Easy Southern Chess Bars

Old-fashioned chess bars are a decadent southern delight. These treats are easy to make with a box of cake mix and a few simple ingredients.

Why it Works

• Dry yellow cake mix, combined with butter and an egg, forms a cookie-like crust.
• A cream cheese topping, almost reminiscent of cheesecake, is poured over the crust and baked to form a buttery and decadent bar.
• Extra butter, eggs, and vanilla make these classic bars even better.
• Be patient and allow these gooey bars to cool before cutting them.

What’s in a Name?

I’m always interested in the story behind a recipe. 

We make these bars or squares throughout the South. They remind us of our beloved chess pie, so we call them chess bars, even though they’re made with a box of yellow cake mix and cream cheese topping.

We’ve got a real knack down here for taking a box of cake mix and making something uniquely our own out of it, like coconut poke cake.

I suspect that a southern lady shared her chess bars at a potluck with a lovely midwestern friend, and she was reminded of her equally beloved St. Louis butter cake (which is yeasted, btw). So, she asked for the recipe and called it gooey butter cake.

I reckon it could have been the other way around, though. Who really knows?

This irresistible shortcut recipe satisfies both southerners and midwesterners, and it’s been shared at church dinners, potlucks, family reunions, funerals, and in community cookbooks ever since.

Now, I took some creative liberty with my historical theory there, but I doubt it’s far-fetched. This recipe has traveled up (and down) the Mississippi just like rum did in the 1940’s.

I collect old spiral-bound community cookbooks and have dug through my collection to see where chess bars show up. 

I’ve found versions of this recipe using boxed cake mix dating back to 1979, and I’m certain they go back further, considering cake mix has been around since the 30’s. I’ve also found it going by many different names.

Chess bars, chess squares, cheesecake squares, gooey butter cake, Newman Marcus bars, butter cake, cream cheese squares, chess pie cookies, the list goes on.

I’ve always called them chess bars, and oh boy, they’re delicious.

Ingredients

• The crust for chess bars is made from boxed, dry yellow cake mix. Use your favorite brand.
• You’ll need unsalted butter for the crust and the topping.
• Eggs add richness and act as a binder in the crust and the topping.
• Full-fat cream cheese is the base of the topping, almost like a baked cheesecake.
• Powdered sugar turns the cream cheese topping into a decadent pastry.
• Vanilla extract adds a rich aromatic flavor.

How to Make them

You’ll need a 9×13 baking pan, a large mixing bowl, a hand mixer, and parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line the pan with parchment paper for easy removal.

Lightly beat an egg. Then, add the egg, melted butter, and cake mix to a large mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon to stir it until the mix is moistened.

It will be very thick! Spread the cake mix concoction into the prepared pan. Then, press it down firmly into an even layer.

Add the cream cheese, softened butter, eggs, powdered sugar, and vanilla to a large mixing bowl.

Mix with a hand mixer on low to incorporate the powdered sugar. Then, increase the speed to medium and beat until smooth and creamy.

Pour the cream cheese topping over the crust.

Bake at 350℉ for 40 minutes. The bars should be golden and will smell incredible and buttery.

They’ll be very gooey when they come out of the oven and will jiggle a little. They’ll firm up a little as they cool, but the bars are supposed to be ooey gooey.

The bars will crackle all over the top as they cool. Don’t worry, they’re supposed to look like that.

Let them cool for at least 2 hours. Then, use a large knife to cut them into 16 bars.

How to Store and Freeze

• These are fine at room temperature for a few hours. 
• Refrigerate any leftovers in a single layer for up to 4 days.
• Wrap individually and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator. The texture may change slightly after freezing.

Serving Tips

• I have to make these for sharing, because if I don’t, I know I’ll eat the whole dang pan. And nobody needs to do that. 
• My 3-year-old aggressively calls them That Cake and wants them at her birthday parties.
• Chess bars are always welcome at church potlucks (always a winner), family dinners, reunions, backyard barbecues, or even funerals. You can make a new mama very happy if you leave them on her doorstep after she’s had a baby.
• They may be simple, but I promise nobody’s gonna turn their nose up to ‘em at holidays either! They fit in at Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even the 4th of July.
• There’s no wrong time for chess bars.
• If you’re looking for something to pair ‘em with, the answer is always coffee. Or milk for the youngins.

What do you call these where you’re from? Please let me know in the comments!

Recipe

Print