Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (2024)

These easy Chess Squares are a simple and comforting Southern dessert! Flaky and buttery, this sweet treat goes perfectly with tea or coffee.

Chess Squares

When I was in New York a few weeks ago we stopped by one of the most unique bakeries I’ve ever visited, Momof*cku Milk Bar. Noted for their unusual concoctions like cookies made with potato chips, birthday cake truffles, and cereal milk ice cream, I’d been wanting to visit Momof*cku’s and try a slice of their famous Crack Pie since I came across the recipe in the LA Times last year.

The thought did cross my mind that I could actually, you know, make the recipe myself, but one thing kept stopping me. It’s decidedly fussy.

With 22 ingredients (including 8 egg yolks, ugh) and the advertised one-and-a-half hours of labor-intensive preparation, I just kept putting the whole thing off.

When I did finally get the chance to taste it two weeks ago, I immediately flashed back to my college days when my girlfriends and I would flounce around in the kitchen, throwing dinner parties for our boyfriends, and making sinfully sweet treats for church Bible studies. Crack Pie reminded me of one of my old standbys, Chess Squares, an unbelievably indulgent southern dessert staple and one of the first desserts I remember making on my own.

I proclaimed this revelation to my foodie friends (except I was really thinking that chess squares are so much better), but all I received were blank stares. They’d never heard of chess squares. Chalking it up to being a “southern thing”, I knew as soon as I got home I had to share this ridiculously delicious recipe with you guys.

The best part is, chess squares couldn’t be easier to make. Just five simple ingredients here.

If this is looking familiar to you, you’re doing better than I was at this point. More on that in a minute.

How to Make These Classic Chess Squares

You start by mixing a yellow cake mix with melted butter and one egg to form a soft dough .

It was at this point that I started to think myself, Huh. This seems a little familiar.

But I pushed the thought out of my head and carried on.

You then mix a pound of powdered sugar with softened cream cheese and the remaining two eggs to create a decadent gooey filling. No wonder they’re so good!

But… Haven’t I seen this recipe somewhere before… recently?

Oh right. That’s when it dawned on me. It’s almost the exact recipe for…

Gooey Butter Cake.

Doh.

How did I not realize that my beloved chess squares were also masquerading under the famous Paula Deen recipe until… just now?

Doh. Again. I wrestled with myself whether or not I should even post the recipe, scolding myself that you’ve all surely heard of gooey butter cake.

But I ultimately decided that no matter what you call them, this delicious dessert definitely deserves a second look.

From its decadent, chewy crust…

To its rich, gooey filling…

And the flaky, sugary, satisfyingly crispy crust…

To the way it makes your whole house smell so divinely sweet and buttery.

If you’ve never made chess squares or gooey butter cake… Give these a try. You won’t be disappointed.

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Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (16)

Chess Squares

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 27 reviews

  • Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (17) Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (18) Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (19) Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (20) Yield: About 12 squares 1x
  • Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (21) Category: Dessert
  • Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (22) Method: Oven
  • Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (23) Cuisine: American

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Description

These easy Chess Squares are a simple and comforting Southern dessert! Flaky and buttery, this sweet treat goes perfectly with tea or coffee.

Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 box yellow cake mix
  • 3 eggs
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
  • 4 cups (1 lb) powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 300 and spray a 9×13 dish with cooking spray.
  2. Mix cake mix, melted butter and one egg to a soft dough. Press into the bottom of the pan.
  3. Mix powdered sugar, softened cream cheese and remaining two eggs until smooth, about 1-2 mins. Pour on top of crust.
  4. Bake at 300 for 40-50 minutes until top is golden brown.

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Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are chess squares called? ›

Chess is played on a board of 64 squares arranged in eight vertical rows called files and eight horizontal rows called ranks. These squares alternate between two colours: one light, such as white, beige, or yellow; and the other dark, such as black or green. The board is set between…

What is the origin of the chess cake? ›

It has some similarities to English lemon curd pie. It is likely derived from recipes for cheeseless cheesecake that appeared in cookbooks as early as the 17th century, such as in Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery and the English A True Gentlewoman's Delight (1653).

What is Queen Elizabeth cake made of? ›

Queen Elizabeth cake is a lightly sweet, moist, and low-fat date cake, topped with a brown sugar, butter and broiled coconut mixture. "Queen Elizabeth cake" is named after the Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II, and may have first been made in 1953 for her coronation.

What is a godfather cake? ›

A two-tier Godfather themed cake featuring all hand-modeled and edible elements from the classic movie. The cake is lemon chiffon with a delicious raspberry butter-cream filling, covered in dark chocolate ganache and LMM fondant.

What does N mean in chess? ›

K = king Q = queen R = rook N = knight B = bishop. Then we need to figure out which square we're moving to.

What is 1 doubled 64 times? ›

There are stories that use wheat instead of rice, but in either case, 1 doubled 64 times yields the number 18 followed by 18 zeros.

What are the 16 pieces in chess called? ›

A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either white or black, and it can be one of six types: king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, or pawn. Chess sets generally come with sixteen pieces of each color.

What is the difference between chess pie and pecan pie? ›

Is chess pie the same as pecan pie? Nope, there's no nuts in chess pie! The two Thanksgiving pies do, however, share a similar caramelized, custardy base that's decadently rich and sweet.

What are the ingredients in a chess pie? ›

Classic chess pie pairs a traditional butter pie crust with a sweet, custardy filling made with sugar, butter, and eggs. Flour and cornmeal thicken the filling and vanilla enhances the creamy custard. And did we mention that the unlikely secret ingredient of this sweet and gooey pie is vinegar?

What is the difference between chess pie and regular pie? ›

“After reading through one of my older cookbooks, it's important to note that while most chess pies — especially the ones we see today — have dairy in them, some do not. Cornmeal as a stabilizer in the filling is distinct to chess pie.” Buttermilk is the main factor in differentiating the two pies.

What is chocolate chess pie made of? ›

What is chocolate chess pie made of? It's just about one of the easiest chocolate pies you can make! The custardy filling is made with eggs, sugar, milk, butter, cornmeal, vanilla, and unsweetened chocolate.

What is chess flavor? ›

The Takeout likens the texture of chess pie to whipped honey, and the surface of it to crème brûlée. Because buttermilk or vinegar is sometimes added, there can also be an undercurrent of tartness. Many recipes also call for lemon juice, and the result is a texture and flavor that can resemble old-fashioned lemon bars.

What is the Three Kings cake made of? ›

The cake differs from one region to the next, with different countries taking slightly different approaches, but Parisians know it as a flat, round puff pastry cake filled with a thin layer of almond cream.

What is the meaning of chess cake? ›

2 also chess pie cake: A dense, sticky cake or bar cookie made with essentially the same ingredients as 1 above, with the addition of flour and leavening, and sometimes with a cream-cheese topping; hence nouns chess (cake) bar, chess cake square one of the serving pieces into which this cake is typically cut.

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