These brownies are an amazing and decadent spin on a traditional gooey butter cake recipe.
One day, many years ago, my daddy brought home a 9×13 baking dish full of this gooey yellow concoction that a lady at work had made for him. We were all pretty leery of it, to tell you the truth. It looked like cheesecake but it was warm. That’s not right, you guys.
Then he told us the name. Gooey Butter Cake. We didn’t hesitate to dive face first into that pan. I mean, the name alone sounds heavenly.
We all know that gooey butter cake has been done to death. (I’ve made chocolate chip gooey butter cookies and a red velvet gooey butter cake myself), but this isn’t cake! This is brownies.
Gooey butter brownies. It’s okay if you just died right then. The sweet, gooey burst of buttery chocolate will revive you.
I’ve been in a total baking slump these last couple of months. How many types of brownies and cookies can one person make anyway? It’s been lots and lots of savory recipes around here, which really doesn’t bother me at all. I know y’all like some desserts mixed in though, so I racked my brain for a new brownie recipe and this is what popped up. Guys. It’s genius. I hope you’ll make these, because they are so, so good!

Gooey Butter Brownies
Ingredients
For the brownies:
- 1 box brownie mix
- 1 large egg
- 8 tablespoons butter melted
For the topping:
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 8 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 16 ounces powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- To make the brownie base, mix together the dry mix, egg, and melted butter. Spread into a greased 9x13 baking dish.
- To make the topping, beat together the cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, butter, and powdered sugar until well combined. Spread over the brownies.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until the center is still slightly jiggly and gooey.
- Cool before cutting and serving.
Nutrition Information:
Vicky Rozmaryn says
I have made these and other gooey bars, but I use a jelly roll pan .They are thinner but just as good and it makes more to share. less cook time
Christina says
These are delicious! I made them for my coworkers and now everyone asks when I’m going to make more “crack”. They’re addicting!! Thank you for posting this recipe ?
debby says
How much gram for brownies mix?
And can you recommend for brownies mix merk you using?
Thank you very much.
Karly says
I just buy a mix for a 9×13 pan. I don’t know how many grams are in the box. And I generally buy Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker – I don’t have a favorite. 🙂
debby says
Thank you for your reply.
In my country (indonesian) don’t have Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker brownies mix.
But I can use local merk brownies mix, because I’m really really want try your recipe.
Now I’m confusion, use brownies mix for steamed or for baked?
Because in my kitchen, I’m only have brownies mix for steamed.
Can I use it? Or buy brownies mix for baked?
And if I use brownies mix for steamed can I must combine chocolate filling/frosting (incluede box brownies mix for steamed) to brownies mix with egg and butter?
Thank you very much.
Karly says
Hi Debby! I think you’ll want to use a baked mix for this. I’ve never seen a steamed mix, so I don’t know how that would work out.
Cynthia says
I made these with my 3 year old daughter today. They are delicious! And easy enough to share the mixing tasks with her. She had a blast and we have a new family favorite. Thanks!
Karly says
Sounds like you guys had fun together! 🙂
debbie says
I am going to add mini chocolate chips to the ooey gooey on top. We had some from the store that way. My husband will over these free his bday.
Laurie says
I followed the directions and everything. The butter cake came out fine. Not gooey like the picture but it was still yummy. The one problem I had was the brownie came out thin and still not cooked. How do I fix this?
Karly says
Hi Laurie!
I’m not sure what the problem would be. Every oven is different, so maybe bake a bit longer next time? Sorry I’m not more help.
MySweet says
I made these tonight looking forward to a really oozy buttery topping like shown. Except, the top came out really light and fluffy like a cake almost but not as dense obviously. So what did I do wrong? I added all ingredients exactly except I cut the powdered sugar by at least half but I don’t think that would make it less gooey at all. If anything that should of made it more gooey.
What happened do you think?
Karly says
@MySweet,
I would have to assume that the problem was cutting the sugar in half. I’ve used this topping many times and it’s always come out gooey. Also, be sure not to over bake or the topping will firm up too much.
MySweet says
@Karly,
Thank you for the quick feedback, I really appreciate it. 🙂
Thinking back I may have cooked it too long because I felt the brownies were not cooking and the center of the topping was really jiggly, so I kept cooking. Maybe that’s where I went wrong.
Also, could over beating cause the consistency to firm up? Because I also may have mixed the topping too long
Karly says
@MySweet,
No problem! 🙂
I’m guessing that your biggest issue was overcooking. The topping should be a bit jiggly. I don’t think overbeating the mixture would be a problem.
If you try again, use the full amount of sugar (I know it’s a lot, but it’s dessert! Haha!) and be careful to pull them from the oven when they’re still a bit jiggly in the center. They’ll firm up as they set.