Gooey Chess Bars - Easy Family Recipe (2024)

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This chess bars recipe is one of the easiest and best desserts out there! Sometimes referred to as chess squares or gooey butter cake, these bars use cream cheese and yellow cake mix for a delicious dessert that's requested year-round!

Gooey Chess Bars - Easy Family Recipe (1)

Does everyone have a favorite dessert from when they were growing up? I think this might be mine. Chess bars (also referred to as chess squares or gooey butter cake).

We've been eating these for years, ever since I was little, and this is a tried and true family recipe. Whenever I mention to my mom how much I love them, she'd say that they were so easy, she should make them more often.

And do you know what? They ARE so easy.

What are chess bars?

These chess bars have a layer of cake-likeness on the bottom and a layer of gooey cream cheese + powdered sugar on the top. I just love how the top tends to get all crackly too.

Ingredients

  • 1 box yellow cake mix - this recipe has been tested with both 15.25 oz mixes and 13.25 oz. No adjustments are needed for a smaller size, the recipe still works great.
  • 1 stick butter (softened) - 4oz
  • 4 eggs
  • Cream cheese (softened)
  • Powdered sugar
  • Vanilla extract

Recipe tips

  • I'd recommend letting the chess bars completely cool before cutting. You'll get much better results that way. And they are easier to cut. It's hard to resist eating them right away, but trust me.
  • I typically cook my chess bars in a parchment-lined pan so I can easily take them out and cut them, but you can also just make them in a cake pan with no parchment and then cut them in the pan. Either works!
  • I use my Kitchen-Aid Mixer to make these chess bars, because it makes it so easy, but a simple hand mixer like this works well too!

Do chess bars need to be refrigerated?

Yes! At least, I do. Most things that have cream cheese do better with refrigeration and it keeps them fresh.

If I'm serving for a gathering, they are fine if you have them out for a few hours. I do try to put them out at least 30 minutes before serving, just so they get that bit of gooeyness back.

Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Use wax paper in between each layer of chess bars so that they don't stick to one another.

Can you make other flavors?

Absolutely! I've made a pumpkin version of these before and they were delicious.

An easy way to mix it up is to use something other than yellow cake mix in the base. You can try strawberry, lemon, whatever you want. I can't guarantee they will come out perfectly since I've never tested it out, but it SEEMS like it should work!

If you like this recipe, you'll love these

  • Gooey confetti cake bars
  • No bake lemonade pie
  • Easy pecan banana bread
  • Dutch apple pie with crumb topping
  • Pineapple cherry dump cake

How to make the chess squares

Making the chess bars, or squares, is so easy!

First, make sure your butter and cream cheese are softened. Then you can get started!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper for easy removal and cutting of the chess bars.

In a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer), mix together 1 egg, the softened stick of butter, and the cake mix. Mix until blended and combined.

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Gooey Chess Bars - Easy Family Recipe (4)

Take this mixture and pat down into a 9x13 pan.

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Wash and dry your mixing bowl, then add the cream cheese, 3 eggs, vanilla, and powdered sugar to the bowl. Then mix that until combined and pour over the cake mixture.

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Put in the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, then turn down the oven to 325 and bake for another 45-50 minutes. Let cool, then cut into squares!

Store any leftovers in the refrigerator with wax paper in between each layer.

Gooey Chess Bars - Easy Family Recipe (10)

Gooey Chess Bars - Easy Family Recipe (11)

Chess Bars

These chess bars (or chess squares) are an easy and sweet dessert using cream cheese and yellow cake mix.

4.87 from 72 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 28 bars

Calories 197 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 box yellow cake mix
  • 1 stick butter softened 4 oz
  • 1 egg for base
  • 3 eggs for topping
  • 8 oz cream cheese softened
  • 16 oz powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

  • Take the cake mix, 1 egg, and softened stick of butter and mix together.

  • Pat down into a 9x13 pan.

  • Mix together remaining eggs, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla and pour over cake.

  • Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

  • Reduce heat to 325 and bake for 45-50 minutes.

  • This cake will sink in the middle after it cools.

  • Let cool completely before cutting. Cut into squares and place any remaining bars in the refrigerator in an airtight container (between layers of wax or parchment paper).

Notes

This recipe has been tested with both 15.25 oz mixes and 13.25 oz. No adjustments are needed for a smaller size, the recipe still works great.

