Chocolate Gooey Butter Bars

I've been baking a lot of bars lately but I suppose that's because they are easy to make and they pack well in a lunch . I made these on Memorial day at the last minute because I realized I didn't have anything that had chocolate in it, just lemon and not everyone likes lemon.

This recipe calls for nuts if you want, I chose not to put them in.

Always keep cake mixes on hand, you can do a lot with them.

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter, melted, plus 1 stick butter, melted, plus additional for greasing pan
• 1 package chocolate cake mix
• 1 egg, plus 2 eggs
• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 3 - 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 (16 oz) box powder sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and 1 stick melted butter, and stir until well blended. Pat mixture into prepared pan and set aside.

In a stand mixer, or hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.

Add the remaining 2 eggs, and the cocoa powder. Lower the speed of the mixer, and add the powdered sugar. Continue beating until ingredients are well mixed.

Slowly add the remaining 1 stick of melted butter, and the vanilla, continuing to beat the mixture until smooth.

Stir in the nuts with a rubber spatula. Spread filling over cake mixture in pan.

Be careful not to overcook the cake; the center should still be a little gooey when finished baking. Let cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting into pieces.

Enjoy!

Tip: When baking and using eggs, they should be at room temperature. This is so you have even baking. You can speed this process up (if you forgot to set them out) by putting them in a tepid glass of water for minute or less. Take them out and dry off.