I adore Gooey Butter Cookies. They're tender, soft cookies, very sweet but rich from butter and cream cheese.
Gooey butter cookies practically melt in your mouth. They're tender, only slightly cakey. You roll the dough in powdered sugar before baking, making a sweet, delicious crackly crust that contrasts with the center.
I ordered a lot of casual catered lunches when I worked in St. Louis. As a home baker, I'm picky about desserts as a home baker, so I seldom ate leftover sweets - except for gooey butter cookies. As a St. Louis treat, restaurants often gave you trays of them!
They're similar to my Sprinkle Cookies, which are a sugar cookie at heart, but Gooey Butter Cookies are so much softer and richer.
Many recipes for any gooey butter dessert will include a boxed cake mix as their base, but I avoid boxed mixes. I don't like the additives, and it's just as easy for me to bake from scratch.
I found and tried several from-scratch recipes, but only the recipe from Wicked Good Kitchen, which I've adapted here, hit the right notes.
These cookies are so good that they're one of my staples. I don't know who can resist them. They're little, rich packages of pure joy.
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Ingredients
Most gooey butter cookie or cake recipes start with a cake mix, but I don't use cake mixes! I tried several recipes and adapted this recipe from Wicked Good Kitchen, who had the best one (and who's no longer in business, sadly).
This recipe includes:
- Unsalted butter
- Cream cheese
- Sugar, vanilla, and salt
- Egg and an egg yolk
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Powdered or confectioner's sugar
Gooey butter cookies should take butter. I use unsalted butter.
Cream cheese adds richness to the dough, keeping it from being one-note and boring. Cream cheese must be thoroughly softened in order to mix properly. I have not tried lower fat, Neufchatel cheese, although it may work in a pinch. If you have a partial package of cream cheese but not a full 8 ounces, I have instructions in the FAQ on how to supplement it with yogurt.
The recipe takes a full tablespoon of vanilla extract. Not a typo. It's a lot of vanilla, but it's a rich cookie and deserves all that vanilla.
You use both a whole egg and an egg yolk. You can skip the egg yolk, but I don't recommend doing so as it adds richness to the cookie.
We roll the dough in confectioner's or powdered sugar before baking. I don't recommend skipping this step, as it adds a nice touch.
Equipment
To properly beat cream cheese, you need to use an electric mixer. This can be a electric hand mixer (affiliate link) or a KitchenAid stand mixer (affiliate link). It's very difficult to cream the butter and cream cheese properly otherwise.
You can use two spoons to divvy up cookie dough, but I find that a medium (1.5-tablespoon or #40) cookie scoop (affiliate link) portions it very nicely. Also, the dough is very soft because I don't refrigerate it, so it's easier to scoop evenly with a spring-loaded cookie scoop.
These cookies stuck the last time I used silicone mats, so I recommend using actual parchment paper to line your cookie sheets for gooey butter cookies.
Instructions
Start with very softened butter and cream cheese. If the cream cheese isn't softened, it will not beat properly, and you will end up with lumps.
- With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until they're well mixed and there are no lumps.
Be sure it's well mixed now, because you can't get lumps out in future steps.
- Add the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix until just combined, and everything looks mixed.
- Add the egg and egg yolk, and mix just until combined. Don't overmix it, as that will make the cookie cakier.
- Stir in the flour and baking powder on low speed until just combined.
- Use a medium (1.5-tablespoon or #40) cookie scoop (affiliate link) to scoop the dough/batter, leveling off the top.
- Drop the ball of dough directly the powdered sugar. The dough is incredibly soft, but roll it in powdered sugar.
- Place cookies on a baking sheet 2 inches apart. I get 12 cookies per sheet. Flatten them slightly if desired.
- Bake cookies one sheet at a time for about 14 minutes. The cookies will look underdone and will not brown. This is perfectly normal.
Cool cookies completely before removing from the baking pan.
Hint: The dough is very soft and sticky, so I drop the dough directly into the powdered sugar so I don't have to touch it before rolling it. By doing so, I don't feel the need to chill the dough for an hour or two like Wicked Good Kitchen did in the original recipe. Feel free to chill it if it makes it easier for you to handle.
Serving and Storage
Dust the cooled cookies with powdered sugar if desired. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. They'll stay soft and tender for up to 5 days, if you don't eat them all first.
Since they're sweet and buttery, they go with just about anything. My favorite thing is to have one with my morning cup of coffee!
Top Tip
Don't overbake the cookies. Be sure you remove them from the oven before they brown. Gooey Butter Cookies are supposed to be barely done!
Recipe FAQ
Gooey butter cookies are based on Gooey Butter Cake, which originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in the 1930s. I've got a bit more about the cake's origin with my recipe for a yeasted Gooey Butter Cake. They're also sometimes called ooey gooey cookies.
Absolutely! Follow my recipe for Gooey Butter Cookies, no cake mix necessary. They're just as easy to make from scratch, and even tastier than ones made from a mix.
