Sweet, rich, gooey chess squares are irresistibly delicious! Using a boxed cake mix makes them quick and easy, too!
Chess squares are one of those timeless recipes that seem to pop up in every kitchen. While the origins are a little fuzzy, one thing is for sure—everyone I know has made them at least once! Though you might find slight variations, the core concept remains: a quick, easy, buttery, and gooey dessert that’s like the lovechild of chess pie and cheesecake. It’s the perfect recipe when you’re craving big flavor with minimal effort.
Why You’ll Love This Chess Squares Recipe
- Shortcut simplicity. While I’m usually all about baking from scratch, this recipe is one of my rare exceptions. A boxed cake mix gives you a head start, making these squares incredibly easy to whip up. (For something similar that’s made from scratch, try gooey butter cake!)
- Irresistible texture and flavor. The crust is thick and buttery, matching the sweet, creamy filling in thickness for a delicious balance of textures. The result? Pure, gooey indulgence.
- Crowd-pleaser. Whether you’re making these for a potluck, a family gathering, or just because, these chess squares are always a hit. Everyone loves their rich flavor and satisfying texture.
What You’ll Need
See the recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Yellow cake mix – See my note below about baking with cake mixes.
- Unsalted butter – You’ll need melted butter for the bottom layer.
- Eggs – Let these come to room temperature before mixing.
- Chopped nuts – I often use pecans, but walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or another favorite will work.
- Cream cheese – Use full-fat cream cheese that comes in blocks for the best results. Let it come to room temperature for a smooth mixture.
- Confectioners’ sugar – Also labeled as powdered sugar, 10X sugar, or icing sugar.
Why Have Cake Mix Sizes Changed?
Put simply, cake mixes have gotten smaller instead of keeping them the same size and raising the price. For many years, cake mixes were sold in 18.25-ounce packages. Then they became 15.25 ounces. And now some brands have reduced that even more. I first shared this recipe before that change was made, and I’ve since made alterations to account for the smaller sizes. You’ll find a note in the recipe about making adjustments for varying mix sizes.
How to Make Chess Squares
- Prepare for baking. Heat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ x 2″ baking pan. (I use a cooking spray with flour, like Baker’s Joy or Pam Baking.)
- Make the crust. Combine the cake mix, butter, and one egg, and then stir in the nuts. Press into the bottom of the pan.
- Make the filling. Beat the softened cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Then add each egg and mix well. Pour over the crust and spread evenly.
- Bake. Place the pan in the heated oven, and bake 40 to 45 minutes until the filling is set.
- Cool. Allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars.
Tips for Success
- Check your cake mix’s size. Be sure to use the correct amount of butter for the size of your cake mix. I’ve made a more detailed note in the recipe to help you get it right.
- Temperature matters. Make sure your eggs and cream cheese are at room temperature. Your filling will mix more smoothly, and your egg won’t start to cook in the melted butter for the crust.
- Don’t over-bake. The center of the filling should be just set and the top a golden brown.
- Get clean slices. Let your chess squares cool completely before cutting them. Then use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to make firm, decisive cuts, wiping it off between cuts. If your bars seem sticky, you can run your knife under hot water to make cutting easier.
Variations and Serving Suggestions
- Change the crust. There are many variations to be made by simply changing the type of cake mix you use!
- Make it nut-free. Omit the nuts if you prefer.
- Add more flavor. A teaspoon of vanilla extract, another favorite extract, or lemon juice can be added to the filling for a more complex flavor.
- Dust with confectioners’ sugar. When serving, sprinkle a bit of confectioners’ sugar over the top of the bars to dress them up a bit and add a little extra sweetness.
How to Store
Once cooled, store your chess bars tightly covered in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Serve them chilled or at room temperature.
Can Chess Squares Be Frozen?
Yes, you can freeze chess squares after they’ve cooled completely. Wrap them individually with plastic wrap and place them in an airtight, freezer-safe container or bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Chess Squares
These creamy chess squares start with a soft and buttery cake mix crust topped with a layer of sweet cream cheese filling.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 (15.25 oz or 18.25 oz) package yellow cake mix*
- 3/4 or 1 cup (170g or 226g) unsalted butter, melted*
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 cup (approximately 120g) finely chopped nuts
For the filling:
- 16 ounces (454g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 16 ounces (454g) confectioners' sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
Instructions
To make the crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" x 2" baking pan.
- Combine the cake mix, butter, and egg. Stir in the nuts. (The mixture will be thick.)
- Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.
To make the filling:
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth and well-blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined after each addition.
- Pour the mixture over the crust in the pan, and spread evenly.
- Bake 40-45 minutes or until filling is set.
Notes
*Cake mixes have gotten smaller over the years, and I've tried a few ways to account for that. For simplicity, I prefer using a single box of cake mix. You'll most commonly find 15.25-ounce mixes and I find those work best with 3/4 cup of butter. However, I've left the original quantities (18.25-ounce mix and 1 cup butter) for those who prefer to make the original version. You'll need to use part of another cake mix for those missing ounces.
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55 Comments on “Chess Squares”
Maybe I’m not totally objective since the baker is my sister; but, ….these are WONDERFUL!! Always good and always a hit with everyone.
I’ve made this cake with a little bit different of a recipe but it was absolutely GREAT!! I’m hooked on it! I’m sure I’ll be baking it regularly!!!!
on the chess bars is it white or brown sugar
Dee, it’s confectioner’s sugar.
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Jennifer – I have now made the Chocolate
Chess Bars a half dozen times. My friends and I up here in God’s Country (Minnesota) had never heard of them, but they are now a permanent part of our recipe collections. Thanks so much.
Teresa, I’m glad you like them! Definitely one of my favorites. 🙂
what brand did you use for the yellow cake mix?
shasa, I like Duncan Hines.
With or without pudding in the mix?
Either is fine, Julie.
i made them yesterday, they were soo good!
thanks for the recipe. this definitely will be a regular for me
A friend gave me this recipe years ago and I still make it occasionally. It’s delicious and very easy to make.
Debbie
In Central Illinois over to St. Louis it’s called Gooey Butter Cake. It’s a big thing!
Paula Deen calls this recipe ooey gooey butter cake which I’ve been making for a long time. so so good, yet addictive.
Ive had these with coconut in the filling. No recipe. Any thoughts on how much you would suggest if you were going to add coconut?
Hi, Jody. I’d add in about 1/2 cup of sweetened coconut to the filling. If necessary, you can add more, but I think that’s a good starting point.
Do you grease the bottom of the pan before you put crust
aly, either way is fine. There’s enough butter in the crust that it shouldn’t stick. But, a light greasing will help ensure that it doesn’t.
I just made these and mine turned out more like a cake with no crust like the pic above. I am curious if you may kno where i could have went wrong?
Hi, Melissa. Did you change anything about the recipe? Prepared as written, you should have gotten two distinct layers.
They had No crust,It was more like a cake.. 🙁
I’ve made this twice now. Once with red velvet cake mix and once with carrot cake mix. Both times it was awesome. I’m going to definitely try your original recipe.
So YUMMAY! My Tennessee hubby asked for these. Never heard of in Ohio? Thank you for recipe!!
Melissa its because this recipe says to use 2 boxes of cream cheese when really only 1 is needed mine turned out like a cake as well but went back and remade it using 1 box of cream cheese 8oz and not 160z
Never had them with pecans, will be trying this recipe soon
Thxs for sharing. Your site is awesome!
I just made these and mind looks and taste more like cheese cake my boyfriend hated them where did I go wrong nothing like the chess squares I’ve seen before.
Hi, Regina. I don’t think you did anything wrong. The topping is essentially cheesecake. Maybe there are other versions out there, but these are how I’ve been eating and making them for years.
8ozs. Or 16ozs. Of cream cheese will vary on how gooey or creamy your top layer will be. If you beat your eggs before you add them will effect the thickness as well. Once refrigerated, it won’t be as mushy. Its southern its supposed to be rich!
I used to know a lady that added brown sugar to her chess bars. She has passed away and would not share her recipe. The bars also had pecans and cream cheese. They were delicious and I’ve never been able to find a recipe for them. Any ideas how to go about making something similar?
Hi, Tammy. You could try substituting brown sugar for some of the confectioners’ sugar. I’d start with about a quarter of it and adjust from there.
Can you use walnuts
Of course!
Followed the recipe exactly EXCEPT I used pecan meal (which is just pure pecans finely crushed) in the base layer. The consistency was more like thick cake batter therefore I had to pour it rather than press it into the pan. It’s baking now. I’m a little worried about how this is going to turn out since that bottom layer was so thin. I always use butter, not margarine. Should I have done something differently?
