Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350F (unless you'd like to chill the dough overnight).

Step 2

In a medium sized microwave proof bowl, melt your butter until it's mostly melted with a few chunks left (this takes about 45-75 seconds in my microwave).

Step 3

Add the sugar and salt and whisk well. This step melts some of the sugar while cooling the butter a bit.

Step 4

Double check that the butter mixture is no longer hot (warm is ok) before adding your eggs — if it's still hot, keep mixing or just leave it to cool for a few minutes. Add the eggs and whisk well to combine.

Step 5

Add the cake mix and combine with a spatula until no lumps of cake mix remain.

Step 6

Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Step 7

Scoop medium-large balls (my scoop is about 2 Tbsp) of the chilled dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving 2" between each (these will spread quite a bit). You'll need to use 2 baking sheets if you don't want them to spread into each other.

Step 8

Sprinkle a bit of finishing salt, like Maldon, onto each cookie, then bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges just start to brown. If baking 2 trays at the same time, you'll need to rotate them halfway through baking.

Step 9

Optional but recommended step: about 8 minutes in, remove the baking sheet(s) from the oven and drop them from about 2-3" up onto your stove or a countertop with a tea towel laid down for protection. This is the "pan banging" technique and will give your cookies a bit more spread/chewiness and those beautiful bakery-style "rings" you're probably familiar with. Return the trays to the oven and continue baking, but repeat this "banging" step every 2-3 minutes until baking is complete, finishing with one last "bang" on the counter once the cookies are taken out for the last time.

Step 10

Let cookies cool on the tray for at least 10-15 minutes to allow them some time to firm up a bit (they'll be quite soft/fragile immediately upon baking).

Step 11

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.