I took my first bite of gooey butter cake while living in Missouri as a college student.

I had never heard of this dessert, but when it has the words gooey, butter and cake in its description? Count me in!

Related: 15 Homemade Cake Recipes I Love

During my years at Mizzou, I sampled quite a few pieces of this sinfully delicious dessert, which is believed to have originated in St. Louis.

But when I tried this recipe, I found the one I REALLY loved.

This recipe was given to me by a friend’s mom after I spent time at their home during a weekend break.

I kept raving about how good her cake tasted and she made sure I went home with the recipe.

It’s not quite as “wet” as other butter cake recipes I’ve tried. I like that this recipe has a bit more cake around it, but still all of the yummy cream cheese filling.

And if you want a recipe in your routine that is easy to make last minute and contains a lot of pantry staples, then this cake is the dessert for you!

This easy gooey butter cake is simple to make.
Yield: 15 pieces

Gooey Butter Cake

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 box Golden Butter Yellow Cake Mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 sticks butter (1/2 lb.) softened
  • 1 8 oz. brick cream cheese, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 16 oz. box powedered (confectioners) sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 13x9 pan.
  2. In a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer bowl) add cake mix, 2 eggs and 2 sticks of softened butter. Mix until smooth. The mixture will be thick.
  3. Place mixture into greased pan. Lightly butter hands and press the mixtures evenly in pan.
  4. In separate bowl, use mixer to blend the cream cheese to smooth. Then add eggs and vanilla. Continue to mix until smooth.
  5. Add powdered sugar to cream cheese mixture slowly until incorporated well.
  6. Pour cream cheese filling over cake mixture in pan. Use spatula to smooth and spread evenly.
  7. Bake for 40-45 minutes until cake edges become light golden brown and cake still has a bit of a "jiggle" to it.
  8. Let cool and serve.
  9. Store Refrigerated for 5 days.

Notes

This is a great basic recipe for gooey butter cake and you can play around with the flavors. Add shredded coconut to the cake mixture. Try using a chocolate cake mix and add chocolate chips. Have fun coming up with new ideas!

More Easy Desserts

If you’re looking for a few more easy dessert ideas, check out my no-bake cherry cheesecake and my no-bake blueberry cheesecake pie.

I guess I have a thing for cheesecake-type desserts…

Please let me know if you give the gooey butter cake recipe a go. I’m happy to bring you a piece of the Show Me State.

Enjoy!

From my kitchen to yours,

Jill

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