Duncan Hines Spring Bake Contest: Dark Chocolate Mocha Gooey Bottom Bars

 I have a new recipe to share you with but first a short story behind how the bars came to be….

Before we left Washington – during an exceptionally busy day at work – I opened my email and screamed!  My boss came flying into the office, certain tragedy had struck.  As I tried to explain as calmly as I could (ha yea right) – I WON! 

This Spring I decided I was going to enter Duncan Hines’ Spring Bake Contest.  To enter the contest I needed to submit an original recipe using Duncan Hines cake mix and Frosting Creation.  I played around with ideas in my head for weeks trying to come up with the perfect idea.  A few days before the contest I was over I invited a few friends over and baked away.  When my friends arrived they were inundated with baked goods.  I made them try them all (twisted their arms really!) and tell me what they liked or disliked about each of them.  We narrowed down the favorites to two recipes and I decided to submit both for the contest.  Let the (not so) patiently, anxious waiting commence!

Flash forward to July – an email popped up that said “Duncan Hines Winner: Response Required”.  I will admit I was shaking as I read the details – for those of you who know me outside of the blogging world baking is a passion of mine and I dream of one day opening a bakery.  So the fact that I just found out that I won a Duncan Hines contest sent me over the moon with joy and excitement!

Not to mention that the prize is a weekend trip to the Duncan Hines Test Kitchen – AHHHHH!  You guys I am like little kid at Disneyland excited for this trip!  And if I am being honest a little nervous too!  You see I am an incredibly shy person when I am around new people and I will be meeting the other 9 winners plus some pretty big name bloggers.  So wish me luck that I am not a complete ball of nerves when I get there in just a few short weeks!

Despite being a little nervous, today I am just excited and I wanted to share my recipe with you!  Now a little caveat to this recipe – the name – oh my word!  If I would have known I was going to be a winner in this contest I would have picked a different name because saying this name over and over again is a tad bit embarrassing and I can’t even blame my creative way with words on anybody else but me! 

Ok without any more stalling here are my Duncan Hines Spring Bake Contest Winning “Dark Chocolate Mocha Gooey Bottom Bars”!

Dark Chocolate Mocha Gooey Bottom Bars

You will need:

1 box of Duncan Hines Classic Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix

1 egg

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup oil

Duncan Hines Flavor Creations Mocha Flavor Mix

Duncan Hines Flavor Creations Frosting Starter

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Grease the bottom and sides of a 13x9 pan thoroughly

In a bowl mix together the cake mix, egg, water, and oil. You want your mixture to be crumbly but well incorporated. When you press the dough together it should stick together. I recommend starting with half of the amount of water and oil and then if it doesn't stick together, add the rest.  

Press 2/3 of the crumbly cake mix into the bottom of the 13x9 pan and set aside

Mix together the Frosting Starter and Mocha Flavor mix as directed

Spread the frosting over the cake base

Sprinkle dark chocolate chips evenly over frosting

Crumble the other 1/3 of your cake mix on the top

Bake for 25-30 minutes - the edges of the cake will be crisp and the cake will have only a slight jiggle to it.

Let bars cool before cutting to serve

The bottom of the bars will be sticky - the best way to serve them is upside down

Enjoy!