Name: Pistachio Ooey Gooey Bars
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 30
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 15.25-oz yellow cake mix; 3 3.4-oz boxes instant pistachio pudding mix, divided; 4 eggs, divided; 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted; 8-oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature; 1 lb (about 3 3/4 cups) powdered sugar; Optional: Cherry pie filling and vanilla ice cream for serving

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Pistachio Ooey Gooey Butter Cake is an easy yet delicious dessert made with cake mix and pudding mix!

piece of pistachio ooey gooey buttercake in a hand

If you love classic ooey gooey bars, you’ll love this pistachio butter cake variation!

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When my husband ran the Chicago marathon, we stayed in a super unique boutique hotel on Michigan Avenue, called the Chicago Athletic Association.

Once a members-only athletic association, it has been repurposed into a cool hotel, with many of the original details still remaining.

One of the hotel restaurants served this incredible dessert, pistachio butter cake with cherries and cottage cheese ice cream.

It was so good that I ordered it twice during our stay.

I also made mental notes so I could try to recreate the recipe once I got home. 😉

Although I’m still working on perfecting my cottage cheese ice cream, I’m happy to report that the pistachio ooey gooey butter cake was a hit!

two white plates with pistachio ooey gooey bars

Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Varieties

To make this pistachio ooey gooey butter cake, I started with my traditional ooey gooey butter cake recipe.

I’ve adapted that recipe before when making red velvet ooey gooey butter cake, but this was the first time I would be adding pudding mix.

With a couple of tweaks, it was really easy to make this pistachio version!

easy pistachio ooey gooey buttercake bar in a hand

More Pistachio Dessert Recipes:

How to Make Pistachio Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

To make this easy dessert, you’ll start with a yellow cake mix combined with some pistachio pudding mix, an egg, and some melted butter.

This gets pressed into the bottom of a greased pan to form sort of a crust, which is the bottom layer of the dessert.

Next, you’ll beat together some softened cream cheese, more eggs, more pistachio pudding mix, and powdered sugar.

This mixture is poured over the bottom layer, then it all bakes together.

How easy is that?!

The result is a cookie-like crust on the bottom that’s topped with a dreamy ooey gooey layer on top!

How to Serve Pistachio Ooey Gooey Bars

These ooey gooey bars are totally delicious served on their own. You can eat them completely cooled or leave them slightly warm. Either way is delicious!

You can also serve them similarly to the restaurant that inspired them, alongside some cherry pie filling and a scoop of ice cream.

Because of the pretty green color, I think these make a lovely festive dessert, and the red cherries ramps that up a bit!

pistachio gooey buttercake on a white plate with cherries and ice cream

How to Store Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

I have stored these both at room temperature and in the refrigerator. Either way, they should be tightly covered.

If you’re storing them at room temperature, they should be good for 1-2 days. If you’re keeping them in the refrigerator, they should be good for 4-6 days.

Notes and Adaptations:

These bars are pretty rich, so you can get at least 30 servings from this pan, since smaller bars are still very satisfying.
You can serve these plain or alongside cherry pie filling and vanilla ice cream.

Recommended Equipment:

Yield: 30 Servings

Pistachio Ooey Gooey Bars

Pistachio ooey gooey bars are a delicious dessert that can be served alone or alongside cherries and ice cream.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

15.25-oz yellow cake mix
3 3.4-oz boxes instant pistachio pudding mix, divided
4 eggs, divided
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
8-oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 lb (about 3 3/4 cups) powdered sugar
Optional: Cherry pie filling and vanilla ice cream for serving

Instructions

Grease a 9x13" baking dish and preheat oven to 350F.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together yellow cake mix and 2 boxes of the pistachio pudding mix. Add in 1 egg and melted butter, stirring to form a stiff batter.
Press the batter into the bottom of the greased pan, creating an even layer on the bottom of the pan.
In a separate large mixing bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), combine cream cheese, remaining 3 eggs, remaining box of pistachio pudding, and powdered sugar. Use an electric mixer to beat well until smooth.
Pour mixture over the pressed batter in the baking dish.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the edges are done but the center is still jiggly.
Remove from oven and allow to cool before cutting.

Notes

These bars are pretty rich, so you can get at least 30 servings from this pan, since smaller bars are still very satisfying.

You can serve these plain or alongside cherry pie filling and vanilla ice cream.

I have stored these bars both at room temperature and in the refrigerator. If storing tightly covered at room temperature, they should be good for 1-2 days. If storing in the refrigerator, they should be good for 4-6 days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 98