Name: 5-Ingredient Gooey Butter Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1 (15.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix; 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted; 3 eggs, divided; 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature; 2 ¾ cups powdered sugar; For garnish: additional powdered sugar; whipped cream or vanilla ice cream; fresh berries

Decadent, flavorful and incredibly easy! This layered 5-Ingredient Gooey Butter Cake is the perfect dessert for any occasion!

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Slice of gooey butter cake with fresh berries on a plate with a bite on a fork

Decadent, flavorful and incredibly easy! This layered 5-Ingredient Gooey Butter Cake is the perfect dessert for any occasion. Top it with ice cream, whipped cream, or fresh berries for a sweet treat that wins rave reviews!

You just can't beat the ease of a crowd-pleasing dessert recipe that takes advantage of cake mix, butter and cream cheese. What's not to love?!

What is Gooey Butter Cake?

Sometimes called "Ooey Gooey Butter Cake" or "Chess Cake," this popular dessert originated in St. Louis, Missouri. The flat, dense cake can be sliced into squares or bars (kind of like brownies), and is often served as a coffee cake or breakfast cake, rather than a sweet treat at the end of a meal.

This easy gooey butter cake recipe includes a buttery yellow cake crust, topped with a soft cream cheese layer and a dusting of powdered sugar. It's an updated, simplified version of the original Gooey Butter Cake that was supposedly invented by John Hoffman in his St. Louis bakery in the 1930's!

How to Make Gooey Butter Cake:

As the title suggests, this recipe requires just 5 simple ingredients:

A box of yellow cake mix
Butter
Eggs
Cream cheese
Powdered sugar

5 ingredients for a gooey butter cake recipe

For the base layer, combine dry cake mix, melted butter and 1 egg to create a dough. Press the dough into the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch pan to form a crust.

In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and two eggs.

gooey butter cake top layer batter in a metal mixing bowl

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the dough in the pan.

butter cake before it goes in the oven for baking

That's literally it! Just bake the cake for 28-40 minutes, until golden brown and set. You still want the center to be a little bit soft and "gooey"!

Allow the cake to cool in the pan and then dust with powdered sugar before slicing and serving.

Gooey butter cake in pan just out of the oven dusted with powdered sugar

How to know when Gooey Butter Cake is done:

The baking time will vary, largely depending on the type of pan that you use. Here I showed a metal cake pan, but a glass or ceramic dish may work even better. The metal, dark, or nonstick pans require a shorter baking time because the crust browns sooner. A glass or ceramic dish, on the other hand, will do well with about 35-40 minutes in the oven.

You want the top, center layer to still be soft while the crust on the bottom is firm. Just be sure that you don't over-bake the cake, or it won't have that great "gooey" texture!

Taking out a piece of gooey butter cake from the pan on a spatula

How to serve the cake:

This dessert can be sliced into firm squares, similar to brownies, and enjoyed with fingers or forks. The butter cake bars are delicious, rich and decadent on their own, but they're also delicious when topped with:

whipped cream
vanilla ice cream
fresh berries

Try using a combination of red and blue berries, such as strawberries and blueberries, with a dollop of whipped cream for a festive red, white and blue Fourth of July or Memorial Day dessert!

Front shot of gooey butter cake with whipped cream on a blue and white plate

Cook's Tips and Recipe Variations:

Wrapped properly, the cake will stay fresh at room temperature for about 2 days. It does not need to be refrigerated. To freeze and leftovers, wrap the cake tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and place in a Ziploc freezer bag. The cake will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
This recipe lends itself well to many different variations! Try making an Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cake by using a chocolate cake mix and adding some unsweetened cocoa powder to the cream cheese mixture. Create a Lemon Gooey Butter Cake by using a lemon cake mix and by adding some lemon juice and lemon zest to the cream cheese mixture. Make a Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake by using a spice cake mix and by adding canned pumpkin puree and some pumpkin pie seasoning to the cream cheese mixture. Paula Deen also has a great pumpkin version here. Finally, try a Red Velvet Gooey Butter Cake with a red velvet cake mix crust!
Don't forget to soften the cream cheese before trying to mix it together with the powdered sugar and eggs!
The baking time will vary, largely depending on the type of pan that you use. Here I showed a metal cake pan, but a glass or ceramic dish may work even better. The metal, dark, or nonstick pans require a shorter baking time because the crust browns sooner. A glass or ceramic dish, on the other hand, will do well with about 35-40 minutes in the oven.
You want the top, center layer to still be soft while the crust on the bottom is firm. Just be sure that you don't over-bake the cake, or it won't have that great "gooey" texture!

Close overhead shot of gooey butter cake bars on plates

More easy cake recipes that you might enjoy:

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