This post is sponsored by my friends at Minerva Dairy, but all opinions expressed are my own – just as always. Thanks for supporting the brands that support me and my family.
My primary goal with Southern Bite is to get folks back to the table. I do that by providing my readers with recipes that are quick and easy and recipes that I can improve upon and make even more delicious. This recipe for Better Gooey Butter Cake is both of those. It’s a cinch to make and I’ve worked to update the classic recipe to make it gooier and more buttery.
My mom has been making gooey butter cake for as long as I can remember. It was one of my favorite desserts as a kid.
Now while there are conflicting stories about exactly how the confection came into existence, it seems that St. Louis was the birthplace. My grandparents lived just outside of St. Louis and I’m guessing that’s where Mom got her recipe. The stories almost all involve a bakery claiming fame to the dessert, so I would imagine it didn’t call for a cake mix. But if the dish was as popular as it seems, I’m sure home cooks were eager to recreate it in their own kitchens. Cake mixes are affordable, readily available, and have all the ingredients already mixed together, so it makes sense that they reached for that as a shortcut.
I happen to be a huge fan of the flavor of a yellow cake mix, like in my Pineapple Juice Cake, so I think it contributes perfectly to the flavor of gooey butter cake.
My primary problem with this recipe in the past is that often the bottom cake layer seems dry. While admittedly my baking knowledge is limited, one thing that I do know from making countless cakes is that a combination of butter and vegetable oil in cake produces a more moist, flavorful, pleasantly textured cake. Butter adds tons of amazing flavor and vegetable oil keeps the cake moist. So I like using both.
With this, I opted to use some vegetable oil in the bottom layer and chose a great butter – I mean it is called Gooey BUTTER Cake, right? So it stands to reason you’d use some seriously delicious butter.
The Minerva Dairy butter I used in this recipe has a higher fat content than traditional butter, is made from pasture-raised cow’s milk from family farms, and is made in America’s oldest family-owned dairy. It’s better butter all around. I also chose to use salted butter – which is something I rarely do. But in this case, the salted butter helps to offset the sweetness of the dessert.
Can you use unsalted butter? Of course!
A few things to keep in mind:
A great butter makes a difference. Choose real butter, not margarine, for the best flavor.
Using room temperature ingredients allows everything to combine easily and more completely.
Starting by creaming the cream cheese ensures it’s going to mix more completely and won’t clump up.
Recipe Card
Better Gooey Butter Cake
Ingredients
For the cake layer:
- 1 (15.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
- 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
For the gooey layer:
- 1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- additonal powdered sugar for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, butter, oil, and eggs until combined. The mixture will be thick. Spread it evenly into the bottom of the prepared dish.
- Next, place the cream cheese in a large bowl. Use a mixer to stir the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter, eggs, and vanilla and mix well. Gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing well after each addition. Pour the mixture over the cake layer and spread evenly.
- Bake for about 40 minutes or until the edges are brown but the center is still jiggly. Allow to cool completely before slicing into squares. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar, if desired.
Nutrition
* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
Dakota
This was a family favorite when I was a kid. We tried different cake mixes but my personal favorite was the lemon cake mix. I haven’t made them in years and was tickled to see it pop up on my Pinterest! Currently making this now! Thanks for sharing!!
Hope it’s just as delicious as you remember!
Tara
Ok…I don’t know what I did wrong. I never have issues baking, but this did not turn out at all. I followed the directions to a T. Any suggestions?
It’s hard to tell from the picture. What seems to be the issue?
Judith
I can’t believe I found this recipe. A deli/bakery in Rehoboth Beach, DE where I live called Frank & Louie’s sells little three inch tarts called butter cakes. Your recipe is dead on to their decadent little cakes. I include them in gift baskets to friends. Now, I can make them. They also sell a chocolate version which I am going to try and duplicate. I’ll let you know. Thank you so much for sharing this incredible recipe. Love your website!
Thanks so much, Judith! I’d love to hear how the chocolate version turns out!
Valerie Lindsey
Can i make the cake part from scratch. I never use box cake
( my grandmommy would not be pleased)
I can’t say for sure, Valerie. I’ve only ever done it this way.
Jenn
I followed the recipe, and wasn’t sure of the pan size or using glass etc… I’m going to use strawberries because they are in season. Thanks for a great recipe!!! I hope my Mother-in-law enjoys it!!
Hey, Jenn! It looks perfect! Hope your mother-in-law enjoyed it, too! The recipe calls for a 9×13-inch baking dish. Glass, ceramic, or metal all all work.
Teresa
These are so good! Took them to church and had to send the recipe to several of my friends. As you can see, there weren’t many left.
