When you hear the magic word “butter” what do you think of? Toast? Pancakes? Baking? Paula Deen? Me too. I have never made a single recipe from Paula Deen (sorry Paula! I still like y’all!) but I have seen this Paula Deens Ooey Gooey Butter Cake pinned so many times that I couldn’t resist.
There just had to be a reason this particular butter cake recipe to be such a success. And there was. It’s super simple to make and it tastes SO good! The grandkids loved it, too!
I have also seen this pinned as “The Original Neiman Marcus Bars” and “Texas Gold Bars”. But the name doesn’t really matter. Because whatever you call them, they ARE ooey, they ARE gooey and they definitely have a rich, buttery flavor. They’re also about to become one of your family’s favorite treats of all time.
Paula Deens Ooey Gooey Butter Cake – The Best Dessert For Your Favorite Grandkids
The verdict from my family? Paula Deen’s Gooey Butter Cake recipe ROCKS!
Who is Paula Deen?
Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American TV personality and cooking show host. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant and Paula Deen’s Creek House with her sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen. She has published fifteen cookbooks. Though married since 2004 to Michael Groover, she uses the last name – Deen, from her first marriage.
via Wikipedia
Paula Deen is well-known for her traditional Southern cooking. Her books are best-sellers, her restaurant businesses are a hit, too. I’ve heard so many good things about her recipes that I just had to cook something of hers. I had to check for myself why her cooking is so appreciated.
And boy, Paula Deens Ooey Gooey Butter Cake was definitely the right recipe choice to make.
Wanna know more about butter?
I can never think of butter without remembering one of my mother’s memories about butter. It was a story we heard multiple times and yet, we enjoyed every single one of them. It was during World War II and my mother lived in a project. She remembers getting rations during the war and one of the things that were in scarce supply was butter.
She told us that it used to come as white butter with a little packet of yellow dye. To make your butter yellow, you took the packet and mixed it into the butter.
Well, one time her older brother decided to have some fun with their butter.
Along with the yellow packet of coloring that came with the butter, he had an idea. He decided it would be funny to add a few drops of blue coloring to the butter.
And you know what happens when you mix yellow and blue – you get green. All of their butter supply had a lovely green color.
Their mother (my grandmother) was furious because they wouldn’t be getting any more butter any time soon. They had to use what they had and so they had to spread green butter on everything. And cook with green butter.
Funny story, ha? Well, my grandma didn’t think so… But you know how young boys are.
Back to the point. Butter, as a cooking condiment, has been appreciated by humans for a long time and there are multiple reasons why.
Benefits of Including Butter In Your Menu
- adds a rich flavor to sautéed and pan-fried foods
- improves texture and adds volume to baked dishes
- Butter contains Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K2, Calcium
As with everything else, butter is to be consumed in moderation. It is a wonderful product. But it also contains a significant percentage of fat. Consuming too many rich-in-fat foods can lead to weight gain and serious health troubles.
How is Butter Made?
The dairy product produced from churning milk or cream is called butter. The process of churning separates the solids (the butterfat) from the liquids (the buttermilk).
Butter is the product you get when you’ve achieved approximately 80% of butterfat. At room temperature, it is semi-liquid and easy to spread. It is also great to use in cooking for frying, sauces, baking, etc.
It’s usually pale yellow in color. However, it can range to deep yellow, depending on what the animal’s been eating, before giving milk. Most often, we buy butter made from cow’s milk from the store.
But butter could be made from the milk of:
- Sheep
- Goat
- Yak
- Buffalo
- even Camel
- Donkey
- or Moose (commercially available in stores in Russia and Sweden!!)
Historical evidence point butter’s been around since at least 2000 BC, and we know there’s a good reason why. (It’s SO good!)
DIY Homemade Butter for your Paula Deens Ooey Gooey Butter Cake
Yes, you actually can make your own butter at home! However, I am not a huge fan of the process. But you can try it and decide for yourself – is it worth the effort to make your own butter.
Here’s a video you can check out about how to make your own butter at home:
What’s a Butter Cake?
Butter cakes are my favorite type of cake. Wanna know why? Because they’re usually hard to mess up!
Another name in the US you can find butter cakes under is pound cakes. They are full of flavor and light in texture.
Butter cakes are a part of American cuisine. Their original pound cake is believed to have been baked in England. The American version of this cake is said to be a variation of its main formula.
Butter cakes make a big part of our favorite birthday and wedding cakes. They are moist and yet hard enough to be covered in a variety of frostings and toppings.
Tell me you’re not drooling already…
Luckily, nowadays butter now comes in a soft, creamy yellow, and we can make Paula Deens Ooey Gooey Butter Cake so it will look like this:
How To Make Paula Deens Ooey Gooey Butter Cake?
The base recipe for all butter cakes is pretty much the same. It includes flour, eggs, butter, sugar, sometimes salt, and a chemical leavening pair.
Paula’s recipe is even simpler – she uses a store-bought cake mix. So this is a great way to simplify your cake baking process, too.
