Gooey German Chocolate Cake Bars

okay, here's the thing...sometimes i get into these moods where i need to cook. in the last two days, i've made corn bread, chocolate covered oreos, eggplant and tomato stacks, and these. i affectionately call this sugar casserole. or diabetes. i'm just being honest here. i found a recipe on some random blog that used cake mix as a base for cookie bars, and was topped with sweetened condensed milk and thought, "hmmm, i wonder if this could be a good way to get rid of all that random junk in my pantry." it was. behold, gooey german chocolate cake bars.


warning: this stuff is not pretty. see the picture? don't mind my half eaten blob and dirty fork off to the side there.  if you actually wait for it to cool (i clearly could not), it can be cut into bars.  despite the hideous appearance, i have received rave reviews from everyone that has tried it. so! go make it.

mix these together until they form a dough:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1 stick butter

press the dough into a foil-lined 8 by 8 glass dish.

dump whatever you want on top. no, seriously. w-h-a-t-e-v-e-r you want. i can't even give you super accurate measurements because i just started dumping, but my best guess would be:
1 bag (3-ish cups?) german chocolate cake marshmallows (i found them at target. chocolate marshmallows covered in coconut. seriously. i'm guessing normal marshmallows plus a 1/2 cup of shredded coconut would do the trick, if need be)
1 cup chopped pecans
10(+...) oz chopped chocolate of your choice (chocolate chips work, i assume. i just used all the random leftover chocolate bars in the pantry)

then top with the magic sauce:
1 cup of sweetened condensed milk

bake at 350 for 25 minutes. take it out before the marshmallows burn. don't try to eat it right away...trust me on this one...remember the picture? let cool 30 minutes. it WILL be rough getting that junk off the foil, but it's better than trying to get it off the dish. cut into squares. go into sugar coma (less of an instruction, more of a warning).

the sweetened condensed milk seeps through the marshmallows and keeps the cake dough base really moist, plus it mixes well with the chocolate.  the marshmallows get crusty on top but keep their gooey-ness and help everything to stick together well.  there is something about that yellow cake flavor that makes these taste sooooo good...but i'd be interested to try different flavors too.  did i mention that you need to make these?