Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

When it's the start of summer and you want to make an indulgent weekend dessert combining two favorites: Chocolate brownies and cheesecake

I used the traditional from-scratch brownie recipe and added the cheesecake topping, swirled through the brownie batter before baking.

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour (I used a local flour from NYC greenmarkets that is pretty amazing. Any time of all purpose flour such as King Arthur Flour, will work well)

3 eggs

1-4 oz of unsweetened baking chocolate

1 cup of sugar

1 stick of butter, melted

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks of a chocolate bar

2 Tsp of vanilla extract

Cheesecake topping:

1- 8oz cream cheese, I used a 1/3 less fat version and it still turned out well so whichever you have on hand)

1/4 cup of sugar

1 Tsp of vanilla

 

Directions:

chocolate cheesecake brownies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a square 8"x8" pan with parchment paper.  Lightly grease the parchment paper with cooking spray or butter.  In one mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, vanilla extract, melted butter and eggs.  Stir the batter until the ingredients have combined.  In a microwavable bowl, add the unsweetened chocolate and place in the microwave for 20 second intervals, until the chocolate has completely melted. Take care of stirring the chocolate after each interval to ensure that it does not burn.  Add the melted chocolate to the mixing bowl and fold in the chocolate.  Pour the batter into the greased, parchment paper lined pan. In the meantime, add cream cheese, sugar and vanilla to a food processor and blend until the ingredients have completely combined.  Swirl the cheesecake topping into the brownie batter. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the brownies cooked through. Be careful not to burn the brownies.  It is better to have slightly under-done brownies! Feel free to cool the brownies on a baking rack and cut them into squares once the brownies are at room temperature.  You can store them in parchment paper and foil for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Enjoy!