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gooey butter bars

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake Bars

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Tried and true Cook’s Country St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake Bars – decadent and delicious.

One Piece of a Butter Bar

We’ve all had gooey butter bars, but Cook’s Country really steps it up with their recipe.  

The base isn’t made with the popular cake mix mixture; instead, it’s made with a delicious, buttery shortbread crust.  It’s worth making it for that crust alone!

The filling is indeed gooey and buttery.  And sweet, too.  You’ll want to cut these in small pieces because they’re very rich and sweet.  In a very good way.

These two-layer bars are fairly easy to make with no fancy ingredients.  Maybe that’s why they’re so good.

Stacked Gooey Butter Bars

Shortbread Base:

  • Combine the flour, powdered sugar and salt 
  • Pour in the melted butter
  • Stir to combine and press into the pan

Buttery, Sweet Filling Layer:

  • Combine the cream cheese and butter
  • Add the powdered sugar (slowly or you’ll make a mess!)
  • Add the eggs, vanilla and salt (omit salt if you’re using salted butter)
  • Mix it all together and pour it over the cooled shortbread base
  • Bake, cool for 3 hours, and devour it

I used Neufchatel (1/3 less fat cream cheese) on one batch, then regular on the second batch.  We prefer the Neufchatel and it seems to bake up much better.  The end result was tastier, too.

The lower-fat cream cheese will lower the nutrition values listed in the recipe card by a bit, but don’t kid yourself that it’s in any way a healthy snack.  Keep the pieces small, though, and you’ll be OK!

Side View of a Gooey Butter Bar

These bars can be halved and baked in a 8×8″ pan – just watch the baking time.  You may need to add five or so more minutes to the baking time.  Just make sure they’re a little jiggly in the middle when you remove them from the oven.

We love these St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake Bars.  They’re sweet, gooey, and buttery as advertised.  If you know someone with a sweet tooth, take them some of these.

You may want to take a look at my Gooey Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Bars or these Strawberry Shortcake Gooey Butter Cookies!

**Shout out to my neighbor, Michelle, for letting me finish baking these bars in her oven since mine broke right after the shortbread part was finished.  Thanks Michelle!  

One Piece of a Butter Bar

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake Bars

Yield: 12-16
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Additional Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 25 minutes

Rich, decadent gooey butter bars with a homemade shortbread crust.

Ingredients

  • Crust:
  • 2 1/2 C (12.5 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 C (3 oz) powdered sugar
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 12 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • Filling:
  • 8 oz  cream cheese, softened
  • 8 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 cup (1 lb) powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
  • 2 large eggs plus 2 large yolks
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Put the oven rack in the upper middle slot. Line a 13x9" pan with aluminum foil, overlapping the foil, making sure there are 2 or 3 inches lap over the ends to lift out the bars later. Spray the bottom and edges of the foil with cooking spray.
  2. For the Crust: In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Add the melted butter and stir together until flour mixture is evenly moistened. Press the dough firmly down in the bottom of the pan, up to the edges. Prick the dough with a fork so the dough won't puff up, about 20 times.
  3. Bake for about 20 minutes until just the edges are golden brown. Take the pan out and place on a wire rack to cool completely, 20 to 30 minutes.
  4. For the Filling: Mix the softened cream cheese and room temperature butter together in a stand mixer bowl until creamy. On low speed, add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, to the bowl. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  5. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and mix until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  6. Reduce the speed to low, then add the eggs and yolks, one at a time, and mix until completely incorporated. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until combined, scraping down the bowl as needed.
  7. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spread the filling over the cooled crust. Tape the pan on the counter gently to release any air bubbles.
  8. Bake 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown and edges have cracked. Center should jiggle slightly when the pan is shaken, so don't over bake. Move the pan to a wire rack and let it cool completely, at least 3 hours.
  9. Use the foil overhang to lift the bars out of the pan. Cut into 12 to 16 pieces (they're pretty rich). Dust lightly with powdered sugar if desired.
  10. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Notes

I use salted butter, so only added a pinch of salt to the filling.

