Saturday, June 30, 2012

Chocolate Cheesecake-Marbled Brownies

Brownies come from a box. The End.
...

Just kidding! I had never ever made brownies from scratch until I made these cheesecake-marbled brownies for a friend's wedding a few years ago. (She had a dessert table that was gorgeous!) I tried these a few weeks ahead of time, fell in love with them and made them for the wedding party. This same friend is now pregnant and I made these brownies for her baby shower. They are dense, really chocolaty, a little tangy from the cheesecake swirls, and surprisingly easy. 


Cheesecake-Marbled Brownies - from SmittenKitchen

Makes 16 2-inch squares or 32 triangle brownies (these are small, but they are almost like fudge - you don't need much for a chocolate fix.)

Preheat oven to 350 


Brownie Batter
1 stick of butter, cut into pieces
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
2/3 cup flour


Cheesecake Batter
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup of sugar
1 egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla


1/2 cup chocolate chips to sprinkle on top.


Butter an 8-in square baking pan. Heat butter and chocolate in a double boiler or in a glass or metal mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring until everything has melted together. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread it in the baking pan. It doesn't look like a lot of batter, but fear not. 

To make the cheesecake batter, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla until smooth. Dollop it on top of the brownie batter and swirl it around with a knife or spatula. 


Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips and bake about 35 minutes, or until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set. 


Per SmittenKitchen's original instructions, chill these REALLY well before cutting. I let these cool on the counter, and then cover with plastic and chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. It makes cutting these into small squares or triangles really easy!

While making these from scratch is really very easy, I have totally cheated and made a box of brownies and swirled in the cheesecake batter. Almost as delicious. 



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