Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Bars

Name: Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 36
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour; 1/2 cup almond flour; 1 1/2 cups sugar; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 large egg (, room temperature); 1/2 cup unsalted butter; 2 tablespoons whole milk; 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature; 2 large eggs (, beaten, room temperature); 11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/2 cup unsalted butter (, melted); 1 pound confectioner's sugar (, make sure there are no lumps); 1 cup chocolate chips

May 3, 2015 by Marye 49 Comments

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Gooey Butter Bars are a shortbread cookie dough topped with a gooey cheesecake-like topping. This “from scratch” recipe includes chocolate chips and the unique nutty flavor of browned butter in the shortbread crust.

My family pretty much takes the fact that our lives revolve around food for granted. They really have no clue that they eat really well. Well, until they move out of the house, that is. At that point there is usually a new appreciation for Mom’s cooking. If I sound frustrated, well… I am.

So, my husband told me that he needed to bring something to work for a buffet meal they were having. You know, build camaraderie, esprit de corps, and all of that. He offered to pick something up at the grocery store bakery and I thought I was going to have to slap him.

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“This is what I do for a living…” I spat out between gritted teeth.

So I wanted to do something that would knock everyone’s socks off — just to show the family that I am frickin’ amazing in the kitchen. I decided on these bars. I haven’t made them in years. I used to make them for our small group fellowships back in my “other” life but I had kind of forgotten about gooey butter bars until I was trying to think of something that would bring the world to its knees in appreciation… or at least be something that everyone would like.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like these. They are gooey, they are buttery, they are sweet, they are indescribable perfection on a plate. These are not made from cake mix. I use almond flour to make the bottom layer a bit more like shortbread and browning the butter gives them that toasty, nutty, caramelly flavor. So good!

I also add a handful of chocolate chips on top of the cookie layer before I spoon the cream cheese mixture on top.

Tip for Browning Butter

If you haven’t browned butter (on purpose) before you can do this – it’s easy. You want to let the butter melt in a heavy pan over medium low heat and once it’s melted leave it there, watching carefully as the clear liquid turns from a yellow color to a golden brown – about the color of caramel or maybe just slightly darker. If you get to the color of coffee you’ve gone too far. Watch it carefully, and push the light colored foam on the top aside so you can see the actual color of the butter.

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5 from 2 votes