Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Brownie Cake

This is my new twist on the fabulous gooey butter cake. I posted the traditional recipe months ago and I was so glad I did! Come to find out, this was the only place I had the recipe, my blog really is paying off for me (hopefully someone else too). Well, I altered that recipe to fit all the chocoholics out there and it came out seriously close to a local grocery store bakery version. I did have a mishap on Easter when I went to share the cake with family. Lesson learned, gooey anything should not be overcooked, and yes, it did burn. I was so bummed. Oh well, guess it will go back on our meal plan to try again!

Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Brownie Cake

Ingredients:

Cake Crust:

1 package chocolate cake mix

1 egg

8 Tbsp. butter, melted

Filling:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese (1/3 less fat)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

8 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 box (16 oz.) powdered sugar

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips or 3/4 chopped semi-sweet chocolate bars

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the cake mix, egg, and melted butter. Mix well.

3. Press into bottom of a greased 9x13 baking pan. 

4. Prepare the filling. beat cream cheese until smooth.

Add the eggs, vanilla, melted butter and mix well.

Next add the powdered sugar, and beat until smooth, scraping sides as needed. 

5.Spoon onto crust and spread evenly.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

Center should be gooey, so make sure not to overcook.

7. Serve warm or at room temperature, and top with powdered sugar, if desired.

Veggie Pizza

Veggie Pizza: perfect for potlucks and as an appetizer. It can be a little pricey when you're buying all those vegetables and only use a fraction of them, but I made three separate pizzas over the course of a week to use with different get togethers. That, or you could just eat the veggies and do a body good. ;)

Ingredients:

2 packages crescent rolls

1 package cream cheese

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 envelope ranch dressing mix

assorted vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, red pepper, broccoli, etc.)

Spread crescent rolls onto jelly roll pan and seal seams.

Bake as directed on package (10-13 minutes) at 350 degrees.

Let cool completely.

Mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, and dressing mix.

Spread onto cooled crescent roll crust.

Finely dice vegetables and spread over pizza.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

When cool, press veggies into cream cheese mixture to help stick.

Cut into square pieces.

Sausage-Cheese Balls

To continue with the breakfast posts, here's another Christmas morning fav! My grandparents also serve up some sausage cheese balls with their cheese souffle. A bisquick classic, and why reinvent a wheel that's not broken?? I'm the biggest fan of back of the box cooking for that reason, of all the recipes their product can make, the ONE the marketing gurus choose to display on their packaging is surely the best. ;)

I cut this recipe in half for the two of us, and I will list both the full recipe's ingredients below as well as the halved amounts. I know that on a Thursday night (TGIF tomorrow!), I can't be the only one who appreciates not having to think that hard!

Sausage-Cheese Balls

Ingredients:

Full Recipe

3 cups Original Bisquick mix

1 pound ground sausage

4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes

Half Recipe

1 1/2 cups Original Bisquick mix

1/2 pound ground sausage

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease baking sheet.

Stir together all ingredients.

And YES, the sausage can be uncooked, who'da thought???

Shape mixture into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove from pan.

Eat with Cheese Souffle!!!