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Fans of butter cake need to lean into these Christmas Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies. The dough is made with more cream cheese than butter, and the results are meltingly soft tender chewy little cookies that you can bake with your favorite sprinkles!
Even though Iโm an LA girl now, I lived in St Louis for a few years. And thank god I did, because I would not have learned about gooey butter cake otherwise! I quickly fell in love with all things ooey gooey butter! My donut gooey butter cake is my official homage to the midwestern recipe, and I make it for birthdays frequently.
I quickly turned that recipe into a small bite-sized version in the form of my gooey butter cake cookies. (Please do not miss my chocolate gooey butter cake cookies if you can!).
Adding Christmas sprinkles to these crinkly, soft and chewy little cookies feels right!
If youโve never had anything gooey butter, you need to know a few things:
- Itโs usually made with cake mix. I donโt use cake mix for obvious reasons. In my opinion, cake mix tastes like an entire jar of artificial vanilla and nothing else. Itโs so one-note and boring. My homemade version of ooey gooey butter cake contains real vanilla extract and the exact amount of eggs and egg yolks needed to get the classic chewy gooey texture. (It looks months to perfect that part, by the way!)
- Gooey butter recipes are gooey because they use cream cheese in addition to butter! This brings the best tang and density to the dough that you just cannot get in a simple cookie. You have to try it just once!
Ingredients
- Cream Cheese. One brick (8 ounces) of cream cheese, softened nearly to room temperature.
- Butter. One stick (113 grams/ 4 ounces) of butter, also softened nearly to room temperature.
- Sugar. For the best part: one and a half cups (300 grams) of granulated white sugar. This seems like a lot of sugar, but a high sugar ratio is what makes cookies moist and spread while baking.
- Vanilla Extract. One full teaspoon of real vanilla extract.
- Eggs. For this recipe, you need one whole egg plus one egg yolk. Reserve the extra egg white to make my plum cake.
- Flour. Two and a quarter cups of all-purpose flour.
- Baking Powder. Two teaspoons of baking powder.
- Salt. Three-quarters teaspoon of fine sea salt seems like a lot, but it balances these very sweet cookies.
- Christmas Sprinkles. Add 1/2 cup of your favorite festive sprinkles to this dough. Hannukah sprinkles are very welcome here instead! For birthdays, use classic multi color sprinkles!
- Powdered Sugar. Before baking, each cookie is rolled in a bowl of 2/3 cup of powdered sugar. As these Christmas ooey gooey butter cookies bake, they spread and crackle the white sugar surface.
Christmas Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies Tutorial
Combine the softened cream cheese and butter in a bowl, and beat with an electric mixer until fully combined.
Add the sugar, and beat until light and fluffy, at least 1 minute.
Add the whole egg and egg yolk and vanilla. Beat to combine.
Evenly sprinkle the flour, baking powder, and salt on the top, and beat just to combine.
Finally, stir in the sprinkles. Chill this dough for at least 60 minutes. Do not skip this step!
Scoop out the dough into heaping tablespoons, roll in powdered sugar, and then space them evenly on a baking sheet.
Bake for 14 minutes. The cookies should not brown, but they will puff up and slightly crackle.
This recipe makes 24 cookies, so repeat with the remaining dough. Let cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before moving to a wire rack.
Freezing and Storage
You get the best spread and โcrinklingโ on the cookies by baking these as-written below, but you can freeze them after baking very well! Let them cool completely, and then freeze flat. You will lose some of the powdered sugar, but theyโre still pretty! Defrost at room temperature before serving.
Christmas Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1.5 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
- 2 1/4 cups (313 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup Christmas sprinkles
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the cream cheese and butter. Beat together with an electric hand mixer until fluffy, about 30 seconds.
- Slowly add the sugar to the cream cheese mixture while continuously beating. Beat the sugar into the cream cheese mixture until light and fluffy, 1 minute.
- Next, add the vanilla, whole egg, and 1 egg yolk. Beat until combined.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add this to the cream cheese mixture in three increments, beating in between each addition.
- Finally, stir in the sprinkles.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for 60 minutes. This is not optional.
- Preheat the oven to 325-degrees, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Have the powdered sugar ready in a shallow bowl nearby.
- Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough, roll it in your hands to form a ball. Roll the dough heavily into the powdered sugar before placing them evenly on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 14 minutes. Keep a close eye on these cookiesโthey should not brown in the oven. The top of the cookies will be puffed and slightly wet. Repeat with the remaining dough for a total of 2 bakes. Rinse the baking sheet between batches to cool it.
- Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before serving.
Is your Ooey Gooey Cake (no cake mix) recipe published anywhere?
Yes, itโs linked within the post. Underlined and bold.
These were delicious! I made them with rainbow sprinkles for a little pop of colour in my Christmas cookies. I will definitely be making this recipe throughout the year!