Hi, Martha. I’m sorry you had troubles! The crust mixture definitely shouldn’t be like cake batter. If you didn’t change anything about the recipe, then I’m not sure what could have happened. Just to make sure, you’re mixing dry cake mix, 1 cup of butter (melted AFTER measuring, i.e. two sticks), 1 egg, and pecans. The mixture should be moist but be a consistency that you could press into the pan.
Do these need to be stored in the fridge
Hi, Patricia. I would if they won’t be eaten the same day they’re made.
Can you double this recipe?
Sure, you’ll just need to bake it in two 9″x 13″ pans.
can you use salted butter instead ?
There’s no standard for how much salt is in salted butter, so that is why I generally don’t recommend baking with it. But in a pinch, you can use it and adjust the amount of salt in the recipe. Because there isn’t any added salt in the recipe, you won’t be able to make that adjustment. If you don’t mind a saltier final result, then that’s perfectly fine.
I made these and they came out having not solidified enough, but the edges were burnt. I followed the recipe exactly. Any advice?
That sounds like your pan could be the issue. I recommend light, non-shiny pans.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. My mother made these all the time when I was a child growing up in Northeast Tennessee.. I could not stop eating them! All my aunts and mom’s friends made these too. The pure recipe is definitely southern and we called them “chess bars”. You can make them with or without nuts.
I just made these and the top layer is definitely more like cheesecake. Maybe my understanding of what chess squares are differs from others. This isn’t at all what I expected. The top doesn’t have that nice glaze crunch texture and it’s just not chess squares to me.
For the crust, I think I used too much butter. 1 stick of hard butter is 1/2 cup. Since I was using sticks and reading the label on them, I used 2 sticks of butter, which equaled 1 cup of hard butter exactly, then melted it.
It ended up being 1 whole cup of melted butter that I poured into the cake mix. I felt like man, this is a lot of butter. Should I have used just the 1 stick?
The end result was what many commenters had an issue with: a sunken middle where the crust disappeared in the middle and it all kind of separated to the sides. I think my crust was way too wet and not much of a crust going in.
Hi, Hannah. Did you adjust for the cake mix package size as I noted in the recipe? If not, then that’s likely the problem.
I’ve never paid any attention to how many ounces of the cream cheese and I have made about 10 of these. Today my son purchased the items on the list, I just realized I was supposed to use 16 oz not 8 oz cream cheese 😂😂😂😂 Oh well they have turned out well ! My first time to use 16 oz cream cheese will be today! I’ll let you know what happens! 🤣🤣🤣
Oops! Hope you enjoy them!
Since the pandemic everything I make gets an infusion of ‘spirits’ and some type of citrus peel. I live in SanDiego and more people have their own citrus than not. So, I added the zest of one large orange to the crust and the zest of two large oranges, 1 Tbs. of Grand Marnier in the Cheesecake topping. That’s a fantastic recipe the way you shared it, but the orange additions really upped the ante. The third time I made them (the first time I DID follow your directions) I used lemon zest and Limoncello. Delicious! Thank you for being such a generous person and sharing your wonderful recipes🤗. MaryJo
Hi, Mary Jo! Your addition of spirits seems appropriate given the current circumstances. 😉 I’m glad you enjoy the bars and all your variations!
I just made this tonight. I was so excited to make it and share it with my colleagues, but it didn’t look or taste Luke I expected. I baked it in the aluminum pans from Walmart, followed the recipe exactly (minus the pecans), but I left it in the oven for 45 minutes. So, I think that was too long because there’s a dark brown skin on top, making it taste burned, and the cake “crust” tastes like an overcooked cake. I made 2 pans and I’m terribly disappointed. But, I’m not giving up. I’m going to try again for 40 minutes and use a glass dish to see if that makes a difference. I do have a question please, can the “bar cookies” be frozen? Thanks.
Yes, that does sound like it was over-baked. As for the type of pan, I generally don’t recommend baking in glass pans because of how differently the conduct heat versus a metal pan. You usually need to make some adjustment to temperature and baking time to make it work well. You can definitely freeze these. Just wrap them very well after they’ve cooled.
What am I doing wrong???? The first time I made these they were perfect and gooey, like they’re supposed to be. Then I’ve tried several more times, and each time it turns out like cheesecake, in taste and consistency. I don’t know why they turned out that first time but haven’t any other time. I’m trying to follow the recipe exactly.
I’m sorry you had troubles, Robin! If you’re not changing the recipe at all, then it could be ingredients. Did you change any of them? Maybe different brands? Also, the top layer is essentially cheesecake, so I’m not sure what’s different for you from the first time to the next times.