Wonderful! Empty dishes are my favorite! So glad everyone enjoyed these, Teresa!
Suellen Dehnke
Just wanted you to know Stacey that I made this for my Seniors Bible Study this week and it was a hit! I’ve made them from scratch before but yours are better.
Wonderful! Thank you so much! And thanks for including a picture!
Elizabeth Pickett
Do you think it would work with keto cake mix and sugarfree powdered sugar?
I’ve not tried that, so I can’t say for sure.
Kari
This was my first time making Gooey Butter Cake but, it won’t be my last. This cake was delicious, even my husband, who isn’t a big fan of cake, liked it. The Gooey Butter Cake is so yummy! I made it exactly as this recipe is posted and it did get slightly over baked but I’ll just shave 5 minutes off the bake time the next time that I make it. Definitely will make this again.
Incredible! Love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed it!
Shante’
I love these! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
It looks amazing, Shante’!
LaDawnia Diaz
Do you think it would be possible to cook in individual ramekins? How much time would you say it should cook instead of the 40 mins suggested.
I don’t see why not – though in the smaller format, you might find it not as “gooey.” When it comes to time, I’m just not sure, since I haven’t tested it. I would guess to start checking it about 20 minutes in.
Debbi
Just took butter cake out of oven & it was somewhat puffy. After a few minutes it sort of sunk in the middle. I used a Betty Crocker yellow cake mix & all ingredients were room temp. Hope it’s ok because It smells fabulous, can’t wait for it to cool 😋
That’s totally normal. Hope you enjoyed it! thanks for sharing a pic!
Michael Brown
It turned out fantastic I would always buy the at the counter in the Gas Station thanks to you I can save that $2.19 and make a delicious one at home!
This looks absolutely perfect! Thanks for sharing!
Judy
Hey Stacey, This is so close to what we call here in Central Kentucky “Chess Bars Cake ( or just Chess Bars)”. My doesn’t have the vegetable oil in the cake and use 4 eggs instead of 2 nor is there any eggs in the top layer or gooey layer that you call it. Plus I do not dust powder sugar on top either. I attached at picture showing what the top of my cake looks like and comparing they look all most alike! I know yours would have to be good because my whole family loves Chess Bars here! Keep up the great recipes!
Thanks for sharing, Judy!
Debbie Caraballo
Hi Stacy! I made this cake for a family get together and you’re right! It was truly better! We’ve been making this cake for 40 years (our recipe was called Chess Cake) and your couple of small differences did improve it! Thanks so much! Btw, I did see you on Guy’s Grocery Game! You did so well!
Thanks for watching, Debbie! I’m so glad to hear y’all enjoyed it!
ANDREA V
I’ve never had butter cake. I went to a restaurant yesterday and they had it on the desert menu. My mom wanted to share it and it was so yummy. I wanted my husband to try it and o found this recipe. I thought I had all the ingredients but i was short on powdered sugar. I didn’t have 4 cups of powdered sugar. I used 2.5 cups. It’s in the oven right now. We will see how it turns out. Fingers crossed.
Hope it turned out great for you!
Gooey butter cake enthusiast
My hubby is from St Louis and LOVES gooey butter cake. After searching for the Dierberg’s recipe (The Best of the Best according to him) and not finding it, then trying Paula Dean’s, I found this one. Let me tell you, there is no better gooey butter cake out there than this one! I finally found the Dierberg’s recipe recently and it isn’t as good as this one! (Thank you for not making me mess with lemon rind!). I am not much in the kitchen, but I can follow this and make a gooey butter cake that makes even the native St Louis folk think it’s the real deal!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed my version so much!!
Maud Essen
Absolutely inauthentic. A real gooey butter cake has a yeasted pastry to offset the gooey butter topping.
Hey, Maud! I didn’t claim it to be authentic… just delicious!
CT
Yea it’s magically delicious 🤤
🙂
Tania
Very good respond.
Thanks, Tania! I just don’t get why folks enjoy being so dang rude!?
Gayla
I’ve used this recipe for many years and it is definitely a keeper. I’ve also substituted strawberry and chocolate cake mixes for the yellow. Always turns out delicious 😋
So glad to hear you’ve enjoyed it!
Jackie
I made these and they turned out perfect! Thank you
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know. Glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
Kimberly Bostic
My son in law asked for a gooey butter cake for his birthday this year. I honestly hadn’t made one in 10 years so when I saw this recipe (extra butter) I decided this was it! I also used the hint you gave about the crust and straw! Mike said it was the best he’d ever had and the rest of the family loved it as well! This will be a keeper for our family!
