Gooey Butter Cookies

This recipe is inspired by Gooey Butter Cake. In July 2024, the Buckleys took a family trip to Lake of the Ozarks. Gooey Butter Cake is a Missouri specialty, and we had some delicious cakes while in Osage Beach, Missouri. This year, for the Fourth of July, I made these Gooey Butter Cookies, which taste just like the cake but in a portable cookie form, as a treat to enjoy while watching the parade. Pictured here is Mom with her grandkids Mike, Tim, Ava, and Lorelei, along with Great-grandson Andrew.

This recipe is a much simplified version of the cake recipe, but tastes just like the cake. This recipe is easy to make but the dough does need to be refrigerated for a few hours. If the entire batch of cookies do not get immediately eaten, these cookies freeze well. 

Gooey Butter Cookies 

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• powdered sugar

Combine the cake mix, butter, vanilla, cream cheese, and egg until well blended. Chill dough for at least two hours. Roll dough into one-inch sized balls. Roll dough balls in powdered sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 350. Allow to cool. Dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!