Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Bars are sweet dessert bars that start with a buttery crust and then topped with cream cheese and butter-flavored topping. Check out my Ooey Gooey Butter Cake for another super sweet treat!
Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Bars
I love ooey-gooey desserts. In fact, I have lots, like my Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies, Lemon Ooey Gooey Cake, Strawberry Ooey Gooey Cake, and the list goes on…There is just something so delicious about a buttery crust and a creamy topping made with more butter! And, these bars are made with a homemade crust–no boxed cake mix is used.
But these bars are truly a special treat!! So creamy and smooth when paired with that glorious butter crust. They taste like a decadent vanilla-infused treat that you will want to make again and again!
Butter Bars Ingredients
Butter: With butter in the title, you know it is an important ingredient in these bars. In fact, lots of butter is used in both the crust and the topping. Because of all the butter being used, I opted for Challenge Butter to make sure that these bars would be the best ooey gooey bars you have ever tasted!
Challenge Butter is made the old-fashioned way, churned fresh daily from the freshest milk and cream from happy cows at family-owned dairies since 1911–the same way it’s been made for 110 years.
I also used Challenge Butter in my Kentucky Butter Crunch Cake and Buttery Bubble Bread, which are two recipes you will have to try after you have made these bars.
Room Temperature Ingredients: Set your cream cheese and butter for the topping out a couple of hours before you plan on making these dessert bars. You will not regret it!
How to Store Butter Bars
These bars are best stored in a covered container in the refrigerator. They will last up to four days. If you want to freeze them, let them cool completely before storing them in a freezer-safe container in a single layer. Label and date the container(s); they will last in the freezer for up to three months. Let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 ½ cups (312.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (94 g) confectioners' sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Topping
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (500 g) confectioners' sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
- To a large bowl, combine flour, confectioners' sugar, salt, and nutmeg.
- Drizzle in butter and mix until combined and crumbly. Using the bottom of a glass or your hand, press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Using a fork, poke holes all over the surface of the crust.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let come to room temperature before adding the topping.
Topping
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter. Mix on medium speed until creamy.
- Slowly add the confectioners' sugar, eggs, yolks, and vanilla. Beat on low until smooth and creamy.
- Pour over cooled crust. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. (The center should be jiggly, but not liquidy.)
- Allow the bars to cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Then, place the bars in the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours before cutting and serving.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
What can you substitute for the 4 C of sugar? Could you use much less and still have a tasty filling? Thanks.
I always use Monkfruit sweetener. Use the same amount of Monkfruit sweetener as the recipe uses for sugar.
I can’t wait to try these! I had GBBs for the first time in Nashville, and I was hooked.
My fave was one that had a pecan layer, almost like a praline or pecan pie-type layer. I can’t find any recipe for it, and I don’t think the restaurant ships out is state. What might you recommend to make something like that?
I have a recipe that uses Butter Pecan Cake Mix with 1/2 cup melted butter for bottom layer. Sprinkle pecans on top of second layer. Skip the bottom layer in the recipe.
This is easy enough what you can do is follow a pecan brittle recipe and then when it’s done food process it down to the point where it’s a filling and then use that as a layer in this cake making it a banger and super expensive/fancy hahahaha
Who measures butter in tablespoons?
Clearly, I do. Do you feel better now, after trying to shame someone for doing something differently than yourself?
Excellent recipe! Excellent answer to Irene. 45+ years as a chef, and I STILL Use and INSTRUCT THE USE OF tablespoon measurement for butter.. Poo poo on Irene! LOL
Doesn’t everyone? It is on the side of almost every stick of butter
This is a question not comment. And your recipe is going to be delicious I’m sure. I apologize in advance and am not intending to be rude. However I’m accustomed to making this with cake mix, which of course uses a stick of butter or 8 tablespoons. Do you think I could use only 8 for this recipe, or is it going to be too dry? Thanks for any help!
Hi Amanda, sorry to bother you. I’m from London and I’m a diabetic. I noticed that the nutritional info doesn’t have carb count on it and I was just wondering if maybe you might be able to provide it for me. This recipe looks so good and my daughter and I would love to make it. I think I will still be making it but would love if you have the info as it would just make life so much easier. Can’t wait to try this and keep the beautiful looking recipes coming. Thank you again Laura.
HI Laura – The nutritional information that many food bloggers share is woefully inaccurate and because of not having access to better information, I have opted to leave it off my food blogs. You can use resources online, nutritional calculators, which allow you to just pop in the recipe in and will then get you the information you need. They are quite easy to use. Hope that helps!
interesting comment. practically EVERY recipe I’ve read which contains butter uses tablespoons as a measurement. How do you measure butter? Here in the US, sticks of butter actually have tablesppon marks on the wrappers
The sticks of butter are measured in tablespoons !
I do. Most recipes I’ve used call for tablespoons. How rude.
I made this recipe today to take to Bible study tonight, everyone loved them. They didn’t look great but everyone said that didn’t matter because they were delicious.
I just made them. They are so delicious! I will give them to my daughter to take to work tomorrow. Great with a cup of coffee at the morning meeting.
Moderator, would you change my name to T. Col? I’m afraid I left TMI. Silly of me.
Do you really use 2 TABLESPOONS vanilla?
These are amazing, one question, recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract…. Is that correct? Seems like that’s a bit much, however that is what I used lol. Thank you for sharing!!
Has anyone tried making this with gluten free flour? It seems like it would work but just wondering if others have.