These White Chocolate Butter Bars are a spin on classic Gooey Butter Cake! I’ve added lots of white chocolate chips that make these bars rich, soft, and creamy with an extra buttery flavor!
Make sure to try my Salted Caramel Butter Bars too. They’re always a hit!
White Chocolate Butter Bars Are An Easy Twist On Classic Gooey Butter Cake!
Did the name of this recipe grab you? I feel like if you put “butter” in the title it’s definitely click-bait material. Whether you’re here for the eye candy, or are truly looking for a melt in your mouth dessert recipe, I’d like to welcome you. Because I have (and will continue to be) a visual and practical consumer as well. I understand.
BUT if you are just here to ogle and bookmark for later when you’re not dieting or whatever, maybe I can convince you to play along. Make these with me. Because they’re super easy (only a few ingredients), they are a major win of a dessert for entertaining, AND/OR they are amazing to make today, eat a few and freeze for later. I’ve got all the bases covered.
These Butter Bars Start With a Cake Mix
Ok, I know I will get a few eye rolls here. Some of you don’t prefer using cake mixes, and I understand. But this recipe starts with a cake mix. It’s one that my mom made when I was growing up and I have kept it as-is.
Gooey Butter Cake has a few different variations. I’ve had it in multiple states and it’s different each time. This base recipe has been around for years, and it’s the one that my mom made when I was growing up, except she always added white chocolate chips. So, that’s what we’re doing here today.
How To Make White Chocolate Butter Bars
The ingredient list is simple and straight forward. You might even have all of the items needed in your kitchen now!
- Butter…obviously
- Cake mix. I use a yellow cake mix, but if you have a white mix or french vanilla those will work too!
- Eggs
- White Chocolate Chips
- Cream Cheese
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla
The Cake (or Crust) Base
This consists of simply the cake mix, butter, and one egg. It will be thick, but once you mix it together, you will press it into the bottom of a 9×13- inch baking dish.
Then you sprinkle the glorious white chocolate chips on top!
What If You Don’t Like White Chocolate?
No worries! Leave them out entirely OR replace them with other flavors of chips! Here are a few ideas:
- Chocolate Chips would be amazing…either semi-sweet or milk chocolate!
- Butterscotch Chips would be a fun option if you are a butterscotch lover!
- Chopped Up Mint Andes Chocolates. This could give you a buttermint-type flavor and I think I would love that! You could even use a chocolate cake mix in place of the vanilla!
Can These Butter Bars Be Frozen?
Absolutely!! These are a wonderful make ahead dessert. Here’s how:
- Bake the recipe according the recipe instructions.
- Allow the bars to cool completely.
- Don’t dust the bars with powdered sugar. Wait until you are ready to cut and serve them to do that so they’re pretty! The powdered sugar dissolves a little when you freeze and thaw them, so waiting to do this step is best!
- Cover the tray with plastic wrap tightly. Cover again with aluminum foil.
- Freeze for up to 30 days.
- To thaw, allow the bars to thaw in the refrigerator, which will take 4-5 hours. I don’t recommend thawing at room temperature due to the cream cheese in the filling.
PRO TIP: If you plan on freezing them using a disposable aluminum baking tray works great!
Love Gooey Butter Cake? Try These Desserts Inspired by the Classic Recipe!
- Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
- Strawberry Gooey Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Gooey Butter Bars
- German Butter Cake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Gooey Butter Cake
- Funfetti Gooey Butter Cookies
(This recipe was originally published in 2012 and updated in 2020 with new images and more helpful tips)
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White Chocolate Butter Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 30 bars 1x
- Category: Bars
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
These White Chocolate Butter Bars are a spin on classic Gooey Butter Cake! I’ve added lots of white chocolate chips that make these bars rich, soft, and creamy with an extra buttery flavor!
Ingredients
Cake
- 1/2 cup cold butter
- 1 (15.75- ounce) box yellow cake mix
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
Filling
- 1 (8- ounce) block cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 9×13- inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Cake: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together the butter and cake mix until combined, yet crumbly.
- Add in the egg and mix on medium for 1 minute. Batter will be stiff.
- Press the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle the white chocolate chips evenly over batter.
- Filling: In the same mixing bowl, still fitted with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar for 1 minute, or until smooth.
- Add in eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Pour this evenly over white chocolate chips and spread to edges of pan.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the center is set.
- Remove from oven and dust with powdered sugar.
- Let cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares.
Notes
Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 198
- Sugar: 19.5 g
- Sodium: 135.4 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 25.2 g
- Protein: 2.2 g
- Cholesterol: 36.2 mg
Keywords: cookies and cups, butter bars, butter cake, cake mix recipe, gooey butter cake, white chocolate, ooey gooey butter cake
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35 min was perfect with a dark pan. Made it in a glass Pyrex and it was still very jiggly at 35 min. No convection – just regular gas oven. Still a wonderful recipe!
★★★★★
I needed a recipe for teacher goodies and a bake sale and I went with this recipe. Kind of nervous since it was the first time to make it but Shelly’s recipes never let me down….this is AMAZING! So easy to make, did two batches, and it is phenomenal! The teachers are going to love it, we love it, and it’s going to be something we turn to regularly! Thank you for the great ideas!
I had to bake these for close to an hour before the middle was set, which unfortunately browned them a bit too much on the bottoms and sides! Any idea what I could have done wrong?
Would it be okay to make this with Funfetti Mix? Without running to the store I don’t have any yellow. Or could I use a mix made from scratch with flour, sugar, baking powder aned salt? It just seems like yellow has more butter flavor in it than the rest of them.
You could absolutely make this with Funfetti!
These were delicious, but it took forever for them to set up in the middle, almost an hour… Did I do something wrong, or is this just an oven variance? Thanks for sharing though, I’m making my co-workers heavier by the day! lol
Probably just an oven variance.. I bake in a true-convection oven, so that could be the difference!
You have so many delicious looking recipes! ! I also shared it in my collectionf 37 White Chocolate Recipes to try http://kristendukephotography.com/37-delicious-white-chocolate-recipes/#comments
this looks really good am so going to try this thanks for sharing..:)
I made these last night as husband cannot eat milk chocolate. They are wonderful and amazing. I used Dr. Otker organic cake mix. I did not put extra powder on top as I ran out. It did not matter delicious! You have many non chocolate treats here. So, thank you. I have added your feed to my reader.