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Gooey Butter Cookie Recipe

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These are the best ooey gooey butter cookies from an old family recipe!

Gooey Butter Cookies

I’m a St. Louis girl, born and raised. I love to bake…a lot, so this means I know all about Gooey Butter Cakes, a St. Louis baking tradition, right?  Awhile back I shared a Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake Recipe and my Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Gooey Butter Cake. Now it’s time for the trifecta… the best gooey butter cookie recipe!

And the story…

Well the old story goes that gooey butter cake was created in the 1930s by a baker who was trying to make cake batter and accidentally reversed the proportions of sugar and flour. Well now it seems that any STL family has a gooey butter cookie recipe of their own, including mine.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 yellow cake mix box
  • 1 cup of powdered sugar

The cane sugar, cream cheese, cake mix and egg, butter and vanilla on the counter.

Directions:
Combine butter, cream cheese, egg and vanilla in a bowl and use mixer until light and fluffy.

Mixing the wet ingredients in a red bowl.Stir in the dry cake mix until the dough becomes thick but smooth.

Pour powdered sugar into a separate bowl, set aside.

Scoop a spoonful of the cookie dough and roll into a ball, then dip in the powdered sugar until fully covered. If you want easier dough to work with for rolling, chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Rolling the dough into balls on a cookie sheet.

Place cookie balls on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

The baked gooey cookies on a red plate.

Then get ready to enjoy the most delicious gooey butter cookies you’ll ever eat.
Seriously.

The ooey gooey cookies baked on a plate. These cookies stay super light and fluffy and have a sweet vanilla taste.
Absolutely delicious!

ALSO CHECK OUT THE PEPPERMINT MOCHA VERSION!

Peppermint mocha gooey butter cookie on a red plate.

 Hope you enjoy!

5 from 2 votes
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Gooey Butter Cookie Recipe

Gooey Butter Cookie's are absolutely delicious!  These cookies stay super light and fluffy and have a sweet vanilla taste.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Gooey Butter Cookies
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Servings 12

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 box yellow cake mix
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Combine butter, cream cheese, egg and vanilla in a bowl and use mixer until light and fluffy.

  2. Stir in the dry cake mix until the dough becomes thick but smooth.

  3. Pour powdered sugar into a separate bowl, set aside.

  4. Scoop a spoonful of the cookie dough and roll into a ball, then dip in the powdered sugar until fully covered.  Tip - If you want easier dough to work with for rolling, chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes

  5. Place cookie balls on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Don’t forget to check out my Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
and my Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Gooey Butter Cake recipes!

Gooey Butter Cookies Recipe poster.

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Comments

  1. Judy I, St. Louis MO says

    Oh yum! Gotta try these. I made your Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Gooey Butter Cake for my husband’s lodge and I almost didn’t have to wash the pan – they really cleaned it up.

    Reply

    • Alexandra says

      Made these a few times and they are always a hit! I’m a KC native and made them for the super bowl and used half red and half regular dough and they turned out so festive and cute for the Chiefs!

      Reply

  6. Debbie says

    How many cookies does this recipe make? I need 5 dozen for a cookie swap so I need to know how many batches to make! Thanks!

    Reply

  8. Lauren says

    I moved away from St. Louis a while ago and was doing a search for gooey buyer cake recipes and came across yours. The recipe is so so so easy that I have it a try and oh my goodness!!! They are addictively good!! My husband and myself ate all of them in one day and today he asked if I had the ingredients to make another batch lol if only I had his metabolism 😉
    Thank you for giving me a taste of home 🙂 (I followed your recipe to a ‘T’ and couldn’t have asked for a better result)

    Reply

  10. Morgan says

    My mother has always made these cookies, just without the powdered sugar. She also just refrigerates the whole batter rather than rolling them first. This is the first time I rolled them in the powdered sugar and refrigerated them pre-rolled. Cuts down on the refrigerator time, and, if possible, deliciousness. I have a large family of 9, and they were gone instantly. Before marrying into a large family, my mother and I would experiment with different types of cake mix, the mixes that worked the best were red velvet (we did them macaroon style, with homemade cream cheese frosting) and carrot cake. The carrot cake ones weren’t as appealing, but they were GOOD.

