Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars

Hi Sweets, guess what?  I'm baaaack!  I hope you enjoyed the posts from Cheryl and my Jake the past few days!  "B-hubs" as he likes to call him has really been on a baking roll lately, I love it!

Tonight I am excited to share a brand new recipe with you - Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars!  Yes, I took cookies that are pretty amazing and made an even BETTER cookie, by adding chocolate, Andes candies, and my favorite, cake!

This recipe (and the Thin Mints I used) were shared with me by the Girl Scouts of Eastern MA.  I was so excited to try out the bar cookies to bring to a family Christmas dinner tonight, and they were a hit! The title of "bars" makes you think of brownie-sized bars.  Word to the wise; quarter those squares!  This recipe turns out super delicious, but super SUPER rich.  Like, way too rich for even the biggest sweet lover to eat a whole square.  When cut up into bite-size mini squares, it's the perfect cookie-size portion.

The title tells it all- there's plenty of minty chocolate and lots of delicious (and surprisingly un-messy) 'gooey' atop a buttery yellow cake crust. So good!

The best part is that one of the ingredients you need to make these cookie bars is the Thin Mint cookies themselves.  Now that it's officially Girl Scout cookie time, it's perfect timing to try these out for a holiday gathering.  Cookies are available December 7th through March 12, so keep an eye out for your local Girl Scouts getting their sell on!

When I was a "brownie" and a "junior" Girl Scout, I was always a top seller and had so much fun selling cookies for my Girl Scout troop.  This has been an American tradition for nearly 100 years and all of the proceeds help girls learn important skills while raising funds for leadership activities.  The money helps Girl Scout troops take part in service projects, go on field trips, attend summer camp, etc.  I LOVED Girl Scout camp- who remembers the Squirmy the worm song?!  One thing I learned through working with the Girl Scouts on this recipe is about their Cookies for a Cause program.  Part of the cookie-selling process allows girls to sell boxes of cookies that are put aside to be donated to soldiers overseas or to local food pantries.  What an awesome way to use this well-known project for good.

Girl Scout cookies are $4 a box, and you can visit www.hergirlscouts.com, click on "cookie locator" and enter your zip code to find out where you can buy cookies in your area.

Here's the recipe for Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars.  Comment below if you try these or have other Girl Scout cookie-inspired recipes!

Need:
1 Yellow Cake Mix
1 stick of softened unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup Andes Candy mint pieces
1 small can sweetened condensed milk
20 Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies broken into pieces

Do: 
Preheat oven to 350F and coat a 9x13" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray (I always use canola oil spray).

Mix cake mix, butter and egg in a large bowl.  Press dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Top evenly with chocolate chips and Andes candies.  Pour condensed milk over dough and top with broken pieces of Thin Mint cookies.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until baked through.  Let cool completely.  Cut into squares and serve.

Pat dough in pan

Add chocolate chips

Add Andes candies

Pour on condensed milk

Top with cookie crumbles!

Bake and enjoy!

Disclaimer:  This is a (semi) sponsored post.   The Girl Scouts reached out to me asking if I would be willing to try out and feature a fun new recipe using Girl Scout cookies if they sent me the cookies for free.  I happily agreed, being a Girl Scout alum and cookie lover!  The only benefit I got for this post was the box of free cookies (and fun new recipe.)  All other supplies were purchased by me, and the honest opinions expressed in this post are all my own.