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Gooey Butter Spice Cake

ByBrandie
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Gooey Butter Spice Cake is made with spice cake mix and a cinnamon cream cheese filling. A deliciously easy fall-inspired dessert!

A FALL-INSPIRED GOOEY BUTTER CAKE

Since Paula Deen first shared her cheater recipe for gooey butter cake years ago, I’ve been hooked. It’s a really fun recipe to play around with and switch up the flavors depending on the season. This Gooey Butter Spice Cake is absolutely scrumptious!

GOOEY SPICE BUTTER CAKE, sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar on a round white plate.

TIPS FOR MAKING GOOEY BUTTER CAKE:

  • The trick for gooey butter cakes is to not over-bake them. It’s called gooey for a reason. You don’t want a burnt cheesecake filling. We want it to stay soft-set.
  • You can easily make these with any cake mix flavor. It’s incredibly easy to switch up.
  • I like to use salted butter to offset a bit of the sweetness. You can certainly use unsalted butter if that’s all you have.
Gooey Butter Spice Cake recipe from The Country Cook, slice shown on a white circle plate with cinnamon sticks in the background.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)

  • spice cake mix
  • eggs
  • salted butter
  • cream cheese
  • vanilla extract
  • ground cinnamon
  • powdered sugar
spice cake mix, eggs, sticks of salted butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, powdered sugar.

HOW TO MAKE GOOEY BUTTER SPICE CAKE:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9×13″ baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a bowl mix together the cake mix with one egg and one stick melted butter.

MIXING SPICE CAKE WITH EGG, MELTED BUTTER IN A CLEAR BOWL.

Press this mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of prepared baking dish and set aside.

pressing cake mix mixture into the bottom of a clear baking dish.

In another bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in the eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and remaining melted stick of butter and beat until blended. 

cream cheese, egg, melted butter, ground cinnamon and vanilla extract mixed together in a separate clear bowl.

Mix in the powdered sugar and continue to mix until incorporated.

powdered sugar added to cream cheese mixture in a bowl.

Spread on top of the cake mix batter in the baking dish.

spread cream cheese batter on top of spice cake mix layer.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until center is set but still gooey. Remove from oven and let cool.

Gooey Butter Spice Cake, fully baked and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

slices of Gooey Butter Spice Cake on white plates with cinnamon sticks and glass of apple cider in the background.

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Gooey Butter Spice Cake recipe

Gooey Butter Spice Cake

Gooey Butter Spice Cake is made with spice cake mix and a cinnamon cream cheese filling. A deliciously easy fall-inspired dessert!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Cooling Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings: 12
Author: Brandie @ The Country Cook

Ingredients

  • 15.25 ounce box spice cake mix
  • 3 large eggs, divided use
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, divided use
  • 8 ounce block cream cheese, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • extra powdered sugar, for sprinkling 

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9"x13" baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  • In a bowl, mix together the cake mix with one egg and one stick melted butter.
  • Press this mixture into the bottom of prepared baking dish and slightly up the sides, then set aside.
  • In another bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in the eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and remaining melted stick of butter and beat until blended. 
  • Mix in the powdered sugar and continue to mix until incorporated. Spread on top of the cake mix batter in the baking dish.
  • Bake for about 30 minutes or until center is set but still gooey. Remove from oven and let cool.
  • Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Notes

  • The trick for gooey butter cakes is to not over-bake them. It’s called gooey for a reason. You don’t want a burnt cheesecake filling. We want it to stay soft-set.
  • You can easily make these with any cake mix flavor. It’s incredibly easy to switch up.
  • I like to use salted butter to offset a bit of the sweetness. You can certainly use unsalted butter if that’s all you have.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Calories: 233kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 17g | Sodium: 154mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g

Nutritional Disclaimer

“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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5 Comments

  1. Hi Brandie,
    I know this is going to sound dumb, but if you bake for about 30 minutes or until the center is set but still gooey how do you tell if it’s done. If a knife inserted comes out clean is it overdone? Thanks,

    Bonnie Olson

    Reply

    1. Hi Bonnie, it’s not an exact scene unfortunately but I would say the answer to your question is yes – if you stick a knife in and it comes out clean, it’s overdone. It will still taste good but it won’t be that gooey texture we’re looking for here. Keep in mind that baked goods will still cooks they come out of the oven because the pan they are in is still hot.

      Reply