Paula Deen Chocolate Chip Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

I love Mrs. Paula Deen! Her food is so good!  I have tried so many of her recipes and haven't had many that I didn't like.  We were craving something sweet so we tried this little gem.  It was super easy and everyone like it.  It was great to just grab a little bite!  A definite make again!

Ingredients

Cake Base Layer
1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling Layer
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Topping
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside. Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.

Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts on top of filling. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey.

smores bars

Goodness... goodness in a pan. I had seen these Smores Bars floating around on pinterest for a while.  They were tempting me so I finally made them for our small group on Sunday evening.  These are fabulous. Easy to make and even better to taste! I doubled the recipe and it was enough to make 1-13x9 and 1-8x8.  The secret at the end is to flatten out your dough... stay tuned for that tip.  These are super rich so a small piece goes a long way!

Smores Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs 
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 kind size milk chocolate bars (like Hershey's)
1 1/2 cup (12 oz) marshmallow creme fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 8" square baking pan.  
3.  Grind your graham crackers to crumbs. I used big crackers and put them in my little chopper to make crumbs.
4.  In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. 
5.  In small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
6.  Divide dough in half and press half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the pan.  Use your fingers to make sure none of the bottom is showing.
7.  Place your king size chocolate bars onto of the flattened dough.  2 should fit perfectly.  If you need to, break into pieces.
8.  Spread the marshmallow fluff on top of the chocolate pieces.  This was a little tough.
9.  Use your fingers to make flattened disks of the remaining dough. Place the disks on top of the marshmallow.  Do your best to cover all of the fluff.  
10. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until lightly browned.
11. Cool completely, then serve!

mini pumpkin donuts

Um, yum.  I was craving some pumpkin the other day.  I found this recipe and was ready to bake!  I purchased this mini-donut pan from Amazon and a couple of days later I was finally really ready...

I followed the recipe below. The only thing that I would change is I wouldn't coat the entire donut in the cinnamon sugar mixture.  I would just do the tops.  I also made a vanilla glaze to top some of them as well. These were a big hit with my family. I will definitely make them again!

Mini Pumpkin Donuts Makes 48 mini donuts For Donuts: 1 3/4 cups flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon allspice 1/3 cup canola oil 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 cup canned pumpkin (I put the extra in a freezer bag in the freezer) 1/2 cup skim milk For Coating: 1/2 cup butter, melted 2/3 cup sugar 3 tablespoons cinnamon For Vanilla Glaze: 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 tbl skim milk 1 tsp vanilla (put all in small bowl and combine). Preheat oven 350 F.  Spray the donut pan with Pam and set aside. In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and spices together and set aside. In a large bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixture and stir until just combined, careful not to over mix. Using a pastry bag or a steady hand and a spoon, fill each donut cup with the batter.  The donut cups should be fairly full, but not overflowing. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until donuts spring back when gently pressed (if you're using a larger donut pan, allow them to bake for 12-15 minutes).  Tutn donuts out onto a wire rack and allow to cool for a few minutes.  I put foil under my racks to prevent a big mess. While the donuts are cooling, melt butter in one bowl and combine the sugar and cinnamon in another.  When donuts are still hot (but not too hot to touch), quickly dip each donut  top in melted butter, then dip in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Or omit the butter step then dip the top in the vanilla glaze mixture. *Note: If you're not going to serve the donuts immediately, you can bake them up to a day in advance and store them in an airtight container.  Do not coat them in the butter/cinnamon-sugar mixture until just before serving or they may get soggy.

Fall Trail Mix

I am always looking for a something sweet and somewhat healthy snack for my family.  I came across a Scarecrow Crunch recipe that looked perfect!  By half of it being gone today, I'd say it was a hit.

Ingredients
1 box Honey Nut Chex
1 bag Candy Corn Mix
1 bags of mini pretzels
1 cup chocolate chips
2 cups mini graham crackers

In a very large bowl, combine 1/2 box of Honey Nut Chex, entire bag of Candy Corn Mix, 1/2 bag of mini pretzels, 1 cup chocolate chips, 2 cups mini graham crackers.  Stir to combine.

I put my mix in a big glass jar and put it on the kitchen counter.  I included a fun scooper to help with portion control and who doesn't like to use a little scooper?

As the jar empties, I will add more of everything as needed.

Here is the original pin: