No wonder she goes on and on about these

Gooey Butter Cakes (pineapple variation)
The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook Copyright 1997,1998

One 18 ½-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients and mix well. Pat into a lightly greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Prepare filling.

Filling
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
One 16-ounce box powdered sugar
20-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Add butter; beat. Add powdered sugar and pineapple and mix well. Spread over cake mixture. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. You want the center to be a little gooey, so do not overbake. It comes out looking like a full cake but shrinks down. I might have overbaked these - it was hard to tell. The crust was quite firm but the filling was still nice and chewy. I have no idea if they were supposed to be gooey-er or not. I thought they were great this way.
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Paula Deen raves about these 'Gooey Butter Cakes' and I finally had to see what the big deal was. All I can say is, YUM! I always pictured something sloppy when she talked about these but these cut very cleanly. They were like chewy little brownies. They were nice with a dollop of Cool Whip on top too.

She gives several variations and I opted to add the pineapple. I think they'd be great plain too. I'm sure every variation is good because they all have the two sticks of butter and 8-ounces of cream cheese in them - what could go wrong?

I don't reach for this cookbook too often because my waistline can't handle it but since these were being taken to a gathering (another cookout - not the one I brought the Easy Cream Puff Dessert to), I went ahead and splurged. Well worth it. Oh, and super-simple. These come together in no time. You could do this all in one bowl - just wipe the bowl out after you finish the crust.

These were easy to transport and not overly perishable which was good because this cookout was at a state park and it was hot. I can see that many of you choose picnic dessert recipe based on ease of transportation and perishability. Usually we hang out in the back yard so a refrigerator is close by. After attending a picnic at a state park on Monday, I'm all for staying close to home (where the bathroom is always close, you can come inside for some cool air, where it's easier to keep the food safe, where your toddler can take a nap when he has a complete meltdown, etc).

Question of the Day: How badly do you want to try these Gooey Butter Cakes right now??