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Gooey Butter Cookies

"If you like Gooey Butter Cake you will love these cookies. You can't stop eating them."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream cheese and butter match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,746 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

The recipe

2 dozen
Prep5 min
Cook13 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or leave it ungreased.

  2. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and softened butter together until smooth and creamy.

  3. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until fully combined.

  4. Gradually mix in the yellow cake mix until a soft, evenly combined dough forms.

  5. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in confectioners' sugar to coat.

  6. Place the balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.

  7. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly golden. The centers will look soft.

  8. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with more confectioners' sugar if desired.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Cream cheese + buttertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Vanilla + sugartop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Cream cheese + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,934 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  4. Butter + vanillatop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together19,983 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Butter + eggtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together118,511 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

Vanilla and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs