Cheesecake Brownie Bars

I've tried several of these recipes - where you mix brownie and cheesecake together and bake them magically into a bar that is both chocolatey and creamy.  They've never turned out.

I'm not a professional baker, but I bake a lot so when a recipe doesn't work, I automatically assume it wasn't my fault (insert laughter here).  

Whether or not it was my fault, I've FINALLY come up an excellent recipe that even I, the lowly home baker, can manage to pull off. 

Preheat oven to 350

Brownie Batter

3/4 cup butter

1/4 cup semi-sweet or bitter chocolate chips

Melt butter and chocolate in saucepan on low heat.  If you don't trust yourself not to burn the chocolate, use a double boiler.  

Add:

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs (be sure the mixture is cool enough not to make scrambled eggs)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup 0% greek yogurt, or sour cream

Mix well

Add:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup dutch process cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

I like making as few dishes as possible.  When adding dry ingredients to wet, I simply add the flour first and then add the baking soda, baking powder or salt on top - and mix it a little before incorporating it fully into the batter.  It always works for me, so take that Martha Stewart.  Full disclosure, I love Martha Stewart. 

Cream Cheese Batter

8 oz cream cheese (one brick), softened

4 tbsp sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Be sure your cream cheese is really soft before beginning.  If you forgot to take it out in enough time, just cut into cubes and pop in the preheated oven for five minutes or so.  Be sure to use an oven safe bowl.  Once it's out, use an oven mitt to hold the bowl and mash with a fork until creamy and smooth.  

Once cream cheese is soft and creamy - add sugar, egg and vanilla.

Line a 9X9 or 7X11 baking dish with parchment paper, or grease well with butter.  Add blobs of brownie mixture and do not spread.  Fill the remaining spaces with your cream cheese mixture.  If your brownie blobs run into each other - don't sweat it, it will still be delicious - just less swirly looking.  Use a butter knife to cut the brownie and cheesecake batters together, creating a swirl effect.  You want your bars to have even amounts of cream cheese and brownie so keep that in mind while swirling. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, let cool for at least an hour and ENJOY!  The leftovers should be refrigerated…. if you have leftovers.  

The next time I make this, I will prepare ahead of time and purchase a tray of raspberries to make a raspberry compote to accompany.  Raspberry compote is delicious on ice cream, lemon sorbet, lemon cheesecake, well… any cheesecake, and lots of other things.  It's an easy way to add pizazz to a recipe without a lot of work.  If you have raspberries, give it a try:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil.  Add 1 cup of sugar, and a pint of raspberries.  Boil for 20-25 minutes on medium high heat until it reaches desired consistency.  

Happy Baking!