Chocolate Texas Gold Bars

Updated: December 2020 

When I was in my early twenties, my Mother created a cookbook of sorts for me.  She hand wrote her favorite recipes on paper pulled out of a spiral-bound notebook and put them all into a three-ring binder.  Oh, and between some of the recipe, she wrote little ditties like,

Flirt while you bubble and simmer the stew;
His mind's on the dinner,
but his heart is with you!

This is an interpretation of one of my favorite recipes of hers.  It's known by many names...."Texas Gold Bars," "Golden Cheesecake Bars," "Eat This and Die Happy Bars....."  

Many years ago she told me "don't make this with chocolate or you'll faint."   I assumed she meant because they'd be so rich, so of course I decided to make these into Chocolate Texas Gold Bars.  Good choice.

They're fairly easy to throw together.  Make the chewy base, pour in the cheesecake filling and throw them into the oven.

What would be better with chocolate than more chocolate?  

I added mini chocolate chips on half of it to see how it would turn out.  Judges decide - keep the chocolate chips!  Besides, it makes them look prettier.

The chewy chocolate base is perfect when paired with the chocolaty cheesecake filling . Gooey, chewy, with that slightly crunchy top - delicious.

Cut small pieces, though, or you may go into sweetness overload.

I did make an attempt at, well, not making them healthy, but lowering the "oh, no, I can't eat these!" factor by use Neufchatel (⅓rd less fat) cream cheese. They still came out delicious and surprisingly a little less rich.

The only thing I miss from the vanilla gold bars is the very slight saltiness of the yellow cake mix.  

Besides that, these Chocolate Texas Gold Bars get four thumbs up (mine and Bret's)!

Ready for more terrific dessert bars?  Try my Lemon Blueberry Crumble Bars or Chocolate Chip Meringue Bars.

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Chocolate Texas Gold Bars

Yield: 20

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Excellent.

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Ingredients

• 1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
• 3  eggs
• 1 stick butter, , softened
• 1, 8 oz pkg cream cheese, , softened
• 1 box, (16 oz.) powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoon cocoa
• 1 C mini chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and the butter and mix until thick and doughy.  Press into the bottom of an 8 ½ X 11 glass baking dish, making sure to push it up the sides of the pan as far as possible.
3. Mix together the softened cream cheese, 2 eggs, powdered sugar  and cocoa until totally combined and creamy .  Pour the mixture evenly on top of the crust base and sprinkle with the chocolate chips.  Bake for 35-45 minutes until set.
4. Let cool before slicing.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Make sure and press the base up the sides of the pan as far as you can.  To me, the thinner the very bottom crust is, the better.  It will puff up when baking.

I used Neufchatel (⅓ fat cream cheese).  Regular cream cheese is a touch better, but both work fine.

The next one I make will have a strawberry cake base with about ½ cup of crushed fresh strawberries mixed into the filling.  Yum.

After baking for 45 minutes, it still may look a little wiggly, but go ahead and take it out, so it won't over bake.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1 bar
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 141Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 94mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 1gSugar: 6gProtein: 2g