fine, many brands are still the larger size (such as Pillsbury and many store brands).
Oh Santa baby!! Made these today with a German chocolate cake mix I had on hand, and dark chocolate salted caramel rolos. Then I gave them just a little “push” to flatten the tops enough to hold some Christmas sprinkles and a tiny bit of coarse salt. So good I might not get them delivered to friends and family! Wish I’d found this recipe when I was still participating in a 12-person cookie exchange. So simple and oh so good!
Love this review! Thank you and so glad you enjoyed the Rolo cookies.
That gooey caramel when you take a bite of one of these it THE BEST! Love this great recipe!
Looks fantastic. I know my family would love this!
I am just drooling over these pictures! Gathering all the ingredients today and making them ASAP!