Gooey Bars (aka Cream Cheese Bars)
I have no idea what these bars should actually be called or where this recipe really came from… It’s likely to have come on the back of a cream cheese box for all I know. (Actually, Google helped me to find this recipe which is the same). This is another recipe that my family loves. My sisters practically know this recipe by heart. Similar to the “best dang thing ever bars”, my sisters also prefer to underbake these bars, hence the name gooey bars. I tend to like my bars fully cooked so they hold their shape better. If you prefer an even gooier texture, take these out of the oven a couple minutes early.
I know some of you will shudder at the thought of using a box cake mix. I agree that in general, I would much rather make a cake/cookie/brownie from scratch. For starters, it’s a lot more fun as a baker to measure everything out and follow a recipe that has more than two steps. Not to mention knowing exactly what is in your food (and being able to pronounce it all!) I do however believe that boxed cake mix has a time and a place. One of those places being in this bar.
These bars taste almost like a cheesecake with a great chewy shortbread crust. Everyone that tried one really enjoyed them and Hubby ate an embarassingly large number of these bars.
Gooey Bars
Yield: 30
Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 eggs
1 pound powdered sugar
1 8-oz package cream cheese
Directions:
Mix cake mix, margarine & 1 egg with fork. Press into bottom of greased 9 x 13 pan, set aside.
Beat powdered sugar, cream cheese and 2 eggs for 4 or 5 minutes. Pour over cake mixture.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into bars.
Recipe from my step mom
Don’t forget – I’m offering a chance to win a cute tote if you donate $5 or more to my Avon Walk by the end of January. See details here.












I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 






Mmm I love monkey bread!
That looks so good! I am going to have to try this soon!
This looks yummy! I love making monkey bread with homemade dough. To make it even richer, you could use leftover brioche dough. I have tried using the Artisan Bread in Five minutes recipes to make it quicker and easier. YUM!!!
Lovely photos.
looks delicious! Mmmmm!
I LOVE monkey bread! I can only make it for company or I will seriously eat the entire pan!
You are killing me with those pictures! That looks amazing.
I just posted about monkey bread also. Love the stuff, here is my link if your interested.
http://newlyweds.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/monkey-bread/
I LOVE monkey bread, yours looks great!!
We L-O-V-E monkey bread! I’ve been making it for my children for several years now. I’ve also made monkey bread muffins which is the same thing but baked in muffins tins.
~ingrid
My family used to make monkey bread when we were growing up too! YUM!
I have yet to make this, but this looks amazing. Love the new blog look.
I know I’m about 3 months behind, but I saw this recipe in your “Blog Recap – Big Hitters” post and added it to my list of things to try. It only took me a month and a half to get to it ;).
Like you, I made it on a Sunday morning as a suprise for my husband and he loved it!
I blogged it here, if you want to check it out:
http://alexandjess.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/monkeys-for-breakfast/
Thanks for sharing your fun recipe!