If you cut them into 32 small squares, each one has 7 grams of fat and 180 calories (the math whiz in our family figured it out for me a long time ago). I just say that right up front so you can stop reading now if you’re counting those things. I’ve never seen anyone eat “just one.”

With a mixer, beat together:
one package chocolate cake mix
one stick of butter
one egg

Beat until you have a very stiff dough – don’t stop when it gets to the “little pebbles” stage. Press into a greased 9×13 pan. Don’t bother to wash the bowl or beaters.

OPTION: spread a layer of chocolate chips over the dough.

In the same bowl, beat together:
8 oz. cream cheese
3 – 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs

Pour this mixture over the chocolate layer. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. Cut into small squares while still warm.

Lenora Larson is an amazing woman who lives on a butterfly farm just outside Paola, Kansas. If you google her, you may find articles she has written about butterflies, raising goats (the name of the place is Long Lips Farm, because Nubian goats are a long-lipped variety), and microbiology, as well as medical marketing. She’s a true renaissance woman, and I think fond thoughts of her every time I make these bars.