I have been enjoying Gooey Butter as long as I can remember. It’s a very popular dessert here in St. Louis. When I was young, I knew that I was going to be a maker of Gooey Butter for the rest of my life. So I started baking young.

Since I have been making it for so long, the last few years I have decided to mess around and start adding some other flavors… rather than just the plain AMAZING gooey butter.

Yesterday, I was in the mood to finally try the chocolate idea that I have had a for a while, but just never got around to testing it.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Bites

Ingredients:

Cake:
1 18.25-ounce box chocolate cake mix
1 egg
1 stick butter, melted

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese,
softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 16-ounce box (1lb) powdered sugar
1 stick butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. (I use butter or margarine to coat the sides and bottom of a glass pan, seems to taste better)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside.

Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners’ sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.

Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (I usually pull it around 42 minutes). Don’t be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time,
because oven temperatures can vary.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares.

OR

If you want to make Gooey Butter Bites

Instead of letting it cool completely, only let it cool for about 15 minutes.
Then scrape it all into a big bowl and mix until combined.
Use a cookie scoop to size the balls, and drop them into powdered sugar.
Roll them around until coated, and then place into a wax paper lined pan, (cover and place in the fridge
to harden).

TIP:
I usually make it the day before I want to eat it for a nice crunch and the gooey part
settles nicely.