Name: Gooey Butter Cupcakes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted); 1¼ cups AP Flour; 1½ teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (or salt of choice); 3/4 cup granulated sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 large egg; 4 ounces cream cheese (full fat and softened); 4 tablespoons butter (melted); 2 cups powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 large egg; 1 large egg yolk; 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (for dusting on top)

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A homemade vanilla cake press in crust is baked with a gooey and buttery cream cheese topping for a decadent St. Louis style treat in cupcake form. These gooey butter cupcakes are loaded with flavor, ooey gooey texture, and sweet indulgence.

Some of my favorite recipe creations come from suggestions by the readers of this blog and those who watch my recipe segments. I asked Show Me St. Louis viewers to choose the treat they wanted to see for my next segment. I got so many suggestions, which I then put up for votes. I narrowed it down to the two top choices, Pumpkin Brownies and Gooey Butter Cupcakes. People love gooey butter cake, so those were the clear winner! And being a native St. louisan, I was excited to bring you a homemade gooey butter cake in cupcake form! Even better, the idea for the cupcakes came from one of the hosts mom! So special!

Find the video here.

From more polls I got that the preferred type of gooey butter cake is one with a cake bottom and a cheesecake topping. So for these gooey butter cupcakes I developed a press in vanilla cake that is covered with a rich cream cheese batter.

These gooey butter cupcakes are about to be your new favorite dessert!

Gooey Butter Cake Off

Being a St. Louis native, I have had my share of gooey butter cake! Did you know that there are actually two versions?

The original St. Louis gooey butter cake contains a yeast crust bottom. The gooey top has an ultra sweet corn syrup and butter mixture.

The other gooey butter cake version was made famous by Paula Deen. This is a cake mix bottom with a powdered sugar and cream cheese topping.

To create the best gooey butter cupcakes I did a ton of polling to find out what my readers and viewers prefer. The majority of you want the version that has a yellow cake mix bottom and a creamy, gooey cream cheese batter topping.

The following cupcakes have a homemade buttery vanilla cake press in crust. The batter has cream cheese and powdered sugar. The addition of an extra egg yolk gives richness, depth, and extra goo!

Gooey butter cake in any form is not complete without a generous dusting of powdered sugar. But check out those crackly naked tops below!

Thanks for making these gooey butter cupcakes! Join me on Instagram for more free recipes and videos, and to be part of the recipe development fun!

Items From The Video!

*I edited this to add some items I used in the video for Show Me St. Louis. Do note that I am an Amazon affiliate, so if you use these links I do get a small commission. I put that right back into providing free recipes. Thanks for supporting this blog!

Here is the bowl I used to mix the batter, along with the glass bowls I use in videos for the ingredients, hand mixer, and a handy cupcake scoop!

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