St. Louis Gooey Butter Cookies

These soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies are the offspring of the St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake recipe I shared in a previous post. Using similar ingredients, this cookie version has the same fabulous flavor of the cake that is loved throughout St. Louis and beyond. Personally, I love these cookies even more than the cake, and that's sayin' something!

I ate my first gooey butter cookie years ago at The Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery in Kimmswick, Missouri. It was a favorite place for lunch when I was out and about with my friend Sheri. (Check out Sheri's awesome yarn and fabric shop, The Loopy Ewe.) When the St. Louis Post Dispatch published The Blue Owl's recipe for gooey butter cookies, I was excited to be able to make them at home. Since then, I've created my own version of the recipe that omits the yellow cake mix and is made completely from scratch; it's simply a cookie version of my gooey butter cake recipe.

Gooey Butter Cookies, like the cake, are so popular in St. Louis that they are sold at most grocery stores here, like these at my local Schnucks.

Step-by-step photos for making
Gooey Butter Cookies

Skip the step-by-step photos - Jump straight to the recipe

Step 1. Assemble the ingredients:

• flour
• baking powder & baking soda
• salt
• butter
• cream cheese
• granulated and powdered sugar
• vanilla
• eggs

view on Amazon:  Oxo stacking cannisters (I've been using these for years.)

Step 2. Begin by whisking the dry ingredients together.

view on Amazon:  POURfect mixing bowls (I love these--they're easy to hold for adding ingredients without spills while the mixer is running); wire whisk

Step 3. Using a hand-held or stand mixer,

• blend the butter and cream cheese until fluffy,
• add sugar and vanilla and mix
• add eggs one-at-a-time, mixing thoroughly after each one
• add the flour mixture 1/3 at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition

view on Amazon:  my KitchenAid stand mixer

Step 4. Cover and chill the cookie dough for at least 2 hours or as long as 24 hours. (I usually make mine a day ahead.)

Step 5. Form walnut size balls (2 tablespoons) of chilled cookie dough. (This size will make 32 cookies; when baked they are 3-1/2 inches in diameter.) Roll each dough ball in powdered sugar until evenly coated.

• TIP 1: Use a medium cookie scoop to form uniform portions of cookie dough. 
• TIP 2: The dough is very sticky, and can be difficult to handle. So, first, without touching the dough, drop mounds of it into the powdered sugar and then roll it around with your hands. The sugar coating makes it easier to handle and form balls.
• TIP 3: For 15 jumbo cookies (baked 4-1/2 inch diameter), form dough into golf ball size balls. 

Step 6. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Place dough balls on baking sheet 2" apart. 

view on Amazon: 

• medium scoop -- the easiest way to make uniform cookie portions
• 13x18 baking sheet with lid (half sheet)
• economical set of silicone mats--HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (I love these--they have rounded corners for a perfect fit inside half and quarter baking sheets, and they are considerably more economical than the Silpat brand mats--3 mats for less than the cost of 1 Silpat)
• wire cooling rack --  this is the #1 recommendation of Cooks Illustrated's Test Kitchen; it fits perfectly inside the 18x13 (half sheet) baking pan, so it can double as a baking rack when needed

Step 7. Bake cookies until they are set with no visible wet areas but not browned at all, 12-15 minutes. (Be careful not to overcook them to maintain a soft, slightly gooey texture.) The jumbo size takes 18-20 minutes.

Step 8. Remove from the oven, rest on the pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

view on Amazon:  wire cooling rack

You can dust the cookies with more powdered sugar, if desired.

Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Freezable! The cookies may be baked ahead, wrapped well, and frozen for up to one month. Sprinkle thawed cookies with a fresh dusting of powdered sugar before serving.

These cookies are so good--soft, gooey, and wonderful! I also like to use them for ice cream sandwiches and will be sharing that recipe in a future post.

Make it a Yummy day!