Trying different kinds of cake mixes allows you to experiment with the taste. You can effortlessly come up with your own version of an ooey gooey butter cake!
What Ingredients Do You Need?
For the Cake:
- 1 18 1/4-ounce package of yellow cake mix
- 1 egg
- 16 tablespoons melted butter (divided)
For the Filling:
- 8-ounce package of cream cheese (softened)
- 2 eggs
- 1 16-ounce box powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
How to prepare Paula Deens Ooey Gooey Butter Cake?
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees Celsius).
- Combine the cake mix with the egg and 8 tablespoons of butter (about half a stick). Mix well with an electric mixer until all ingredients are well combined. The mixture needs to be completely homogenous.
- Grease a 9×13 baking pan. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until it’s smooth.
- Add the eggs, 8 tablespoons of butter (about half a stick), and vanilla. Beat them together until they’re fully incorporated.
- When the mixture is ready, add the powdered sugar and mix well.
- Spread over cake batter.
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes.
Important notice: Make sure not to overbake your cake. The center should be a little gooey.
Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey Butter Cake
Ingredients
- Cake:
- 1 18 1/4- ounce package yellow cake mix
- 1 egg
- 16 tablespoons melted butter divided
- Filling:
- 1 8- ounce package cream cheese softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 16- ounce box powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine the cake mix, egg, and 8 TBL butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Press the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, 8 TBL butter and vanilla and beat together.
- Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.
I must issue a warning here if you haven’t already figured it out on your own. This cake is super rich, and a little goes a long way.
When I made this for my family, I cut the pieces as big as a regular piece of cake and no one was able to finish it. However, every one of them LOVED the cake.
So Paula Deens Ooey Gooey Butter Cake is not only one of the most delicious butter cakes you’ll ever try. It also makes a dessert that the grandkids enjoy for more than one day! If this didn’t convince you to try this recipe, I don’t know what will.
Final Thoughts
If your grandkids (or you) have a sweet tooth, you definitely need to include this recipe in your meals rotation. It’s ooey, gooey, delicious, and absolutely irresistible. Even my pickiest grandson enjoyed a decent amount of his piece.
Cooking with butter is always a good idea. Because butter adds this unique taste only a home-cooked meal has. And there’s nothing better than a tasty cake prepared by your grandkids’ favorite grandma.
And don’t forget: Do not try to make your butter green at home. Leave this up to the professionals!
Did you like Paula Deens Ooey Gooey Butter Cake? Then, you’re going to love these other dessert recipes we have:
- Pumpkin Dump Cake
- Low Carb Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake
- 4th Of July Poke Cake
- Ice Box Cake Recipe
- Better Than Anything Cake
I LOVE Paula Deen! And butter cake….yum! Thanks for sharing at Pinworthy Projects. I also started up my Must Try Monday link party again if you’d like to share recipes there-I’d love to have you!
Thanks Carrie! We will definitely come on over!
Your story was interesting but the coloring packet was in margarine – a new product to replace short supply butter.
I have made this and it is great. I live here in Savannah so Paula is my go to for recipes. I sometime alter the amount of butter or cheese but I have never gone wrong with here recipes!!! Her chicken enchiladas are great- I just use less cheese. Her Taco Soup is a household staple. Her cookbooks or website is the first place I turn for a recipe.
Hi Linda! Ooooh….I am definitely interested in a Taco Soup. I’m gonna hop on over to her site right now to see if I can find it. Thanks for the heads up!
Just made this. It is so good. A little rich but it is a Holiday cake. It is cheap to make and easy to prepare. Mine came out a little spotty brown on top but I let it go a few minutes too long. Try this!
It is definitely rich isn’t it? But oh so yummy! Deb – The Oldest Sister
Ooey gooey butter cake is delicious my family loves it!
Does this cake need to be refrigerated?
Hi Lisa! I did not refrigerate mine because it didn’t last that long but I always refrigerate any other cake that I make to help it last longer. This is very rich but yummy! Deb
Omg! A coworker just made this for us for a farewell potluck. And omg I just had to find it so I could make it for my hubby. Yum five stars. It’s so good it puts me in mind of the cheesecake chimichangas from taco bueno.
Hi Asia! It is SOOOOO yummy but definitely rich! Hope your hubby likes it! Deb
I have made Paula’s butter cake now 5 times and my employees can’t get enough! I have 40 employees and at least once a week they are asking me to make this!!! Especially my boss!! Hail to the queen paula you are awesome and I miss your shows! This cake is a big big big hit!!!❤️
Oh I am so glad that you like it. Isn’t it yummy? I miss her too.
I’m stuck at home in a snow storm and curious if you think white cake mix could be substituted in this recipe. I also have chocolate but I’m thinking that will not work…
Hi Meredith, I think you could use a white cake mix but it will have a slightly different taste than a butter yellow but I would try! Hope you stay warm!
