Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake With Peanut Butter Chips

“Some fellow asked me the other day, ‘Paula, do you make any low calorie dishes?’ I turned to him and said ‘Honey, I’m not your nurse – I’m your cook!’ Then for good measure I probably added some more butter!”  (Paula Deen)

I was going to a potluck today and needed to make a something that was delicious and could feed tons of people. This dish immediately came to mind — Paula Deen recipes are always popular, and the portions tend to be very generous.

According to Wikipedia, a real St. Louis gooey butter cake has a bottom layer made up of butter and yellow cake. I don’t actually like yellow cake, so I always go with chocolate instead. Yellow cake is just so boring, you know?

Mmm, look at all that powdered sugar. Powdered sugar, eggs, cream cheese, and butter — is it any wonder that this cake is divine?

After the cake comes out of the oven, the middle is still jiggly, and it only solidifies a little bit during cooling. When you bite into a piece, the center is all hot and melty, and before you know it you’ve made a mess all over your face and hands in your haste to shovel every last delicious morsel into your mouth. In the words of Julia Child: “Mmm…BUTTER.”

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake With Peanut Butter Chips (A very slightly modified Paula Deen recipe)

Ingredients:
(Bottom layer)
– 1 pack of cake mix (CHOCOLATE.)
– 1 stick of butter, melted
– 1 egg

(Top layer)
– 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature.
– 1 stick of butter, melted
– 2 eggs
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 1 bag of powdered sugar (16 oz)
– 1 cup peanut butter chips (or whatever kind you like — toffee is always great too)

Steps:
(1) Preheat oven to 350.
(2) Combine cake mix, melted butter and egg. Press dough into bottom of a 13×9 pan.
(3) In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese until smooth. Add melted butter, eggs and vanilla.
(4) Gradually stir in powdered sugar until well mixed.
(5) Pour cream cheese batter into the pan on top of the chocolate cake layer.
(6) Sprinkle peanut butter chips on top of the batter.
(7) Bake for 40-50 minutes. Don’t overbake — the center of the cake is supposed to still be jiggly and gooey when it comes out of the oven.