    Reply

  12. Amanda says

    These cookies are so good! I made them last year for my family and will be making them again to bring to a cookie party.

    Reply

    • Lola says

      I just made these half an hour ago, exactly as the recipe, and they stuck to the pan like glue. I figured with real butter, cream cheese, and non stick pan, that would be enough fat to keep it from sticking, but I’d recommend using parchment paper or spraying your pan first, as these came out more cake like than cookie texture.

      Reply

  16. Kelly Brannan says

    Wow – these are DELICIOUS!! I just made a batch, and even my non-sweet tooth husband is impressed. He ate 3, which is not something he does with cookies, so you know they are good! And my 7 year old, who didn’t want me to make them at all (“a BUTTER cookie??”) is raving about them and had to be cut off. 😉 Definitely putting this recipe in my recipe box, and will be making again soon! 🙂

    Reply

  20. jelli says

    GENIUS! Love the idea and I have a cake mix just waiting in the pantry to be made into these. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks so much, Erin!

    Reply

  21. Kaaren says

    I’ve made this cookies under a different name, ” Death by Butter” ! Awesome…we’ve added zest of oranges or lemons that enhanced the goodness even more…melt in your mouth.

    Reply

  25. chefmommy says

    My daughter and i just finished making them . Wow the kids cant stop eating them. They were great. I have to go out and buy more milk tomorrow 🙂

    Reply

  27. Jeannie Olson says

    I made these as part of my Christmas cookie gift baskets for work…my boss asked me what these little yellow pillows of awesome were…as he pointed to the Gooey Butter Cookie! HUGE hit.

    Reply

  28. Jamie says

    I had ooey gooey butter bars YEARS (I’m talking like 18+ years) ago from a family friend (who gave me the recipe and it has these exact ingredients!) who used to make them for parties. We lived in KY at the time and they had just moved from SC…wonder where the recipe came from?!
    Excited to try out a cookie version!

    Reply

  29. Madiphina says

    Hello Erin, I want to try this recipe but unfortunately I can’t buy yellow cake mix box. I’m in the FWI, we don’t have that. Can you tell me how to replace it?

    Thank you

    Reply

  30. Maritza says

    Has you or anyone else tried this with a gluten free cake mix?? Wondering how the texture will turn out. Those mixes are around $4 to $5 dollars so it could be a pricey experiment! 🙂

    Reply

  31. Jenny says

    I made this delicious recipe for my brother-in-law’s birthday! They loved them! I just made them again and used lemon cake mix instead this time and they turn out delicious, too!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!

    Reply

  32. Virginia says

    How are these like the cake whIch is a yeast bread with a gooey topping? This seems more to be a cookie version of a Paula Deen knockoff but it’s nothing close to the traditional gooey butter cake.

    Reply

      • Sicilia says

        Hi! I made this recipe by replacing the cake mix with this substitute that I found online:

        2 cups all purpose flour
        1 1/2 cups sugar
        1 tablespoon baking powder
        1/2 cup non-fat dry milk (I actually used whole fat one because that’s what I have in stock)
        1 teaspoon vanilla extract

        It’s more measuring, but it turned out great!

  36. Cathy says

    My husband and son LOVE gooey butter cake. It is the first thing my son gets when he flies in from Colorado. I wasn’t convinced it could be duplicated in a cookie, but this cookie nailed the flavor. The texture is different, but by the 2nd cookie no one cared. Excellent cookie. A++ And very easy.

    If you are from St. Louis and like gooey butter cake, Make This Cookie!

    Cathy (Ritenour) <— where I went to HS, haha.

