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
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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. 






This is heavenly!!!
This looks amazing!
I LOVE Boston Cream pie, and I do love the custard filling but… I never turn down a good cheesecake! This is lovely.
OMG, it looks SO scrumptious! Trying it very soon!!
Yum! I’d love a slice of this right now
Mal @ The Chic Geek
Yours looks fantastic! So funny we both had a similar idea.
beantownbaker — November 28th, 2012 @ 9:34 pm
I know! It’s always crazy when stuff like that happens.
Being from Boston, I appreciate this Boston Cream Pie Cheesecake!
such a great-looking dessert! great minds 😉
That looks amazing. I love pastry cream and am kind of surprised you don’t like it… even really good pastry cream? (There’s a lot of bad pastry cream out there.)
beantownbaker — November 30th, 2012 @ 10:38 am
Yea, it’s really a texture thing for me. I don’t like yogurt for the same reason. Although, maybe I’ve just never had good pastry cream…
I love the look of this pie/cake! Seeing the sponge layers and the cheesecake layer makes for an impressive looking cake!
Hi there ! I was wondering after refrigerating the cheesecake overnight, how much do i have to freeze it for ??? Thank u ! 🙂
beantownbaker — May 17th, 2014 @ 6:10 pm
Just for a couple hours. It is just to make it more firm.