You definitely need some cream cheese to make this recipe. Otherwise, you'll just have sugar cookies. The last time I tested this recipe, I only had a partial package (6 ounces) of cream cheese left in the fridge, so I used strained yogurt as a substitute. Only use plain, unsweetened yogurt; do not use sweetened yogurt.
Place ⅓ cup plain, full-fat yogurt in a mesh strainer over a cup. Let strain for 30-60 minutes. The whey drains into the cup below, and thicker yogurt is left behind in the strainer. Substitute 4 tablespoons (¼ cup) of strained yogurt for 2 ounces of cream cheese; add to the batter when you add the sugar or the eggs.
Substituting a small amount of strained yogurt made the batter thinner, so I cannot recommend substituting yogurt for more than 2 ounces of the cream cheese.
Vanilla enhances the richness of the butter, cream cheese, and egg. The recipe uses more than you'd usually add to a cookie recipe, but it adds such a great flavor.
You can. I find it difficult to scoop the dough if it's chilled, even if the dough is soft. However, Wicked Good Kitchen chilled her dough, so chill yours if you'd prefer.
Many cookie recipes say you can bake your cookies 2 sheets at a time and rotate them between the top and bottom racks. Wicked Good Kitchen did that in her recipe for these cookies. However, when I try it, the bottoms of my cookies brown no matter what the recipe, so I don't recommend it for Gooey Butter Cookies. That said, use both of your oven racks if you're comfortable.
You can make the dough, shape it and roll it in powdered sugar, and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days before baking. Roll in powdered sugar again immediately before baking.
I often recommend freezing balls of cookie dough to bake later for most cookies, but I don't recommend it for Gooey Butter Cookies. Cookies baked from frozen dough don't spread as much, and the cream cheese makes the texture more cakey than when you bake them within a day or two.
Other Gooey Recipes
Want more gooey butter and vanilla? Try these recipes!
Interested in other recipes? I save and share recipes I like or want to try on my Pinterest page - follow me there! You can also check out my Facebook page for more recipes and helpful tips. I'm also happy to try to help troubleshoot my recipes there.
Have you tried this recipe? Or have a question about it? Rate it or leave a comment below! (PS: rating my recipes helps other people find them, too!)
📖 Recipe
Gooey Butter Cookies
Equipment
- electric mixer
- medium (1.5-tablespoon or #40) cookie scoop (affiliate link)
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (114 grams) (softened)
- 8 ounces cream cheese (softened) (one package)
- 1 ½ cups sugar (300 grams)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla (15 grams)
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (270 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
For Rolling
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120 grams)
Instructions
- Soften your butter and your cream cheese thoroughly.
- With an electric or stand mixer, cream your butter and cream cheese on medium speed until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Be sure there are no lumps remaining.
- Add the sugar, vanilla, and salt, and mix until combined.
- Add the egg and egg yolk and mix again until everything is combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. You don't want to overmix.
- Add the flour and baking powder, and mix on low until just combined.
- Use a #40 or 1 ½ inch tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough; level it off flush at the edge. Drop the cookie dough directly into your powdered sugar and roll it around to coat it completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Place the cookies 2 inches apart on a silicone or parchment-lined mat on a baking sheet; you should get 12 cookies per sheet. Optionally, you can slightly flatten the balls of dough slightly to make wider, flatter cookies.
- Bake one sheet at a time at 325F for 14 minutes. The cookies will look underdone and should not brown on the edges or the bottom.
- Cool cookies before removing them from the baking sheet. Roll baked and cooled cookies in extra powdered sugar if desired.
- Store in an airtight container. Cookies are delightful for up to 3-5 days.
Make Ahead
- Dough can be scooped, rolled in powdered sugar, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Roll in powdered sugar again before baking. Bake as normal.
Notes
[Originally published December 9, 2019. Post revised and rewritten August 22, 2025.]
Jenn says
I made these and as I was scooping them onto baking sheets, I thought “this is a lot of work!” But they were so worth it! They were even better the next day!
Leona Konkel says
It is a lot of work, but you're right - so worth it! Glad you enjoyed it!
Kate says
I love these cookies and wondered if they could be frozen after they'd been baked? I know you don't recommend freezing the dough. Just hoping to get some large batches done more than five days in advance. Thanks!
Leona Konkel says
I'm so glad you like them!
I think they would freeze well. I don't freeze my cookies because I don't have luck with storing them; but many people freeze their cookies, so I would say to go for it! If I went that route, I would roll them in powdered sugar when I bake them, then dust them with more powdered sugar when they're thawed.
If you're only waiting a few days to bake them, you may be able to get away with refrigerating or freezing the dough. When I've baked the cookie dough from the freezer, it's been a couple of weeks later, and the texture has changed in that time, making them cakey instead of tender. But, I don't know for sure.
Please let me know whichever you do. I'd love to know how they turn out!