Ooey Gooey Bars

I know, 2 posts in a day. What's wrong with me? When I got up from my nap this afternoon I decided to make fudge. My plan was to do all my baking Saturday because I wasn't going to have time before. I have several things I want to bake so that was very ambitious of me knowing that we'll be going to 4:00 Mass which means leaving home about 2:45 to get to Mass for 3:00 so we'll get a seat. With my unexpected time off today I figured it was a perfect time to get started. I'd gone to Walmart earlier today & got all the stuff I needed to make everything. Of course I didn't buy sugar & we didn't have enough for fudge. I refuse to go back to Walmart so I made Ooey Gooey Bars. Dean's cousin makes these & I LOVE them. They're sweet & rich & AMAZING!!! They're surprisingly easy to make too.

There are 2 parts to making them. First the crust. You'll need:
1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 lb. melted butter
1 egg
1 cup crushed nuts (I use pecans)
Combine those ingredients together. I just stirred it all together because there's not a lot of liquid & that always causes problems for me if I try to use a mixer.  Once it's all mixed together it will be like a thick dough. Press it into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. This is what it will look like.

Next up is the top layer. You'll need:
1 lb. box confectioners sugar
2 eggs
1 8oz pkg. cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
Blend all of that together until smooth. Again I used a spoon to mix it together. I've been told that using a mixture on cream cheese isn't a good idea because it causes it to break down. Once it's all mixed together, pour it over the crust. It will look like this.

The spots are specks of pecans. I used the same bowl to mix everything. Bake at 350 for 30-35 mins. I only baked mine for 30 & they look pretty perfect. Here's the finished product.

Enjoy!

Toodles!