Gooey Butter Cookies (Made from Scratch!)
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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!)
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz (226 g) brick-style cream cheese, softened
- 2 large eggs, room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ Tablespoons vanilla extract, (this is equivalent to 4 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract)
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Powdered sugar, for rolling cookies
Instructions
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth and well-combined.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, 8 oz (226 g) 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 (375 g) all-purpose flour, 1 ½ cups (300 g) 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Huge hit!
I love this cookie recipe. however I do find it to be a bit bland, but it makes very good foundation based cookie dough and would like variations on it. I would like to add peanut butter or make chocolate ones. Do you have instructions on how to do that? Thank you!
Hi Jenny! If they are bland is it possible that you slightly over-baked them or added a little too much flour? I haven’t experimented with making them chocolate or peanut butter so I can’t say for sure how to do that.
Not buttery at all. Very dense and lack flavor. Taste like a flavorless dry biscuit
Hi Roxanne, unfortunately this happens if the cookies are accidentally overbaked 🙁
I followed to a tee. The wet to dry ratio on this recipe is off. Way too much flour. If you check other crinkle cookie recipes you will 2 – 21/4 c of flour. Left as is people are getting dry flour blobs. Wasted ingredients
I’m so sorry to hear this, Roxanne! You can watch me make them in the video. The ratios are accurate. I’m sorry you have had issues. 🙁
Just ok. Taste more like dough balls than cookies. Husband didn’t like them, so won’t be making them again. Measured the flour and the sugar in the grams like the recipe noted and cooked them for at least twelve minutes.
I made these cookies tonight and have to say that I agree with Andrea. All the ingredients listed led me to think that these would be delicious. However, I too, felt as though they tasted like a ball of “very tender” flour. Are you sure you aren’t missing an ingredient? They lacked flavor. Sorry. I want to like them;)
I’m so sorry to hear this happened, Diane! Did you weigh your flour? You may have accidentally over-measured your flour. Under-baking them could also potentially cause this issue. 🙁
can you freeze this cookie dough?
Hi Margie! I haven’t personally done it, but I don’t think there would be any issues doing so.
I made these for a large reception where there was a variety of desserts offered. People were asking who made these so that they could get the recipe!
We’re so happy they were such a hit, Barbara! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 🥰
I don’t know what I did wrong. I made 3 batches. I followed the instructions. They have no flavor at all. They taste like flour. 😭😭😭😭
We’re so sorry to hear that, Andrea! Is it possible that you over-measured your flour? It can be easy to do (which is why we always recommend a kitchen scale!) and could certainly be the culprit here 🙁
The best cookie I’ve ever made. These were so delicious and so easy to make.
We’re so happy you enjoyed them, Amy! 🥰
I made these cookies and they are the most delicious cookie I have ever eaten. These cookies didn’t even make it to the cooling rack, they were gone the minute they were warm to the touch and devoured by everyone who came across them. If your looking for a easy and most delicious cookie recipe, this is it!
so yummy and easy to bake! as a teen baker it was a perfect pace for me !
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Nyla! 🙂
Hi Sam,
Could I possibly turn these cookies into gooey lemon butter cookies by decreasing the vanilla extract and in its place putting lemon extract? If so, how much should that measurement be, or what else could I do to give these cookies a lemony taste?
Thank you so much for your time!
Hi Penny! I would experiment by replacing the vanilla completely with lemon extract, and adding a tbsp or two of lemon zest then going from there. You will want to add the zest with the sugar. 🙂
I would do 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice and almost a tsp lemon zest and keep vanilla extract. Based on some lemon crinkle cookies I just made that reminded me of a lemon gooey butter cookie. Just missing the cream cheese.
Aloha Sam,
My son and his friends love red velvet gooey butter cake. I would love to try and make a cookie version of it like this. Any suggestions on what I would need to do to this recipe to make a red velvet version instead?
Mahalo!
Hi Janice! I haven’t tried it but I think I’d probably try replacing a tablespoon of the flour with a tablespoon of cocoa powder and add red food coloring. This would just be a starting point for me so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. Let me know how it goes if you try it. 🙂
hi Sam,
how long can I refrigerate the dough before baking? I have an event Saturday but want to get the dough made now.
thank you for this wonderful recipe as well! 🥰
This dough can stay in the refrigerator covered tightly for 3-4 days. 🙂
This recipe makes me feel like a baker! These cookies are the prettiest, best tasting cookies I’ve ever made. I love them!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kat! 🙂
I made these this morning and wow! They turned out exactly as promised. My significant other says they taste a lot like Salerno butter cookies he remembers from his youth. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you, Sam!
I’m so glad they were such a hit, Deborah! 🙂
I don’t know if I’ll ever try these, because I don’t like gooey butter cake. But that might be because of the taste of the cake mix. So, whether I try these or not, I’m sure they’re much better.
We love this homemade version 😊