Gooey Butter Cookies are soft, chewy and moist, with a melt-in-your-mouth consistency. Coated in powdered sugar, every bite of this sticky yet delicious crinkled cookie is sweet and decadent.
Gooey butter cookies are a Christmas favorite but are eaten year-round because they are so fun and yummy. It only calls for 6-ingredients, one of them being a cake mix which makes the process so much simpler.
Check out some of my other favorite desserts on the blog such as Sticky Toffee Pudding, Caramelized Apples and Peach Upside Down Cake!
Gooey Butter Cookie using cake mix
For those who never had a gooey butter cookie before, I feel like you are missing out on life! It’s basically a soft, sticky, chewy cookie, coated in powdered sugar. It is sensational.
Gooey butter cookie is born out of the Gooey Butter Cake, which is a unique dessert of Saint Louis, Missouri, by a German baker who accidentally used the wrong proportion of ingredient. Fortunately, today, we are glad for that mistake. 😉
Gooey butter cake is like a cousin of these chess squares, and gooey butter cookie is basically the cookie form of the cake. How’s that for a family tree?
You can make your gooey butter cookie entire from scratch, but I honestly love to make it with yellow cake mix because it’s much simpler and I actually even like the taste better.
Yellow cake mix is basically pre-mix dry ingredients for baking a cake. It shortens the cake-making process, and you’ll still have to add the wet ingredients. Cake mix can be used in lots of non-cake recipes (like Chess Squares and Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake) and they are delicious!
These delicious gooey butter cookies are soft, sweet, buttery and melts in your mouth. They’re also made with cream cheese and butter, giving them a rich, decadent texture that stays tender and slightly underbaked at the center.
The outside is lightly crisped and coated in powdered sugar, creating that crackly, snowy finish. Each bite is buttery, vanilla-forward, and extra moist.
Ingredients
The ingredients for this most delicious gooey butter cookie is short! That’s right. Just 6 simple ingredients!
- cream cheese – this ingredient gives our gooey butter cookie its signature gooey and soft texture. Make sure cream cheese is softened at room temperature before using so that it can be mixed in easily.
- unsalted butter – this should be softened at room temperature as well. You can use salted butter if that’s what you have at hand.
- yellow cake mix – using a box of cake mix simplify the process so much!
- vanilla extract – try to use a good one for best flavor
- large egg – binding agent for the cookies
- powdered sugar – also called confectionary sugar, this is granulated sugar grounded into very fine powder, with the addition of a small amount of cornstarch to prevent clumping. If you don’t have powdered sugar, blend 1 cup of granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch until it becomes a fine powder to make your own.
How to make it
I highly suggest using a hand electric mixer or stand mixer to make the gooey butter cookie dough because it’s still pretty sticky even after mixing. Having the dough sticky is what gives it that awesome soft and chewy texture!
Make gooey butter cookie dough by combining cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Use hand mixer (or stand mixer) and whisk until soft and light.
Add vanilla extract and a large egg. Mix until it is just combined.
After that, add yellow cake mix, then fold to combine.
Once dough is prepared, scoop up some dough and roll dough into 2-inch balls – it will be really sticky so grease your hands or wear gloves if needed.
In fact, you many even want to chilled dough initially so that it’s easy to handle.
Coat dough balls in powdered sugar, then place them on a baking sheet with at least a few inches apart. You can line it with parchment paper for easier cleanup.
Bake for 11-13 minutes, then remove from the oven and place cookies onto a cooling rack.
Let gooey butter cookies cool for a few minutes, then sprinkle with more powdered sugar on top.
Lastly, the best part, eat and enjoy them.
They are ooey gooey when they are warm, and it just melts in the mouth. Perfect with coffee, cocoa, or straight off the cooling rack! 🙂
We make these yummy gooey butter cookies every Christmas to eat and also gift to our friends.
There’s just something about holiday and going into the new year with lots of sugar in our systems!