Chocolate cake mix works great too. I’ve used it and sprinkled mini chocolate chips over the top and we loved it. Just a variation… also tasted a friend’s who had added crushed pineapple to the filling and it was excellent!
Oooh! That sounds great!
I’ve made this cake with several variations…pumpkin with white chocolate chips added..I’ve used butter pecan cake mix..devils food..red velvet you name it! I have tons of Paula’s cookbooks and she has variations to this recipe. It’s so simple and versatile! Can’t go wrong.
The time frame she gives is too long. I have made this recipe twice and the cake never taste like the store kind….I just viewed other versions and the only difference is the shorter time to cook. 25-30 minutes. I will also try and beat cream chees longer so that it may be fluffier.
That’s a great tip!
I believe the “white butter” was actually oleo, the first form of margarine.
I grew up on gooey butter cake in st. Louis. I never new it wasn’t found everywhere so when I moved I was so sad. So I am definitely going to try this recipe
OH Rachel, this is definitely a keeper. Rich, but good!
The white butter was not real butter it was oleo or what we know as margarin. I receive a Paula Deen cake pan with spatula and her ooey gooey butter cake mix. It was sooooo gooood! 🙂
Hi! I have tried this recipe a few times, and I was wondering how I could get the butter cake to have that flaky top. It usually just comes out really soft and moist, but if I could get a light crunch in there too, that would be awesome. Thank you 🙂
Hi Joey! My crust came out fairly flaky but my top was pretty moist so I think that you’re doing it right. I know that when I make lemon bars sometimes I will put a sugar glaze on the top that gives it a little crunch. Maybe something like that would help get the result you’re looking for? We sure appreciate you visiting!
Hi Deb,
I’ve made this twice according to Paula Deen’s website which calls for another 8 tablespoons of butter in the filling. I checked out your version to see if there was anything you did differently to improve this already rich and yummy dessert. I saw all your reviews saying it was very rich, so I can drop a whole stick of butter and it’s going to taste just as good as two!
Great way to cut some calories!
I made this once and completely forgot the extra stick of butter in the filling, and it tasted exactly the same.
Less calories right? That can’t be bad!
hate to tell you this but the ‘butter’ your mom was talking about was in fact margarine, not butter at all..
You’re right! I rarely use margarine so I am just used to saying “butter”. Did you also get this Gail?
Do I use a metal pan or glass?
I have always used glass with this and it has always turned out beautifully!
Salted or unsalted butter?
I used salted!
Don’t like it. Would not have made it. No reflection on Paula Deen..LLove her..this is not her recipe, it’s well known. I would give this recipe 1 star actually, but I don’t want it to reflect on Paula. Wasted 2 sticks of butter and a brick of cream cheese. It’s too rich..so rich it’s hard to eat. I wanted to make this great sounding recipe for a long time..but, I actually threw it out. Next time I will half any new recipe. Was not a fan of the tomato pie either.
True. This is a very rich recipe. So I eat smaller pieces which just makes it last longer!
I suppose you just don’t like really rich desserts and if that’s the case, this recipe is not for you. When I saw your comment, I went to Paula Deens website and checked out her recipe that is published there. I am making this for my husband for Valentines Day. I can assure you that the recipe you see above is in fact Paula Deens Original Gooey Butter Cake recipe. I have been to 2 of Paulas restaurants and I can assure you it is very rich there as well.
It is rich but did you consider that if it was bad, maybe you did something wrong?
I’m in the process of making this now! Thank you for posting it!
I AM HAVING A PROBLEM WITH THE BOTTOM OF MY BARS BEING SOGGY I FOLLOW THE DIECTIONS BUT THEY STILL COME OUT SOGGY WHAT AM I DOING WRONG HELP PLEASE.
Paula Deen’s Oooey Gooey Butter Cake = Yum-Yum! It has become a family favorite!!!!
Seriously so good!!!!
Paula Deen I absolutely love you and every recipe I’ve tried of yours is amazing. I really do miss watching you on TV you taught me so much about cooking thank you.
Just made this recipe. one of the easiest recipes i’ve made. really enjoy gooey butter cake and can eat the whole thing by myself. not too rich for me.
Too bad the whole thing with Paula. was a character assassination I believe. she was just too good for television in my opinion. moving on to brighter things. she did teach me a lot about cooking too.
I like this recipe, but please be aware this ISN’T Paula Deen’s ‘”Ooey Gooey Butter Cake”; it’s her “Gooey Butter Cake.” The one with the “Ooey” added is a three-layer from-scratch recipe with filling and frosting that uses FIVE sticks of butter! That recipe can be found in her “Southern Cooking Bible” cookbook.
BRW, your mother’s memory of having to mix dye into butter is similar to when I was growing up during the 1950s in Wisconsin, where, by law, all margarine was sold the same way–white, with a dye capsule to mix with it. Only butter could be sold already colored yellow, so many Wisconsinites would drive to the Illinois state line to buy yellow margarine!
smelly
Smelly good? or smelly bad? Hope it turns out for you! Deb – The Oldest Sister