Caramel, Chocolate, and Pecans... Oh My!

If you haven't caught on by now that I love desserts, I haven't been doing my job!  Last week, I got together with two friends and needed a treat to take over to their house. I was tired, looking for something easy, and needed something that I already had all of the ingredients for. Of course, I went through my Pinterest stash, and found these bad boys lurking in the corner of my Recipes to Try board. 

This is not my original recipe, but I have modified it (and, in my humble, biased opinion, I think mine look less anemic when comparing the photos). If you're looking for the original, check it out here. (Eat at Home Cooks has tons of other recipes for cake mix... they look great!)

You'll Need:

• 1 box yellow cake mix (I used Traditional White because that's all I had, and they turned out wonderfully!)
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 jar caramel sauce (I had 2/3 of one, and it was plenty. A whole jar may make your turtle blondies swim.)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Mix the cake mix with butter and milk.  
3. Pour half the batter into a 9×13 pan.  The batter will be thick-- spread it out evenly with a spatula. (Since this is the bottom of the bar, I erred on the side of caution and made the base a little thicker than that top layer.)  Bake for 10-15 minutes.
4. Sprinkle chocolate chips and pecans over bottom layer. Pour caramel over the chips and pecans. Use a spatula to spread it out if needed.
5. Add the rest of the batter over the top and spread with a spatula.
6. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool before you dig in. 

(If you try it before then, the caramel will have retained the heat of molten lava. You will not be able to taste food for days. Not that shoved a piece of this sweet goodness in my mouth approximately 30 seconds after I had taken it out of the oven... I would never do such a thing...)