German Chocolate Bars (Repost)

This is a repost of a recipe I shared HERE.

I decided to post it again this time with step-by-step photos.

Here's the recipe:

GERMAN CHOCOLATE BARS

1 package German Chocolate Cake mix

2/3 cup cold butter

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 can (15 oz) coconut-pecan frosting

1/4 cup milk

Place cake mix in a bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Press 2-1/2 cups into a greased 9 x 13" baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. Drop frosting by Tablespoonfuls over the chips. Stir milk into the remaining crumb mixture; drop by teaspoonfuls over top.  Bake 25-30 minutes longer or until bubbly around the edges and top is cracked. Cool on a wire rack. refrigerate for 4 hours before cutting.

Yield: 4 dozen

NOTE: Sometimes I cheat the 4 hours by putting them into the freezer for an hour.

Here's the STEP-BY-STEP:

 Dump the whole package of German Chocolate cake mix into a large mixing bowl.

 I like to cut the 2/3 cup of COLD butter into pieces like this before adding them to the cake mix.  It makes it easier to cut in.

 Use two  knives or a pastry cutter (my preference) to cut the butter into the cake mix.

 Basically you're just going to cut, cut, cut the butter in the cake mix

 until the butter resembles course crumbs, like this.

 Press 2-1/2 cups of the crumb mix into a greased 9x13 baking dish.

Bake this in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

 While that is baking, stir in 1/4 cup of milk to the remaining crumb mixture.

 Once the bottom crust has baked for 10 minutes, remove it from the oven and quickly sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips (all I could find was chocolate chunks) on top of the crust.

 The drop the frosting over the top of the chips by large tablespoonfuls.

 I like to take my spoon and spread it out so every bite is filled with yummy caramel, coconut, and pecans.

Last, drop teaspoonfuls of cake mix dough on top of the frosting.  I try to spread it out just a little bit.

Return to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is cracked and it's bubbly around the edges.

 Now comes the hard part:  allow to cool 4 hours before cutting into bars.

Can't wait that long (I never can), see my note above.