• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Amanda Wilens logo
  • About
  • Parties
  • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • Classes
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • About
  • Parties
  • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • Classes
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Gooey Butter Cake Cookies

    Gooey Butter Cake Cookies

    Published: Dec 12, 2020 · Modified: Sep 9, 2021 by Amanda Wilens · This post may contain affiliate links. 20 Comments

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Yummly
    • Email
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    gooey butter cake cookies with ribbons

    Gooey Butter Cake Cookies

    Gooey butter cake is a staple to St. Louis. It's like a cakey brownie. It has a harder bottom layer and a denser, but chewy top layer. When I first visited Tyler in St. Louis in 2013, it was a mission of mine to find some of the best places for us to eat at. He was in grad school and eating out wasn’t always an option on his budget. But it was his birthday and we needed to celebrate. I found this place online called Park Avenue Coffee Roasters. They sell bake and sell Ann & Allen’s Gooey Butter Cake.

    They don’t just sell regular vanilla flavor, they make basically any flavor you can think of and then some. I loved this little cozy coffee shop, where we could sit and try this delicious treat for the first time. I believe our first flavors were traditional (yellow cake/vanilla) and cinnamon roll (seasonal). But they also have red velvet, chocolate chip cookie dough, pumpkin spice, and so much more.

    So, of course when we went back with his whole family in 2014 we ordered almost everything on the menu and between the six of us we were able to try them all! It was such a fun experience. And when I moved to St. Louis in 2015, it was always a fun place to take friends and family to try this St. Louis classic.

    gooey butter cake cookies with ribbons

    Table of Contents

    • Table of Contents
    • Gooey Butter Cake Cookies with Cake Mix
    • Different Flavors of Gooey Butter Cake Cookies
    • Gooey Butter Christmas Cookies
    • Gooey Butter Cake Cookie Recipe
      • Yellow Cake Mix Cookies Ingredients
      • How to make Gooey Butter Cookies
    • FAQs on Gooey Butter Cake Cookies
    • Other Cookie Recipes to Try
    • Love this Recipe?
    gooey butter cake cookies dough balled
    gooey butter cake cookie dough on baking sheet

    And after moving to St. Louis, I began to realize that most St. Louis Natives make their own version of Gooey Butter Cake. Whether it’s a recipe from their favorite restaurant, grandma’s own special recipe, or even a recipe from a local paper or magazine…everyone had a recipe at the ready. I decided to try making my own referencing a few recipes from coworkers and online. Then, I decided that I wanted to make them into cookies. I had done it with crinkle cookies in the past using a cake mix, why not these? The only real difference is using the additional butter and cream cheese instead of oil.

    I started making them 100% from scratch. I thought I preferred from scratch so I could feel like they were 100% homemade. Then, in a hurry one day I used box mix…and man, they were still delicious and so much easier. I cut my prep time in half, at least! And you know what, you’re still making them from scratch. They are homemade!  

    And now that we’re back in California after spending four years in St. Louis, experiencing so much amazing food, these gooey butter cookies will always be something I take away from my time there. I was so lucky to be able to try so many amazing things in my time there. Some STL staples weren’t for me…like Imo’s and toasted ravioli. But gooey butter cake (and of course frozen custard) will always hold a special place in my heart.

    These gooey butter cookies are a great way to get that gooey butter cake taste, but in a simple cookie! They are wonderful for any celebration, can be customized, and even used in a beautiful holiday cookie box!

    overhead gooey butter cake cookies

    Gooey Butter Cake Cookies with Cake Mix

    Using cake mix takes the stress out of finding/having the right ingredients, but is also a great time saver! And for those non-bakers, this recipe is just a few steps easier. You’re still making something unique and different, so don’t think that this is cheating or not baking from scratch, you still are!

    I used to make these and my chocolate crinkle cookies all from scratch, however, I know that not everyone carries these ingredients in their houses, so I've posted recipes using cake mixes! Of course, you can simply replace those mixes with your own favorite dry cake mix ingredients. Which means these are easy to make gluten free as well.

    Different Flavors of Gooey Butter Cake Cookies

    An easy way to customize the flavors for these is to simply use a different flavor cake mix. It’s seriously that easy. You can use chocolate, red velvet, whatever floats your boat. Some will spread more than others just by their other ingredients. But, it’s fun to play with them and see what you can make. The most important part to these is the cream cheese, butter, and coating in powdered sugar.

    Some other fun ways to customize these cookies is to add peppermint pieces to the powdered sugar. Just another fun way to add holiday spirit into your cookies. Or change the flavoring of the extract. For example, to make these “funfetti” just add butter extract and 1-2 tablespoon of sprinkles to the batter. And voila, you’ve done it!

