Turtle Bars

There have been times that I've found a recipe, made it following the recipe to the letter and it just not work out.  This was one of those.  The Turtle Bars are delicious but I did change them just a bit when I made the the 2nd time.  Using the original recipe I had trouble getting the bars out of the pan.  They were simply too moist and sticky.  I fixed that problem by cutting the amount of chocolate chips and caramel topping.  So, here is the original recipe with my changes.

1 pkg. (18 oz.) chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips (I cut this down to 1/2 cup)
1 cup chopped pecans, divided (you can use pecans but I used walnuts simply because I wanted to)
1 jar (12 oz.) caramel ice cream topping (I cut this down to 1/2 the jar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 13 x 9" baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Combine cake mix, butter and milk in a large bowl.  Stir until well blended.  Spread 1/2 of the mixture into your pan. (This is easily pressed into place with your fingers.  The butter keeps the batter from sticking to your fingers)  Bake for 7-8 minutes or until it starts to make a crust.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips and half of the pecans.  Drizzle the caramel over the top of the pecans.  Drop the remaining batter by spoonfuls over the pecans.  Sprinkle with remaining pecans.  Bake 18-20 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched.  Cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars.

Of course you can change this by using chocolate topping instead of the caramel giving this a really triple chocolate taste.  And I would add a little coconut along with the nuts for more taste. 

After making my changes, these came out perfect so make your own and enjoy.