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. 
Loving the look of this recipe. Is it tart enough so that I could can it using using the water bath method, or do you think I should employ pressure? I’m about to come into a dozen pints of blueberries, and I’m trying to be creative. 🙂
Ohmygodness! I made it and I’m in love! 🙂
Greetings from Poland!
beantownbaker — July 14th, 2013 @ 4:19 pm
So glad you enjoyed this! Glad to have a friend in Poland 🙂
I made your curd as part of my newest recipe (Eeyore’s Birthday Cake–angel food cake with blueberry curd filling), and I just wanted to say that it turned out fantastic! The curd was really easy to make and super delicious. 🙂
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:16 pm
So glad you enjoyed this curd recipe!
how much would I need to fill a 3 layer cake.. its for my wedding and I am looking for an easy recipe.
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:18 pm
Hope this worked well for you. I used one batch for a triple layer cake.
I was thinking about making this for a shower cake do you know if it would blueberry curd freezes well?
So I’m not sure what I did wrong, but I just made this recipe and it seems something went awry. It didn’t come out very purple, more like a bluish gray, and it doesn’t really taste like blueberries. I used 1 cup of frozen blueberries. Did I use the wrong kind of blueberries maybe?
Hello is it possible to can this recipe?