I don’t make many recipes that use cake mix as an ingredient because I usually prefer making things from scratch. But I came across some different recipes for Chess Bars on the internet that use cake mix and I decided to make an exception! This 5-star recipe from SouthernFood (About.com) sounded good, and I happened to have a box of cake mix on hand, so I decided to try it out. I made some minor changes to the recipe and added mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to come up with these Chocolate Chip Chess Bars! They turned out really yummy!

They’re so rich and gooey, you’d think they have sweetened condensed milk in them, but they don’t. The richness and gooeyness come from the cream cheese, sugar, and butter. Needless to say, these are not very healthy! 🙂 But they are super—good, so the next time your sweet tooth is craving something, these bars will definitely hit the spot!

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CHOCOLATE CHIP CHESS BARS by NancyC, adapted from SouthernFood/About.com

Makes a 9 x 13″ pan

• 1 package yellow cake mix (I used Pillsbury® Moist Supreme Cake Mix, 18.25 oz.)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 3 eggs (use 1 egg for the bottom layer, and the other 2 eggs for the filling)
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 (1-pound) box powdered sugar (4 cups)
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (if you just have regular-size chocolate chips, you could chop them into smaller bits–you can also substitute milk chocolate or white chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a 9×13″ baking pan.

In a medium bowl, combine cake mix, melted butter, and one egg, mixing well. Press this mixture, which will feel like a soft dough, evenly into the bottom of your 9 x 13″ pan.

In another bowl, mix the softened cream cheese and the remaining two eggs together, blending well. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Fold in the mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, stirring to distribute evenly. Pour this mixture over the “dough” mixture and bake at 350˚F for 40 to 50 minutes, or until top is lightly browned (my baking time was 45 minutes).

Cool for about 20 minutes (or even longer) before cutting into squares. You can cut them while warm if you want to eat them right away, but they’re gooier and harder to cut when warm. They do taste great warm, though, so who cares if the cutting gets a little messy? 🙂

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Do you use cake mixes a lot in your baking? What is your favorite dessert to make with cake mix?