Heritage Hill Homestead

Paula's German Chocolate Cake Bars

Makes one 9x13-inch pan

Irresistible bites of gooey deliciousness! Cut your squares big for a dessert-size portion or smaller if you're serving a crowd.

Crust:
1 18-ounce box chocolate, Swiss chocolate, or devil's food cake mix (not the one with pudding added!)
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg

Filling:

1 14-ounce can low-fat sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan well with butter.

In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, butter and egg, and press into the bottom of the prepared pan. The crust should not come up the sides. Bake for 7 minutes and remove from the oven. The crust will not look done.

While the crust is baking, in a medium bowl mix together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, egg, pecans and coconut. Pour evenly over the warm crust, sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips, and bake for 24 to 30 minutes, until the top is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely before cutting into squares.

*Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen's Kitchen Wisdom and Recipe Journal; Simon & Schuster, 2008.