For those who read food blogs frequently, I’m sure you’ve had this happen to you. You see a recipe posted on a blog, think it looks good, and then find yourself thinking about it again and again (and again…) over the next several days. That is what happened to me when I first saw this recipe. Of course with cheesecake and brownies, how can you go wrong? I planned to make it several times but life and other fancier, more exciting recipes got in the way. Last week I finally got around to making them and they were excellent, as expected. A nice fudge brownie base swirled with a cheesecake topping. My only issue was that the brownie batter was fairly thick and the cheesecake topping was thinner, which made it difficult to swirl the two together. I did my best but didn’t achieve quite the look I was hoping for. No matter though, I sent them to work with Ben and they vanished before lunchtime. My only change next time may be to sprinkle with some extra chocolate chips on top since I can never get enough chocolate :)
Cheesecake Brownies
Ingredients:
For the brownies:
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
For the cheesecake topping:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
5 tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
Line a 9-inch square baking dish with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides. Mist lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat, then beat in the 2/3 cup sugar. Mix in the eggs. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla and mix just until smooth. Gently fold in the chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
To make the topping, in a separate bowl beat together the cream cheese, egg yolk, 5 tbsp. sugar and 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract until smooth. Drop in large dollops evenly over the top of the brownie batter. Use a dull knife or spatula to swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until the batter in the center of the pan is just set. Let cool completely, then lift out with the foil and peel away. Cut brownies into squares. (I like to chill before cutting to ensure a clean cut.)
Source: adapted from David Lebovitz
