Cheesecake Brownies

Today, I’m participating in a fun blogger event — the Secret Recipe Club. How does it work? Every blogger is secretly assigned another blog + chooses a recipe from that blog to make. On reveal day (today!), all of our posts go up at the same time, + everyone gets to see who was assigned to their blog, which recipe they chose, + how it turned out. Fun, huh?

I was thrilled to be assigned Our Table For Seven this month. Erin’s blog is full of fab homestyle, family-friendly meals and desserts – we have very similar taste in food/recipes, so there was lots of comfort food, crock-pot dishes, and simple sweets for me to choose from. I knew I wanted to make a dessert this month + when I saw her Cheesecake Brownies, I had to try ’em! And y’all, they turned out SO good – they were all gobbled up by our family + friends in record time. Rich, fudgy brownies topped and swirled with a creamy, sweet, smooth cheesecake layer. If you have the time, making the brownie layer from scratch (as described below) is ideal. However, there’s no shame in using a boxed brownie mix to shave off some time/ingredients, and I bet they’d still be amazing!

Thank you to Erin for introducing me to these incredibly tasty brownies + to the Secret Recipe Club for connecting me, yet again, with fantastic bloggers + amazing recipes! For all my previous Secret Recipe Club recipes, click here – there are TONS of awesome ones!

Cheesecake Brownies

Makes 16 brownies, inspired by Our Table for Seven, brownie recipe adapted from Cookie & Kate

Ingredients

For the brownies: (or you can shortcut it and use a boxed mix for the brownies!)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch slices
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 cold large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 ounces dark or semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped (or ⅓ cup chocolate chips)

For the cheesecake layer:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

Directions

Position the rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper so it hangs over the edges by about 1-inch. Grease, or spray with cooking spray.

Make the cheesecake layer: In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the sugar and the vanilla until very smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the egg until well blended. Set aside.

Make the brownies: Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, whisking constantly, until it’s pale golden brown and the particles suspended in it are reddish brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the sugar. Then add the cocoa powder, sea salt, and baking powder. Stir until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula after each one. When the mixture looks thick, shiny and well blended, add the vanilla extract and the flour. Stir until you no longer see streaks of flour. Then beat vigorously (put those arm muscles to work!) for 50 strokes with the wooden spoon or spatula. At this point, the mixture should be no more than slightly warm (if not, let it cool for a few more minutes). Fold in the chocolate chunks or chips.

Reserve 1/2 cup brownie batter and set aside. Scrape the remaining brownie batter into the prepared pan. Pour the cheesecake mixture evenly over top. Drop the reserved brownie batter in 8 large dollops over the topping. Draw the handle of a wooden spoon through the two batters to create a swirled effect.

Bake until the top is just set, about 35-40 minutes and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Lift brownies out of the pan by the foil/parchment and transfer to a cutting board. Spray a knife with cooking spray and cut into 16 squares.

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