Gooey Butter Cakes

This recipe is one that I got out of Paula Deen's "The Lady and Sons Just Desserts". My house smells so yummy right now, you would not believe it!

Cake:
1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter together and mix well. Pat into a lightly greased glass 13 by 9-inch baking pan.
Prepare the filling.
Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla. Add the butter and mix well. Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread over the cake mixture. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. You want the center to be a little gooey, so do not over bake. Top each cake slice with a dollop of whipped cream.

Here's the best part! She has nine variations of this recipe! Here are the best ones...

For a Banana Gooey Cake: Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas instead of the pumpkin. Proceed as directed above.
For a Peanut Butter Gooey Cake: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter to the cream cheese filling instead of the pumpkin. Proceed as directed above.
For a Pumpkin Gooey Cake: Follow the original recipe, adding a 15 ouncs can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual.
For a Chippy Gooey Cake: Stir 1 cup of your favorite kind of baking chip (white chocolate, peanut butter chocolate, butterscotch, toffe bits, etc) into the filling. Bake as usual.

Ashlee side note: You can make so many different variations of your own with this recipe. Pick your favorite kind of cake mix, and flavor your cream cheese filling as desired to compliment the flavor of your cake mix base and tah dah! These cake squares are very, very rich and a little will go a long way! So only eat three instead of five! Enjoy!