The original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of vanilla, but that was way too much for me. I use 1 tablespoon and they're perfect.

The edges will probably stick some to the aluminum foil even though you've sprayed it. Make sure the bars are completely cooled and then you can peel it off easily.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 bar
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 271Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 99mgSodium: 202mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 4g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Cook's Country
Category: Bars

Gooey Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Bars

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I’m still working through the five pounds of chocolate chips we’ve had for awhile and found this recipe for Gooey Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Bars at Averiecooks.com.

Every word of that recipe name is something I love! I adapted it just slightly and ended up with a decadent chocolate chip bar with a wonderful shortbread crust.

Here’s a shot to show you the “gooey” part:

That shortbread crust is buttery and crunchy, and is a perfect contrast for the sweet chocolate chips and that gooey center. We warmed it up, added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and our little eyeballs rolled back in our head!

It’s a lot like the Pizookie dessert at B.J.’s Brewhouse (one of my favorite lunch spots).

Just an aside – every one of the chocolate chips I sprinkled on top of the dough ended up upside-down after baking. Huh. Go figure.

I was thinking that I might cook it a little longer next time and Bret said not to because the gooey dough was the best part!

We’ll be making Gooey Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Bars again for two reasons – it’s tastes terrific and I still have about two pounds of chocolate chips left.

Gooey Shortbread Chocolate Chip Bars

Gooey Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Bars

Yield: 12 - 16
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Inactive Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours

Buttery shortbread crust covered in rich chocolate chip cookie(ish) dough. 

Ingredients

  • Shortbread Crust
  • 1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 1 C all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 C confectioners' sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Filling
  • 2 tbsp light corn syrup
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 3/4 C granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 C all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 C, plus 2 tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Set out eggs so they will be room temperature by the time you make the filling.  Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray, line with aluminum foil, then spray the foil.  Set aside.
  2. To make the shortbread crust:  To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add all of the shortbread ingredients and beat on low speed until combined and a soft dough forms, 2 to 3 minutes.  Turn out dough into prepared pan and smooth out into an even, flat layer. 
  3. Pierce dough with a fork in about a dozen places so steam can escape while it bakes.  Bake for 12-14 minutes or until crust has just barely set.  It shouldn't be browned, just blonde and barely crusted over.  Set aside until filling is ready. 
  4. To make the filling:  While the crust bakes, make the filling.  In a small bowl, mix the corn syrup, water and vanilla together and stir to combine.  Set aside.
  5. Wipe out the mixer bowl you used for the crust and add the butter, sugar and salt.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides once.
  6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add the eggs.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and combined, 1-2 minutes.
  7. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add half the flour and half the corn syrup/water mixture.  Beat on low speed until smooth and combined, about 1 minute.
  8. Add the remaining flour and corn syrup/water mixture and beat on low until smooth, about 1 minute.  Add the 3/4 cup of chocolate chips and beat on low speed about 30 seconds.
  9. Pour filling onto the slightly cooled crust and spread into an even, smooth layer.  Sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp of chocolate chips over the top.
  10. Bake for about 25-27 minutes, or until the edges have set.  The center will be mostly set (it will jiggle some and have a few light golden brown spots).  Don't over bake or they won't be gooey.  Allow bars to cool in the pan on a wire rack for at 2 hours before cutting (so they will set up).  Keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Be sure you let the eggs come to room temperature so the batter won't look curdled by adding cold eggs to the butter mixture.

I used regular-sized chocolate chips, but averiecooks.com recommends mini chocolate chips - use what you have.

The original recipe uses unsalted butter - I used salted.  They didn't end up too salty.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 bar
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 134Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 159mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 1gSugar: 15gProtein: 3g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© www.AverieCooks.com
Category: Bars