Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

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Y’all, this is the original authentic ooey gooey butter cake recipe. Straight from my Mississippi bred St. Louis resident Aunt Beverly, this recipe has been in my family for decades. I ended up making the original ooey gooey butter cake recipe straight from my Aunt Beverly on Food Network’s The Kitchen , and it was a hit. It’s has got that buttery chewy cake-like crust with a cream cheese topping. Sprinkle on that powdered sugar and get your whole life! This is the true original St. Louis classic done right.

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They’re Lovin’ It! Here’s what They’re Sayin’:

“I don’t often leave comments, but have to for this gooey butter cake. This was the best gooey butter cake I have ever had and incredibly easy to make. Thank you for posting this recipe! “

How to Make Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

Step 1: Create the Bottom Cake Layer

1. Preheat your oven to a toasty 350ºF then prep your pan with your nonstick method of choice.
2. Whisk together the cake mix, eggs and melted butter until they are combined and thickened up.

Next pat that cake batter evenly into your prepared pan.

PRO TIP: Line your pan with parchment paper long enough to leave some overlapping on the sides. This will make it a breeze to lift out of the pan once that cake is baked up.

Step 2: Get into the Gooey Topping

1. In your stand mixer or in a mixing bowl using a hand mixer, mix eggs, sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and a pinch of salt at low speed.
2. Once everything’s mixed up, turn up the speed to high and let them all get well incorporated.
3. Pour this gooey goodness over your base layer, spread evenly, and pop it in the oven.
4. Give it 30-35 minutes in the oven, but remember, gooey in the center is what we’re aiming for. Leave that jiggly right where it is.
5. Cool for about 15 minutes and serve it up.

I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!

Recipe Tips

• Room Temp Ingredients: For this recipe to work, the ingredients must blend together smoothly. Softened cream cheese and room temp eggs are legit necessary to avoid lumps.
• Don’t Overmix: Make sure you just mix the cake batter until it comes together. If you keep on mixing, the gluten will overdevelop and make the bottom layer tough. And this goes for the top gooey layer too. Make sure you don’t overmix and add too much air.
• Don’t Overbake: We gotta keep that topping super gooey so don’t overbake it. It’s gotta stay moist so keep that jiggle.
• Let it Chill: Don’t serve this up until you let it cool. This will let the gooey topping set up properly.

Ingredient Notes

• Cake Mix: A prepackaged yellow butter cake mix is always the move here but if you can’t find it, you can make your own cake batter to use instead. This yellow cake is a great option.
• Butter: I use unsalted but salted is fine. Just omit the salt here. You can also substitute with a neutral oil here. It will still be moist but won’t have as much flavor.
• Cream Cheese: I would go by the book here and keep the cream cheese but mascarpone is a cool option if cream cheese isn’t available anywhere on the planet. Just sayin.
• Powdered Sugar: If granulated is all you have, just blitz it in a blender until it gets powdery.
• Vanilla: Grab any extract you like to replace it.

Recipe Help

Not necessarily boos. While it will definitely make the process easier, you can totally freestyle this recipe with a strong hand and a good whisk.

Ahh boos, you more than likely overbaked it. The best way to check if it’s done is if the edges are set but the center is still jiggly. Leave a nice wobble in there y’all.

Most definitely. We don’t want this baby to stick at all. Make sure you lightly grease the pan or line it with parchment so you can remove easily.

More Easy Cake Recipes to Try

• Honey Bun Cake
• Sweet Potato Honey Bun Cake
• Sock It To Me Cake
• Biscoff Honey Bun Cake
• Texas Sheet Cake
• Coca Cola Cake
• Strawberry Cake

Comments

1. I just made this today for my husband. I used a box of lemon cake mix to recreate the lemon gooey cake we had in St. Charles, Missouri two weeks ago. Delicious! Reply That sounds so good. Lemon gooey cake is hard to beat. Using a lemon cake mix is a great shortcut, and I love that you recreated something you enjoyed on your trip. That’s what it’s all about. So glad it turned out delicious for you both.
2. Can I make this in a cookie sheet pan?
3. I haven’t tested this one in a cookie sheet pan, and I wouldn’t recommend a standard shallow cookie sheet since the batter could spread too thin or overflow. I’d stick with the pan size called for in the recipe for the best gooey texture.

Made this for my son 54 birthday and he loved it,i have made several of your recipes and rate them 10+.

1. That just makes me smile. Happy 54th to your son. I’m so glad he loved the cake. And hearing that you’ve made several recipes and rate them 10+ truly means a lot. Thank you for baking along with me and sharing that.

I made your Cornbread recipe and It was fire so decided to try this and it was absolutely amazing thank you! I have one request if you could on your recipes. Can you please have a conversion fo grams? I like to be spot on woth my baking! Ty

1. Hi AJ! So glad you liked it! I bake in cups, myself, but we are working on metrics conversions for the recipes. I don’t like to use a convertor because it has shown to mess the recipes up in the past.

made this for my neighbors and they fell in love – making again!

1. Yay, love hearing that!

I made this years ago, using a different, but similar, recipe. This is the best choice, by far. I’m making extra to give for Christmas.

1. That makes me so happy to hear! I love that you’re making extra to give as gifts. What a sweet idea! Thank you for coming back to make it again!

I’m Jocelyn!

I love taking my family’s cherished soul food recipes and adding my unique twist for new generations. Come on in and stay awhile!

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Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Recipe

Print Recipe

This authentic Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Recipe has a perfect chewy blondie texture bottom topped with a custardy cream cheese layer of perfection. This is the true original St. Louis classic.

• Author: Maya Collins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 50 mins
• Yield: 22 24 servings 1x
• Cuisine: Southern

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 box yellow cake mix (15.25-ounce)
• 2 large eggs (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted)
• 2 large eggs (room temperature)
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar (plus more for sprinkling on top for garnish)
• 8 ounces cream cheese (completely softened ( 1 Brick))
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• salt (pinch)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Liberally prepare a 9 × 13-inch baking pan with the nonstick method of your choice. I recommend lining with parchment paper to just easily lift once its done baking and set.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all the bottom layer ingredients until combined and thick. Evenly pat the batter into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and salt over low speed. Once the sugar is fully incorporated, turn your mixer speed to high. Continue beating until all ingredients are well blended.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, on top of the bottom layer, and spread it evenly across the pan using a spatula. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The center should still be jiggly and wobbly with the edges being golden and set.
5. Let cool for at least 20 minutes to really let that gooey topping set up. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve in the pan at room temperature.

Nutrition

• Calories: 214 kcal
• Sugar: 21 g
• Sodium: 217 mg
• Fat: 9 g
• Saturated Fat: 5 g
• Carbohydrates: 30 g
• Protein: 2 g
• Cholesterol: 56 mg