These melt-in-your-mouth Gooey Butter Cookies are full of flavor and none of the preservatives that are in the traditional cake mix version. This recipe makes 3 dozen cookies in less than an hour. Recipe includes a how-to video!
These gooey butter cookies are the less messy, more portable (and adorable) version of gooey butter cake. They’re a soft and chewy, beautifully flavored, melt-in-your-mouth dessert that is super simple to make, and I think you’re going to love them just as much as I do!
Typically these cookies are made with a box of vanilla cake mix as the base. While cake mix has its place, today we’re baking completely from scratch. Rather than start with a box mix, I used my vanilla cake recipe as the base for today’s cookies.
If reading that makes you panic, don’t! My homemade recipe is so easy and only takes a minute longer than the box mix version (the only extra step is whisking together the dry ingredients!). Once you taste them, you’ll never want to go back to the box-mix version–I promise.
Let’s get to it!
What You Need
These cookies are simple to make, and I think you’ll find they taste much, much better than the cake mix version. Here are the key ingredients you’ll need:
- Butter. This ingredient should come as no surprise! You’ll need one stick of softened, unsalted butter.
- Cream cheese. Cream cheese helps create the gooey texture in these cookies and adds a subtle but important flavor to the finished product. Use the block-style cream cheese (not the kind in the tub!) and make sure it’s softened before you get started.
- Vanilla. No, the measurement below is not a typo; you’re going to add a lot of vanilla to these cookies! To get that strong vanilla flavor that most boxed vanilla cake mixes have, we’ll be adding 1 ½ Tablespoons of vanilla extract.
- Eggs. Your eggs should ideally be at room temperature so they incorporate nicely with the butter and cream cheese.
- Flour. Stick with all-purpose flour, and make sure you know how to measure your flour properly, or your cookies may turn out dry.
- Sugar. We’ll add granulated sugar to the cookies themselves, then roll them in powdered sugar just before baking.
- Salt. Just a teaspoon helps to balance the sweetness and round out the flavor!
SAM’S TIP: I know many of you don’t like cream cheese and may be hesitant to try this recipe when you see it listed under the ingredients. The good news is, these cookies don’t have an overwhelming cream cheese flavor. Instead, they have a strong vanilla flavor and a soft, gooey texture with just a hint of cream cheese–just like gooey butter cake!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Gooey Butter Cookies
- Cream together the butter and cream cheese until well combined, then stir in eggs and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with your mixer on low speed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Scoop the chilled dough into 1 ½ tablespoon sized balls, roll between your palms until smooth then roll through powdered sugar.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Don’t over-bake, this will make the cookies dry and hard!
SAM’S TIP: You can chill your dough for longer than 30 minutes, but just keep in mind that you may need to let it sit at room temperature for a little bit before it’s soft enough to scoop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Gooey butter cookies are the cookie form of gooey butter cake, which originated in St. Louis. The creation of the cake itself was actually an accident, but it was so delicious that it became a hit!
There’s extra vanilla in this recipe because the “original” cake mix version has a very strong vanilla flavor, and I wanted to replicate that. The end result has a great vanilla flavor tempered by rich cream cheese and no artificial, “fake-taste” like you’d get from the box!
Yes! These cookies can be frozen before or after baking. Just make sure to wrap them tightly before freezing.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Gooey Butter Cookies (Made from Scratch!)
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (113g)
- 8 oz brick-style cream cheese softened (226g)
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ Tablespoons vanilla extract (this is equivalent to 4 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Powdered sugar for rolling cookies
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth and well-combined.½ cup unsalted butter, 8 oz brick-style cream cheese
- Stir in eggs and vanilla extract.1 ½ Tablespoons vanilla extract, 2 large eggs
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- With electric mixer on low-speed, gradually stir dry ingredients into butter/cream cheese mixture until completely combined.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place powdered sugar in a shallow bowl and set aside.Powdered sugar
- Once dough has chilled, scoop by 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized ball and roll between your palms until smooth. Roll through powdered sugar until completely coated and then place on prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2” apart.
- Bake on 350F (175C) in center rack for 10-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before enjoying.
Notes
Storing
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Debbie
I would like to try these with strawberry extract. Do you have any suggestions as to how much strawberry extract to use? Should I start with 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 strawberry? Any suggestions as to where to start would be helpful. Thank you
Sam
Hi Debbie! I’m not really familiar with strawberry extract. I would probably leave out the vanilla and maybe start with a teaspoon of strawberry extract? Honestly I don’t know how potent strawberry extract is so it’s really really hard to say.
Stephanie
Would it be okay to skip the powdered sugar on the outside?
Sam
Hi Stephanie! That will be fine you’ll just lose some flavor. 🙂
Barbara Polle
Hi
I’ve been searching for a recipe with this texture that is almond flavored. I know it’s an experiment but do you feel I should use a combination of vanilla and almond to accomplish this? Thanks fir any thoughts you can add.
