Gooey Butter Cookie Butter Cakes

Hint: Contains butter.


Cookie Butter Gooey Butter Cakes
Ever since I found this stuff at Trader Joe's, I've been trying to figure out what to do with it (besides eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon). Now I know, thanks to this recipe. As with Laurie's Gooey Butter Cakes, these are rich, super sweet, a little messy, highly caloric, and habit forming. Also, there's a lot of butter.

For the bottom layer:
1 (package yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 c. (1 stick)  butter, melted

For the next layer:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened*
1 cup Trader Joe's Cookie Butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted
1 lb. box powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a 13x9 baking pan.

For the bottom layer, combine the cake mix, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl, and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.

To make the next layer, beat the cream cheese and cookie butter together with the mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and melted butter, and mix again until well combined. Add the powdered sugar and the salt, and mix well.

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cake mix layer and bake for approximately 40 minutes. Don't overbake - the center should still be gooey! The bars will collapse as they cool, and you'll also get this kind of crispy, crackling, sweet crust on top. Fantastic stuff.

Cool a bit, then serve warm or at room temperature.

Click to print this recipe!

* I have to confess this was another "It's 11pm and my daughter's not home so I have to bake something fattening immediately" situation, and I didn't have any cream cheese but I did have mascarpone (don't ask). I used that instead, with no ill effects, other than some indigestion from the five bars I ate just to make sure they tasted OK with mascarpone. They do.