Variations and Other Ideas
Here are other fun ways to jazz up or change up your gooey butter cookies every once in a while:
- Use a different cake mix for a different flavor, such as chocolate cake mix , instead of yellow cake mix to make chocolate crinkle cookies!
- Add mix-in’s such as chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, M&M’s into the dough.
- This is a great way to use up the leftover from your decorative sugars, sprinkles, food coloring from cake, cookies, cupcake decoration. You can simply add them as a topping or to decorate your cookie (underneath the powered sugar).
Storage Instructions
I typically leave my cookies on the countertop in an air-tight container for up to 3 days. After that, I recommend refrigerating the cookies.
Freezing Instructions: freeze cookies in freezer bags (make sure they are not stacked on top of each other) for up to 2 months. When ready to eat, simply bring to a complete defrost in the refrigerator overnight. Let them warm to room temperature before consuming.
Tips and Tricks
- Soften Your Ingredients: Make sure cream cheese and butter are both at room temperature before mixing them. This makes it easier for them to combine and prevents having chunks of cream cheese or butter in your dough, resulting in a smoother cookie dough. Avoid melting them because cookies will be flat if they are in liquid form.
- Grease Hands to Work with Dough: The dough is sticky, but that’s what makes the inside of these gooey butter cookies moist and chewy and not hard and dry. So grease your hands when forming the dough balls out of the sticky dough.
- Ensure Consistent Size: For even booking, make sure all dough balls are about the same size. This ensures each cookie bakes evenly, resulting in a finished product that looks as good as it tastes.
- Line Cookie Sheet: Line cookie sheet with parchment paper for easier cleanup
- Don’t Overbake: Remove the cookies from the oven when they’re set around the edges but still slightly soft and underdone in the center. They will continue to firm up as they cool. Overbaking can lead to dry cookies, losing that signature gooey texture.
- Cooling Cookie Sheets: Allow baking sheets to cool between batches, or use multiple baking sheets. Placing new dough balls on a hot sheet can start baking them before they even reach the oven, resulting in uneven cookies.
- Gifting Tip: These cookies make wonderful homemade gifts. If gifting, consider placing a layer of parchment or wax paper between each layer of cookies to prevent them from sticking to one another.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can freeze the cookies to extend their shelf life. However, they should be fully defrosted if frozen, and freezing the chewy, moist and soft cookies may slightly impact the texture.
To reduce the calories, you can opt for low-fat cream cheese, however, the recipe will not be quite the same if you eliminate cream cheese altogether.
There are many ways to dress up these simple cookies. You can use food coloring gels if you want to get pure coloring. You can sprinkle on colored sanding sugar. You can use chocolate chips (like red and green for Christmas, or Spring colors for warsing or colored sugar) so they pop out in each bite.
Make sure to use soften (not melted) butter and cream cheese. Try refrigerating dough before rolling into balls for 30 minutes so they are firmer.
Yes! Everyone likes their cookies a little different so tweaking at baking times might be necessary until you get the consistency you like best. I would bake it for longer if you prefer it less chewy.
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More Cookies!
- Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
- Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies
- Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies
Gooey Butter Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 1 15.25 oz package yellow cake mix
- ¼ cup powdered sugar plus more for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter using a hand mixer until creamy. Mix in vanilla and egg.
- Add cake mix. Mix until it is just combined.
- Place powdered sugar in a small bowl.
- Roll dough into 2 inch balls. You may need to grease your hands to help prevent sticking.
- Once the dough ball is formed, roll it around in the powdered sugar until it is fully coated.
- Place dough balls on an ungreased baking sheet. Make sure to leave space between the dough balls.
- Bake in preheated oven until set, about 11-13 minutes. Avoid overbaking. Cookies should still be soft to the touch when it's done. It will firm up as it cools.
- Allow to cool on the cooling rack. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar on top.
- Serve and enjoy!