    Reply

  37. Lindsay says

    I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve returned to a website after making a recipe just to say THANK YOU! Made these for a bbq at a friends house and they just flew off the plate. I dusted mine with powdered sugar on the serving dish just for a little extra appeal. Making another batch now with carrot cake mix like another commenter suggested. Awesome recipe!!!

    Reply

  38. Emily says

    I just made these today. I am sending them with my boyfriend to his mom, so it was really important for them to turn out perfect, and they did! I think next time I make them I will try them with whipped cream cheese and pile on more powdered sugar. This time I ended up sprinkling extra on top after I baked them, just to add a little more.

    Reply

  40. Penny says

    I made the batter for these cookies last night and then rolled them this morning and baked them. I used Devils Food cake. They were awesome! Thanks for the recipe Erin. I love fool proof recipes! Now I don’t know which cake flavor to use next….so many ideas…lol. I may drizzle frosting on the next batch or add some mini chips. I love SWEETS! They didn’t last long at work.

    Reply

  41. Paula says

    Do you happen to know how long these will last once baked? I need to make a ton of them for a wedding and am hoping for a week (they are so good they have never lasted more than a day in my house!). Not sure I want to try freezing but what about refrigerated?

    Thanks,
    Btw: Parkway North

    Reply

  42. Luna says

    Hi! These look absolutely fab, but as I live very much outside the US we don’t have yellow cake mix, or any cake mixes, in boxes so would it work just to substitute it with basic flour and baking soda or something? I’m assuming the cake mixes are self rising flours… 😀
    Thank you in advance for an answer!

    Reply

  49. bobbie connolly says

    Love these gooey butter cookies, always make a lot of cookies to give away for the holidays, could you please tell me if they can be baked and then frozen for a couple of weeks. I do that with other cookies that are rolled in powered sugar, I’m wondering about the cream cheese. Thank you for the help.

    Reply

  51. Tara says

    These were so,so good. I am constantly making them for my husband who has to have soft cookies. As a matter of fact, he will only eat cookies that are made from cake mix. Endless possibilities

    Thanks
    Tara

    Reply

  52. Kim says

    These cookies are delicious. They’re suppose to have a cake like consistency, correct? Fluffy and soft like muffin tops or are they suppose to have a little crunch to them? Mine came out fluffy and soft like muffin tops.. so good.. just making sure I used a small cookie scoop. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

    Reply

  53. David V says

    I’ve made these several times. Always a hit. Tonight I made 2 batches, one I used a lemon cake mix and skipped the vanilla and used the zest and juice of 1 lemon. The other batch I used a spice cake mix also skipping the vanilla as well as the powdered sugar. Both batches came out great.

    Reply

  54. Jeanne says

    Ok – so I just made 2 batches for my Christmas Cookie Trays – I packed them in an airtight container & put in freezing cold attic. I will let you know if they keep in the cold for a week. Fingers crossed- they are sooooooo good!

    Reply

  55. Debbie W. says

    I followed the recipe but used lemon cake and my family gobbled them uo. They were awesone. Thanks for the recipe

    Reply

  56. Kimberly Ziesemer says

    Made these tonight using chocolate cake mix, had a little bit of chocolate chips so I put about four or five in center of cookie and wrapped cookie dough around them when finished baking had to try a couple very good. I have made the gooey cake for years, my favorite. Had never heard of the gooey cookies until last week, this has become my favorite cookie. Can not wait to try it in lemon. Thank you for posting this recipe.

    Reply

  59. Annette Gieseker says

    My cookies turned out very flat – not rounded like they should look. They flattened out after cooling. Any advice? Thank you!

    Reply

  62. Raul says

    5 stars
    I made these for Christmas this year and they were a big hit. I balled them up and then froze them prior to rolling them in powdered sugar. When I baked them, I just rolled them in powdered sugar, and threw them right in the oven. So easy and my family loved them.

    Reply

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