    Gooey Butter Christmas Cookies

    Like I mentioned above, you can completely customize these. A few ways I like to do that is for the holidays. I like to add peppermint pieces to my powdered sugar before rolling the dough in it. Or you can make the cookies using a chocolate batter and use peppermint extract there as well. Completely customizable and perfect for the holidays!

    gooey butter cake cookies on plate

    Gooey Butter Cake Cookie Recipe

    Yellow Cake Mix Cookies Ingredients

    • 1 box of yellow cake mix (or your favorite yellow cake recipe sans wet ingredients)
    • ½ cup butter (softened)
    • 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
    • 1 egg
    • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 cup powdered sugar
    • crushed peppermint, optional

    How to make Gooey Butter Cookies

    1. Using an electric mixer, combine the butter, cream cheese, egg, and vanilla until light and fluffy.
    2. Stir in the cake mix until the dough becomes smooth and thoroughly combined. Cover your bowl and place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
    3. Place your powdered sugar into a separate bowl.
    4. After your dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350° F.
    5. Scoop a spoonful of dough into your hands and roll into a ball. Drop a few of the dough balls into the powdered sugar and toss to coat. Optional to now add in some crushed peppermint candies or sprinkles at this time to your powdered sugar.
    6. Place the dough balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes.
    7. Cool and enjoy!
    gooey butter cake cookies on plate

    FAQs on Gooey Butter Cake Cookies

    Do I have to use boxed cake mix?

    No, but the recipe calls for about 15-16 oz of cake mix. So you’ll need about that much in ingredients.

    Can I make these another flavor?

    Of course. You can use whatever box mix flavor you prefer...chocolate, red velvet, funfetti, etc.

    gooey butter cake cookies with ribbons and jingle bells

    Other Cookie Recipes to Try

    • Molasses Cookies
    • Holiday Cookie Box
    • Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
    • Graham Cracker Crumble Soft Butter Cookies
    • Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies
    • Snickerdoodles
    • Oatmeal Cookies
    • Lucky Charms Cookies

    Love this Recipe?

    Did you make this recipe and just love it? Awesome! If you have a quick minute and could leave a star rating and comment below, I would appreciate the support and knowing your feedback! And if you’re over on Instagram, be sure to tag me in your photos!

    gooey butter cake cookies with ribbons

    Gooey Butter Cookies

    5 from 12 votes
    Print Pin Share Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 12 minutes
    Chill time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 7 minutes
    Servings: 36 cookies
    Author: Amanda Wilens

    Equipment

    • Stand Mixer

    Ingredients

    • 1 box yellow cake mix or white cake mix (15.25 oz)
    • ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
    • 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
    • 1 egg large
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 cup powdered sugar
    • peppermint candies, sprinkles, etc optional

    Instructions

    • Using a stand mixer using a paddle attachment at a medium speed, combine the butter and cream cheese and mix until smooth. About 4-5 minutes. Make sure there are no lumps.
    • Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. About 1-2 minutes
    • Stir in the cake mix until the dough becomes smooth and thoroughly combined, about 1-2 minutes. Cover your bowl and place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
    • After your dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350° F, and prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.
    • Place powdered sugar into a separate bowl. Optional to now add in some crushed peppermint candies or sprinkles at this time to your powdered sugar.
    • Scoop a spoonful of dough into your hands and roll into a ball. Drop a few of the dough balls into the powdered sugar and toss to coat.
    • Place the dough balls onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes.
    • Cool and enjoy!

    Notes

    – Boxed cake flavor: You could also do this with any flavor cake. Chocolate, red velvet, funfetti. The options are endless.
    – Room Temperature Butter and Cream cheese: This is essential for this recipe to make sure you don't have any clumps and that your batter incorporates fully. If you don't have both at room temperature, you will see major differences in your final cookie. 
    – Creaming: Creaming the butter and sugar is an essential part of making cookies and baked goods. I always say do this for like 4-6 minutes. It’s the difference between something having a granular and dense bake or a light and fluffy, clean bake. So, take your time when creaming your butter. 
     – Cool Baking Sheets: Now, you can reuse the parchment paper and of course you can bake using just 1-2 baking sheets. However, before you place dough or bake it, your baking sheets should always be cooled down. This helps with a good bake and keeping those cookies thick.
    – Perfect Circle: This is my favorite Cloudy Kitchen tip! Use a round cookie/biscuit cutter that’s just a bit bigger than your cookie. Right when the cookies come out of the oven, place cutter around cookies and quickly move cutter in a circle motion to create a perfect cookie shape while still warm and moldable. This makes for a perfectly circle cookie.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @amanda.wilens
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Yummly
    • Email

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Mercedes says

      December 21, 2021 at 11:47 pm

      Hi!! I'm so excited that I found this recipe and I can't to try it this Christmas. I know this is an older post so you may not read this but I'm wondering, do these cookies freeze well? Thanks and happy holidays!

      Reply
      • Amanda Wilens says

        December 22, 2021 at 10:10 am

        Yes! You can freeze the dough, then bake them off later. I would say either coating them in the powdered sugar before freezing probably won't work well though. So, for these, freeze the balls, thaw them, potentially dry off any excess moisture (a little is okay, but you might get a lot with these), toss in the powdered sugar, and bake. Usually, I would just bake the frozen dough for longer, but with the powdered sugar and texture for these, thawing should help.

        Reply
        • Mercedes says

          December 24, 2021 at 12:44 pm

          Thank you very much!

