German Chocolate Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake

It's as delicious as it sounds.

I purposely made this for the adults at the bake sale. Most kids don't like coconut. Actually, I'm funny about coconut sometimes too. But when it's covered in chocolate and some sort of sweet gooey middle? Yum.

And just as I'd predicted, it was a hit with the grown-ups.

German Chocolate Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake

(Original recipe by Paula Deen, adapted by Clark Robertson)

Photo from Paula's Best Desserts, August 2009

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) box German Chocolate cake mix (Duncan Hines is the best)
• 1 cup butter, melted and divided
• 3 large eggs, divided (it's better if these are at room temperature, but don't let them sit more than 2 hours)
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 (16 ounce) box confectioners' sugar (fyi, if you buy the bulk bag kind, this equals about 3-4 cups)
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, 1/2 cup melted butter, and 1 egg. Beat at low speed with an electric mixer until combined. Press evenly into bottom of prepared pan; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in remaining 2 eggs and vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Add remaining 1/2 cup melted butter, beating at low speed until combined. Stire in coconut and pecans. Pour evenly over cake mix layer. Bake for 45 minutes, or until center is slightly set. Let cool completely before cutting into squares (otherwise you'll have a big mess on your hands... if you don't mind a mess, then oh my gosh is it ever heavenly).

Makes about 10-12 servings.

*This recipe has been around for forever. My grandmothers all have it in their cookbooks. There are a lot of different variations out there, so if you're not crazy about chocolate? Google it. You'll get all kinds of Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake recipes, and I'm pretty sure all of them are ridiculously delicious.