Sam
Hi Barbara! You could certainly try it. Be careful with the almond extract though as it’s a lot more potent than vanilla extract is. 🙂
Sue
Cookies turned out great! I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t flatten out or Crack up as much as the pictures, but that is minor. Fantastic taste!!
Tyler
I wanted to love these, but my batch came out with a springy texture and a floury taste. I’d describe it as uncomfortably straddling the line between a cookie and a biscuit. I weighed my flour so I know I had the right amount. Perhaps it was the brand? I used Pillsbury. In any case, if I were to make them again I’d definitely reduce the flour.
Sam
Hi Tyler! I’m so sorry this happened! I wonder if they were slightly over-baked. 🙁
Kim Craven
Oh my goodness! These are the best cookies ever!!! So easy to make, and full of flavor. I sent them to school with my daughter (high school) and everyone loved them. Even one of the teachers asked for the recipe. Thank you! Great recipe!
NoviceBake93
Hi! Can I ask if the texture of the cookies inside should be as sry as danish butter cookies, or are they mochi cakey like?
Sam
They should be more cakey, chewy and teetering on the edge of gooey. They shouldn’t be dry. 🙂
Janice Weaver
Great recipe! I was afraid they would be too rich. But they are perfect. I’m sharing with family. Thank you!
Jessica
How much self-rising flour would be used instead of the all purpose flour, baking soda and salt?
Sam
Hi Jessica! Unfortunately I have only tried the recipe as written, so I am not sure how it would work. If you try it out please let me know how it turns out for you! 🙂
larissa
hi i just made these but are they supposed to go with something? i tasted them and i felt like they didn’t have as much flavor BUT when i ate them wit h vanilla ice cream i thought they tasted great?
Sam
Hi Larissa! They are not intended to be served with anything. Did you make any alterations or substitutions? I’m wondering if they may have been slightly over-baked which could hurt their flavor a little bit. I’m glad you were still able to enjoy them. 🙂
Rosemary Dascola
Do you alter the recipe for the Gooey Butter Cookies (Made from Scratch!) for Higher Altitude. I am 4600 feet. Thanks
Sam
Hi Rosemary! Unfortunately I don’t have much experience with high altitude baking so wouldn’t be able to give any suggestions on alterations, maybe someone else has tried it and would be able to chime in.
Maritza
Definitely Delicious 😋
Katharine
Hey, Sam, I love watching your videos! I tried these cookies but I wanted to make more so I made 1 1/2 times your recipe (like 3 eggs and 3/4 cup butter and 4 1/2 cups flour). I measured my flour as you suggest but still – I had so much flour I literally couldn’t use it all. As a result, I feared the worst…but they came out moist and yummy. But not exactly as you show them ending up, obviously! Any thoughts? Even three cups for the base case recipe seems like a lot. Thanks!
Sam
Hmmm that’s interesting. I think this can happen if you add your flour too quickly, or your butter wasn’t quite soft enough. I’m glad you still enjoyed them though. 🙂
Robyn
St. Louisian here. I’m going to give these a try with my granddaughter when she visits for spring break. These look so delicious and authentic! I love the idea of a cookie instead of the cake because it’s so rich and will help me keep my portion down (maybe!) and will be easier to keep fresh. They sell the cookies at Schnucks but these look so much better. Thanks so much for recipe!
Sam
You’re very welcome, Robyn, I hope you absolutely love them! 🙂
Estelle Scott
What can I do to adapt this recipe to Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies? How much cocoa powder should I add and do I need to add additional liquid? What about adding chocolate chips?
Thank you, Estelle
Sam
Hi Estelle! Without having tried it I wouldn’t be able to say for sure how to alter the recipe. You could stir in some chocolate chips if you’d like. 🙂
Marilyn R Musiowski
Hi Sam. I just made these cookies and though they looked exactly like the batch from your video, I was disappointed by the texture, since I expected them to taste more “gooey” similar to a butter cake, but failed in that department. Plus, I also expected to have the sweet smell of cookies baking in the oven which didn’t happen either. Tasty, though, so it wasn’t a total waste of time.
Eric
Why not cream the sugar in with the butter and the cream cheese? I always thought sugar should be included in the “wet” ingredients… BTW, your snickerdoodle blondie bars are stupid good. Thanks for that one.
Sam
Hi Eric! You are right that sugar is a wet ingredient and generally speaking I do use the traditional creaming method that you mentioned. However, when recreating these cookies I wanted to mimic the results that people are used to when they make gooey butter cookies with store-bought cake mix. That cake mix already has sugar mixed in with the flour and leavening ingredients, and so I used this same method here of mixing it with dry ingredients in order to get the most authentic results (without any of the artificial flavors or taste). I hope that makes sense, and I’m so glad you enjoyed the blondie bars! 🙂