I was really craving some chocolate last Friday night. My usual standby is brownies, because they are simple to whip up, but plain old brownies sounded so boring. I went and searched for brownies at one of my favorite recipe sites and as soon as I saw the name of these cheesecake brownies I was already drooling.
They did not disappoint at all. Simple to make and they turned out so rich and fudgy. I’ve made a ton of brownie recipes and this is definitely one of the best. The recipe has chocolate chips in it, but I don’t think they were even necessary. They made the brownies almost too rich, so I don’t think I’ll be adding them next time.
My boyfriend is usually not a fan of brownies (which I can’t even fathom), but he loves cheesecake, so he liked these. He’s so picky about desserts (which is probably a good thing or I’d make them a lot more often), it’s great finding something he’ll actually eat!
Cheesecake Brownies
adapted from David Lebovitz
Dessert | Servings: 9 servings
Prep time: 25 min | Cook time: 35 min | Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Cream Cheese Mixture
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- 5 tbsp. sugar
- 1/8 tsp. vanilla
Process
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Grease a 8 or 9-inch square pan or line it with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides and grease lightly.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and beat in the sugar, then the eggs.
- In a bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder and salt.
- Stir in chocolate mixture, then add 1 tsp. vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the pan.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, the yolk, 5 tbsp. of sugar, and 1/8 tsp. vanilla until smooth.
- Distribute the cream cheese mixture in eight or nine dollops across the top of the brownie mixture, then take a dull knife or spatula and gently swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until the batter in the center of the pan feels just set. Let cool and cut into squares.
Hungry minds think alike! I made these same brownies today. I agree, the chips are an unneeded extra, but the cream cheese, oh so good.
https://catchingpennies.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/david-lebovitz-cheesecake-brownies/
these look wonderful! and it’s a combination of my two favorite treats-YUM!
@Kristine: Yours look nicer than mine, more separation between the chocolate and the cream cheese. I definitely overmixed mine when I was swirling it around. Next time I’m not going to swirl it so much.
doesn’t like brownies!?!? eh, more for me. these look terrific. easy on the eyes and belly. 🙂
grace’s last blog post..different strokes for different folks
I am on a quest for a brownie recipe my husband like more the one from a box. I am adding this one to my list to try!
lol! I was just stumbling on Stumble Upon and came upon your site! How cool is that!? 🙂
I made these Friday night. Found them by searching tastespotting for a cheesecake brownie. They were wonderful. I am linking to your recipe on my blog.
Thanks for posting the recipe.
Holli T.
Ok, maybe I’m missing something but the process lists adding the Vanilla twice, is it safe to assume the 1 tsp goes into the cocoa mix and the 1/8 tsp goes into the cream cheese?
Yeah, you are right. 1 tsp. goes into the brownie batter and the 1/8 tsp. goes into the cream cheese mixture. I just edited the ingredients list and process to make this more clear.
How can you not like brownies!? But this is an amazing cheesecake idea, mixing brownies and cheesecake. I hope to have time later this week to bake it! Do you know of a healthier alternative to regular cheesecake?
These were so delicious! I reviewed it on StumbleUpon also. Thanks so much for posting this recipe, it was fun and easy to make with my five year old cousin. The chocolate chips I put in were pretty ginormous compared to the Nestle morsels…I think they made it harder to swirl the cheesecake on top of the batter, but everything came out fine in the end.
Brownies and cheesecake, my 2 favorite deserts. I cant wait to cook this tomorrow night on my date night!
These look great, I love brownies. I am one that mixes different boxes together to see how good it can get. I will try these because they sound great! Thanks
Cheese Cake + Brownies! To Die For! I am making these! 😛