I’m so glad! Thank you!
Shaune
I’m late to the party, but I’ll share my 30+ year secret with you on the crust. Once I’ve patted it into the pan, I take a drinking straw and twist so many holes in it that it looks like it was hit with buckshot! It still holds up perfectly, but the crust is PERFECTION! I’m always asked why mine is so much better, well now the secret is out, lol!
Look at you sharing secrets!! What does this do to the crust?
Nancy May
Shaune, can you tell me the purpose of punching holes with a straw?
William Kirchner
I baked mine in a ceramic rectangular pan, proper size. I followed the recipe to a tee. I baked it for 40 minutes, it browned around the edge and kind of poofed up slightly. I let it cool for an hour and it felt cool, however, when I cut it, it was still totally runny in the middle, the cake also came up around the edges. It was totally ruined unfortunately. I have no idea where I went wrong. Since the style cake it is with the kind of layer the top is, I’m assuming poking it with a toothpick is not going to tell you much. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Also, the 4 cups of powdered sugar is a 32oz. bag, correct? It seemed correct when I put it in the oven, but I failed miserably. I’m going to try it again tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Sorry to hear you had trouble. Unfortunately, the toothpick trick will not work for this recipe. Also, if you used a 32 oz bag of powdered sugar that is actually approximately 8 cups.
Britt
I’m confused? 32oz is 4 cups… 8 cups is 64oz. Mine also came out super runny so I’m cooking it way longer but it won’t be as good.
The confusion comes in because we’re talking about two different types of measurements – ounces by weight and ounces by volume. They aren’t the same. A 32-ounce bag of powdered sugar is sold by weight. When we measure 1 cup of powdered sugar, that’s 8 ounces by volume. Is that clear as mud now?
MARY-ANN DE LOOR
Hi William,
I was pondering your comment and wondered if you perhaps used Light Cream Cheese instead of Regular Cream Cheese? This would
definitely account for the recipe not turning out as planned.
Hope the next one is perfection! Good luck
Interesting thought! I hadn’t considered that!
Mandy Lane
This is in response to the white chocolate raspberry ooey gooey butter cake. If you use any flavor of extract such as raspberry, you can leave out the raspberry jam if you’re watching sugar intake or purée fresh raspberries along with a stabilizer and spread evenly over the top of the whole cake before baking. For more kudos, use a chopstick to make swirls. This can be done with peanut butter, chocolate and any preserves. I adore white chocolate raspberry cheesecake and loved that someone mentioned this!
That sounds great!. Thanks for sharing.
Ashley Wilcox
This butter cake recipe was easy enough & turned out amazing!! Everyone that was lucky enough to try it, said it was the best thing they ever tasted. I used the same mixing bowl for easy clean up. I added a little butter flavored vanilla & served it with fresh strawberries, vanilla bean ice cream & homemade whipped cream. I’m trying this recipe out with a box of lemon cake next served with a fresh blueberry mash. Thank you for sharing!
Hey Ashley! I’m so glad to hear that it turned out great for you! Love the lemon and blueberry idea! Can’t wait to hear how that version turns out!
Ashley Wilcox
I forgot to update you on the lemon, my apologies! I used a lemon cake mix, added fresh lemon zest & juice from the lemon & it turned out fantastic! Served it with a blueberry reduction😋
I’m actually baking 2 of your cakes as I type for a birthday tomorrow. Thank you for your response!
That sounds amazing!
Paul Eisemann
No cake could ever compare to your mom’s butter cake! It is profoundly special in that your mother made it and shared that joy of life with you and others.
As a baker of 45 years and having working with hundreds of experienced bakers in the Philadelphia area I can share with you the popular item that I have not seen anywhere but the Philadelphia area. It is a sweet dough(cinnamon bun dough) bottom. The topping is made with butter, shortening, milk, a touch of flour top stabilize it, eggs and a small amount of water, creamed up lightly. It is a product produced by a small handful of old school German bakers.
That sounds amazing!!
Dee Baker
Best cake I ever made & so easy. Everyone who has eaten it wants it again & again. Making my 3rd one this week. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
That’s great! I love hearing that!
Jerry Steen
My “cake layer” flowed up around the edges as it baked – it looks fabulous and tastes great but not like your pictures. Definitely no longer a bar type presentation. What did I do weird? Thanks
Well, at least is tasted good. What kind of baking dish did you use? Metal? Glass? Ceramic?
TERESA SLOAN
I made this recipe, however, I used coconut oil instead of nonstick cooking spray and in place of vegetable oil. It turned out awesome!!
