Gooey Butter Cake Cookie Dough
Listen. I don’t care if you call it Gooey Butter Cake, Kentucky Butter Cake, St. Louis Butter Cake, or Yellow Cake Mix Butter Cake, I just call it good. But, I do also call it Gooey Butter Cake, so that’s what we named it lol. That said – there is just something so cravable about that simple dessert that keeps me coming back for more. It’s buttery from the butter…duh, it’s tangy from the cream cheese, it’s sugary from the powdered sugar topping, and its got this texture that is just to die for. Paula Dean’s Gooey Butter Cake is probably the most universally recognized recipe out there for this classic, but it started as a happy accident in a small bake shop in Saint Louis.
I had to look this up for myself, as I love learning about the history of dessert (I am a bit of a baking nerd in that sense). It turns out, a baker by the name of Johnny Hoffman unintentionally reversed the proportions of butter and flour in his dough. Johnny owned St Louis Pastries Bakery and by the sound of it, it seems like the mistake should have never worked. The batter wouldn’t have set up or there should have been an issue with the texture. Upon baking it, they knew something wasn’t right for the cake they were trying to make, but something was so…so right with the cake that came out of the oven. After many tests with another local Saint Louis baker by the name of Herman Danzer, they landed on a recipe for the first official Saint louis Butter Cake. But it was only after one of the initial tasters, Danzer’s wife, Melba proclaimed “that sure is gooey” that the official name of Gooey Butter Cake was coined.
Now, Gooey Butter Cake has become a cultural icon of sorts in the baking world. A marvel of baking ingenuity and creativity in the kitchen that has since inspired many bakeries to offer it on their menus. There have been riffs on the original recipe, with the additions of caramel, lemon, or berries and there will be plenty more to come! You even have the likes of premier ice cream brands like Jeni’s Ice Cream and Blue Bell Creamery making their own riffs on the classic and turning it into a delectable, creamy, delicious ice cream. I know good cream and trust me when I say, Jeni’s is doing it right. I have yet to try Blue Bell’s iteration, but it’s a bit harder to find.
I took a baking class just for fun a few years back – you can never know enough and the second you think you know it all, is the second you stop growing. The biggest thing I took from this class, that has stuck with me through building BAKR is creativity. Far too often, we box ourselves into conventional thinking and I think that is the downfall of realizing your maximum potential in life, but also in the kitchen. This class pushed me to think in untraditional ways – start creating recipes that were uniquely my own. It was in this class that I first thought of gooey butter cake cookies. I had just had it at my wedding as a rehearsal dinner dessert and I became obsessed. I had made the cake many times, but I knew it could also become a cookie and I set out on a mission to make it.
And it took recipe test, after recipe test, after recipe test to get this dough perfect. And it is – it is my ABSOLUTE favorite cookie in the lineup, hands down. Why? Because not until today, can you find Gooey Butter Cake Cookie dough that ship nationwide. Not until today can you have that dough can sit in your freezer, ready whenever you want a little sweet crinkle sugar cookie. Not until today have I even really heard of gooey butter cake cookies. I kind of invented it…and you know what? That feels awesome. Ohh…and it nails the texture and taste of a Gooey Butter Cake, so it’s just perfect. I love it, I hope you love it.
To bring us full circle to the original story, sometimes all it takes is a flip flop of butter and flour to create something truly revolutionary. Gooey Butter Cake goes against almost every principle of the previously held conventional baking ideology, but somehow it worked. For me, as I think of new ideas for baking at home or BAKR that pique my interest and finally get to start working on a new, unique desserts recipe or cookie, I still apply most of the fundamental techniques and baking practices that have built my core understanding of how to balance a good recipe. But it’s not until I’ve chosen to go against the grain, break those unwritten rules, and push my understanding of what is possible, that I’ve found myself taking my baking to the next level. So, my thought is why not? What’s the worst that can happen? You create a cultural icon like the Gooey Butter Cake? Yep, sign me up for that…every time. I can’t wait to continue to break the rules of the baking game with BAKR and keep pumping out new and innovative cookie dough flavors to you all.
I’ll leave you with this: Get innovative in the kitchen. Try New Ingredients. Don’t be afraid to set off the fire alarm.
Just get inspired and create fun recipes. That is the magic of baking.
Happy Baking
Alexa 