Some tips when making the chess bars recipe:

  • I'd recommend letting the chess bars completely cool before cutting. You'll get much better results that way. And they are easier to cut. It's hard to resist eating them right away, but trust me.
  • I cook mine in a parchment-lined pan so I can easily take them out and cut them, but you can also just make them in a cake pan with no parchment and then cut them in the pan. Either works!

Do chess bars need to be refrigerated? Yes! At least, I do. Most things that have cream cheese do better with refrigeration and it keeps them fresh. If I'm serving for a gathering, they are fine if you have them out for a few hours. I do try to put them out at least 30 minutes before serving, just so they get that bit of gooeyness back.

Nutrition

Calories: 197kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 2gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 198mgPotassium: 30mgFiber: 1gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 244IUCalcium: 52mgIron: 1mg

If nutrition info is shown, values are based on an online calculator and are estimates. Please verify using your own data.

Tried this recipe?Tag @foodbanjo on Instagram and share your photos!

Gooey Chess Bars - Easy Family Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a Ooey Gooey bar made of? ›

For the unfamiliar, this is a bar with a cake mix-butter-one egg crust on the bottom. The topping is a block of softened cream cheese, one stick of melted butter, two eggs, vanilla and two cups of powdered sugar.

Why are they called chess bars? ›

Compared to other custard-based pastries, the chess pie holds up relatively well at room temperature. Often, it was stored in something called a "pie chest." The word "chest," some say, eventually became "chess." Southern gentlemen liked to enjoy the dessert after dinner while they played chess.

What is Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey cake? ›

The Recipe Unveiled: Gooey Goodness in Every Layer

Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey Butter Cake boasts a recipe that's as delightful to make as it is to eat. The base recipe, much like traditional butter cakes, comprises flour, eggs, butter, sugar, and sometimes salt, along with a chemical leavening pair.

What does Ooey Gooey mean? ›

ooey-gooey (comparative more ooey-gooey, superlative most ooey-gooey) (informal, childish) gooey; sticky quotations ▼

Is chess pie the same as custard pie? ›

What is the difference between this pie and custard pie? While both pies have a custard filling, the main difference is that chess pie has cornmeal in the filling. There is also acidity added (from the cider vinegar) to balance out the sweetness of the chess pie.

Are chess pie and buttermilk pie the same? ›

Both pies are very similar but have a few distinct differences. Like a chess pie, buttermilk pie starts with the same main components of butter, sugar, and eggs. But instead of milk and lemon juice (or vinegar), it uses straight buttermilk to give it a tart lusciousness.

Is egg pie and chess pie the same? ›

There are many theories but nothing definitive about how the term chess came to be associated with pie. Egg custard pie, chess pie and buttermilk pie all are variations on the same basic recipe: Eggs, sugar and milk with a little bit of flour for thickening.

What is a godfather cake? ›

A two-tier Godfather themed cake featuring all hand-modeled and edible elements from the classic movie. The cake is lemon chiffon with a delicious raspberry butter-cream filling, covered in dark chocolate ganache and LMM fondant.

What is a queen king cake? ›

Started roughly 300 years ago as a dry French bread–type dough with sugar on top and a bean hidden inside to symbolize baby Jesus, the King Cake is now the most iconic symbol of Mardi Gras! Hundreds of thousands of king cakes are eaten in New Orleans and around the world during the Carnival season and beyond.

What is Queen Elizabeth cake made of? ›

Queen Elizabeth cake is a dessert cake prepared with sugar, flour, dates, eggs, and butter, and topped with a sugary icing infused with shredded coconut. The cake is named after Elizabeth II. It is a popular cake in Canada. The coconut topping is prepared by broiling or grilling.

Where is Ooey Gooey cake from? ›

The consensus is that the first gooey butter cake was made accidentally by a south St. Louis German-American baker in the 1930s. That's according to an online article by the Missouri Historical Society.

Where is Ooey Gooey butter cake from? ›

The Gooey Butter Cake originated in the 1930s. According to legend, a German baker added the wrong proportions of ingredients in the coffee cake batter he was making. It turned into a gooey, pudding-like filling.

Why is it called gooey butter cake? ›

With way more butter than flour in the recipe, the resulting cake was a buttery blob that spread out all over the pan. Unwilling to it toss out and lose the revenue, Hoffman instead named it "gooey butter cake." People loved it, so Hoffman continued to recreate this "mistake," and soon bakeries all over St.

What is gooey butter cake from White Castle? ›

Well, we took this classic sweet yellow cake, rich cream cheese, butter and a dash of vanilla flavor and put it On-A-Stick! Now this perfect-sized delight is only gooey in your mouth, and sticky fingers are a thing of the past.

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