    2. Jill says

      December 16, 2021 at 12:09 pm

      As we all know when using a box cake for this recipe the kind & flavor effect the outcome of the cookie. What brand & flavor type do you use? I have always heard to use traditional cake mix opposed to Moist/Pudding/buttered options. Just curious your thoughts on this? Do you have your fully from scratch recipe available as well for those looking to venture away from box recipes?

      Reply
      • Amanda Wilens says

        December 16, 2021 at 3:07 pm

        Hi there! I do not use a particular brand, but yes, just "traditional cake mix" works great. I have used the "super moist" ones and they've worked great too. Gooey Butter Cake Cookies are SUPER gooey, so extra moisture isn't bad and usually isn't too greatly changed. I don't have one on my site! I have tried it before with a few recipes and didn't find that they had the same effect as the box mix ones. Hope that helps!

        Reply
    3. Mary Szilágyi-Ovaitt says

      September 09, 2021 at 5:36 am

      The ingredients list includes peppermint- but the directions do not. Please explain how/where the peppermint is used.

      Reply
      • Amanda Wilens says

        September 09, 2021 at 1:29 pm

        Hi there! On the recipe card, you'll see step 5 says it's optional to add peppermint pieces to the powdered sugar to coat the cookies. Hope that helps. You can do it without of course too.

        Reply
    4. Betty. Payne says

      September 06, 2021 at 10:26 am

      5 stars
      Nest cookies eber

      Reply
      • Betty. Payne says

        September 06, 2021 at 10:28 am

        5 stars
        Best cookies ever. So easy. Made all flavors. Yummy

        Reply
        • Amanda Wilens says

          September 06, 2021 at 11:04 am

          So glad you enjoyed them! Such a delicious treat!

    5. Marie says

      December 27, 2020 at 6:19 pm

      5 stars
      These cookies are absolutely incredible. They’re also idiot-proof. I am NOT a baker and these turned out perfect. Be sure to follow the tips about using cold pans for each batch and chilling your dough. The only downside to these cookies is that they’re so good you physically cannot stop eating them. I don’t mind.

      Reply
      • wilensamanda says

        December 27, 2020 at 6:40 pm

        So glad these worked out for you! And yes, those cold pans are so important. Thank you for making them <3

        Reply
    6. Becca says

      December 23, 2020 at 8:24 pm

      5 stars
      I made these for a friend while I was living in Michigan and they were blown away by my baking prowess.... which I don’t have. This recipe is just that delicious. Some of the most gooey and soft cookies of my life! Perfect sweetness and so yummy.

      Reply
      • wilensamanda says

        December 24, 2020 at 11:24 am

        Aw! I love hearing that! Thank you so much for letting me know how they turned out for you! So glad you enjoyed them!

        Reply
    7. Michaela says

      December 20, 2020 at 9:57 am

      5 stars
      WOW! These were so easy to make and so delicious. Definitely reminds me of my favorite gooey butter cake. And it was easy to make so that is great. Thanks.

      Reply
      • wilensamanda says

        January 13, 2021 at 10:07 am

        Oh I am so glad you like them. Yes, this is one of my favorites.

        Reply
    8. Linda Meyers says

      December 17, 2020 at 9:44 pm

      5 stars
      So delicious. I made these with the intent of gifting some of my friends, but my family ate most of them before I had a chance to give them away. Looks like I will be making another batch tomorrow. Such an easy and yummy recipe with lots of options to “play” with different flavors.

      Reply
      • wilensamanda says

        December 18, 2020 at 11:58 am

        I'm so glad they turned out for you! And so glad you're going to be making them again so soon! <3

        Reply
    9. Kathleen says

      December 13, 2020 at 8:42 am

      5 stars
      These cookies TRULY are representative of the infamous STL gooey cake. So very easy and yummy if you follow the recipe exactly. Yummy!!

      Reply
      • wilensamanda says

        December 13, 2020 at 11:52 am

        So glad you like them! I miss St. Louis gooey butter cake, so this is a delicious replacement!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    photo of Amanda Wilens

    Hi there!

    My name is Amanda and I am an event planner, recipe developer, photographer, and stylist. I created this space where together we can together Plan, Plate, and Celebrate! Whether you need tablescape ideas for entertaining or a simple and delicious recipe for cookies, you can find it all on this website...more about me.

    floral separator

    Follow

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    floral separator
    floral separator

    Top Recipes

    • Egg Yolk Cookies
    • Lavender Lemonade Cocktail
    • Strawberry Filled Cupcakes
    • Lemon Bars
    floral separator

    Valentine's Day

    • Strawberry Filled Cupcakes
    • Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
    • Valentine's Date Night at Home
    • Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
    floral separator

    Spring Favorites

    • Spring Mix Salad
    • French Garden Party Wedding Shower
    • Spring Brunch Recipes
    • DIY Floral Arrangements
    floral separator

    As Featured In

    graphics with logos like lauren conrad and the little market
    floral separator

    Footer

    About

    Contact

    Classes

    Photography

    Parties

    Recipes

    Lifestyle

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    Featured In

    graphics with logos like lauren conrad and the little market
      Built with ConvertKit

      amandawilens.com
      hello@amandawilens.com

      Copyright © 2021 Amanda Wilens | All rights reserved.
      Privacy Policy