Gooey Butter Cake (Paula Deen)

For the cake:

One box yellow cake mix
1 Egg
1/2 Cup butter, melted (1 stick)

Filling:

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 Eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 (16 oz) box confectioners sugar
1/2 Cup butter, melted (1 stick)

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 13x9x2 inch baking pan.
2. Combine cake mix, egg, and melted butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of the prepared pan and set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners sugar and beat well. Reduce speed and slowly pour in the butter. Mix well.
4. Pour filling onto the cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgement call on the baking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point.
5. Remove from oven and cook completely. Cut into squares and serve. This is very rich, and a little goes a long way!

**Different Gooey Butter Cake flavors**

Pumpkin:

Follow the original recipe, adding a 15 oz can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese mixture. Bake as usual. Top with a dallop of whip cream. This is better than pumpkin pie!

Pineapple:

Add a 20 oz can of drained, crushed pineapple and an extra egg to the cream cheese mixture. Bake as directed above.

Lemon:

Use a lemon cake mix in place of the yellow cake mix. Add the juice (approx 1/4 cup) and zest from 2 lemons to the cream cheese filling. Bake as directed above.

Carrot Cake:

Use a spice cake mix in place of the yellow cake mix. Add 1 cup chopped nuts and 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots to the cream cheese mixture. Proceed as directed above.

Peanut Butter:

Use a chocolate cake mix in place of the yellow cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and an extra egg to the cream cheese mixture. You may sprinkle chopped peanuts on the top if you would like. Proceed as directed above.

Chocolate Chip:

Use either yellow or chocolate cake mix. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts on top of filling. Proceed as directed above.

Banana:

Use yellow cake mix. Beat 2 ripe bananas and an extra egg into the cream cheese mixture. Proceed as directed above.

Nutty:

Add 1 cup chopped nuts to the CAKE mixture. Proceed as directed above.

Chippy:

Stir 1 cup of any flavor "chips" you would like (example: chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch morsals, heath toffee chips, white chocolate chips) into the filling. Proceed as directed above.