Glad you enjoyed this!!
Nicky
Do you think that I can bake this in a bundt pan?
I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think it would work very well. Increasing the surface area of the pan will probably mean you won’t end up with that ooey, gooey texture. I also worry about it sticking.
Kay
I followed the recipe but as the cake cooled, it collapsed completely in the pan. Any suggestions?
It will collapse at it cools, so I think you did it perfectly.
Jarred
It’s delicious, however mine bubbled up and spilled out of the glass pan all over my stove. What went wrong here lol?
I’m honestly not sure, Jarred. I’ve made this probably hundreds of times and never had that problem. What kind of baking dish/pan did you use?
Nicole
I had this same issue! I used a glass pyrex 9×13 dish. It only went over a little bit, but I had to pull it out of the oven after 35 minutes. It created almost a solid crust layer and then it bubbled up and elevated that “crust”. The outside was brown but instead of the center being jiggly still, the entire “crust” layer was sliding around. One of the eggs I used I think was a bit old, but I don’t think it would necessarily cause this issue.
Do you happen to recall what brand of cake mix you used?
Nicole
My appologies! I didn’t mean the “crust” as in the cake layer. That was fine. I meant the hardened crust that formed on the top of the top gooey layer. I ended up putting it back in the oven for an additional 7 minutes to try and get the estimated 40 (compensating for the cooling out of the oven) and since it had some time to settle a bit before I put it back in, it didn’t spill over again. The inside was still a bit runny, but I put it in the fridge and it firmed up enough to have defined “bars” when cut. I don’t know if it ended up as intended, but it got great accolades from my family and coworkers. The top layer as it was baking almost a foam. Is it possible to have overwhipped it?
Gotcha. No worries! I suppose that it could have been over-mixed being that there are eggs in it. That could have been the issue. Regardless, I’m glad everyone enjoyed it!
Lonise principe
How do you store the cake
In refrigerator .?
Yes, you can store this in the fridge if you’re not going to eat it right away.
Riley
I have never made a butter cake before.. and this one was so incredibly easy and delicious! 10/10 crispy and gooey !
Love hearing that! So glad it turned out great for you!!
LM
Hate to tell you, but this is not real gooey butter. Look up Lake Forest Bakery recipe. That’s the real deal. No cake mix, no cream cheese!
Do a comparison
No worries! You shouldn’t ever hate to tell me anything. The truth is, I never really said it was super authentic gooey butter cake. This is just my interpretation. I will certainly look up the Laforest Baker recipe, though!
Sharon
Crust and cake turned out great! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Sandra foti
Mine didn’t cook right I did it for 40 minutes let it cool completely and when I went to cut it it was still runny, also can less powered sugar be used
I’ve not made it with less sugar, so I can’t say for sure. Did you allow it to cool completely? What size pan did you use? Was it metal, glass, ceramic?
Pati
Is my vision way off because I swear it looks like your bars have shreds of coconut coming out of them! LOL. Could you add about a cup of coconut to the filling or do you think it would make it too gooey?
No coconut here, but I don’t see why adding some would create a problem.
Sharon
How are you able to spread crust layer evenly? I had issues with that. It’s in the oven now I’ll let you know how it turns out. ????
I typically use a rubber or silicone spatula to press it flat.
LisaDiane
Stacy, have you ever tried making White Chocolate Raspberry Gooey Butter Cake…?? If you like those flavors, it is TO DIE FOR!!!!!! I made it up (although others may have done so, as well!) by adding 12oz of melted white chocolate (I love the flavor of Aldi’s brand of white chocolate chips the best!) to the cream cheese mixture, and then after pouring it over the cake crust, dollop Raspberry jam (or any flavor jam) all over it and swirl it in with a butter knife!! It’s the only flavor anyone wants me to make anymore…my guys (husband and sons) love it more than the chocolate peanut butter version, which is REALLY saying something…!!!
Thanks for the suggestion of the vegetable oil and special butter for the crust! 🙂
N Rodriguez
Holy Moly! That sounds outrageously delicious!!!
No, but it sounds AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!!
Teesie
Being a native of Chicago I had never had Gooey Butter Cake until I moved to the St. Louis suburbs.
Over the years, I have found this to be a very versatile dessert starting point and have perfected many versions –
red velvet gooey butter cake, lemon gooey butter cake, chocolate chip gooey butter cake and probably my most requested version in the fall – pumpkin gooey butter cake.
your version sounds great and I think i will make it tonight to bring to work tomorrow.
thanks for sharing and I love your website 🙂
All those variations sound amazing! Hope your lucky coworkers enjoyed it!