Page loading ... Please wait.
Baking & Dessert Recipes & Pictures

breakfast & brunch bars & squares biscotti recipes shortbread recipes comfort foods healthy baking
about us
substitutions
ingredients
glossary
conversions
valentine's baking
english tea party
quick breads
chocolate recipes
pumpkin recipes
apple recipes
cranberry recipes
blueberry recipes
lemon recipes
strawberry recipes
trifle recipes
ice cream recipes
pudding recipes
easter baking
christmas baking
christmas cookies
christmas candy
halloween baking
thanksgiving baking
baking history
bibliography

Kim Komando, America's Digital Goddess

Cream Cheese Brownies Recipe

Printer Friendly Page

Since Brownies are America's favorite bar cookie, it is no surprise that they have become a springboard for many new recipes. One of my favorites is from Alice Medrich's excellent book "Cookies and Brownies" and it is for a Cream Cheese Brownie. I don't think there is a more perfect combination; a dense and fudgy brownie covered with a cheesecake topping. Bite into one and you are sure to notice how the tanginess of the cream cheese so nicely tempers the deep richness of the chocolate brownie.   

The trick to making a dense and fudgy brownie, besides reducing the amount of flour and using no artificial leavener (baking powder/baking soda), is to incorporate as little air as possible when mixing the batter. So, instead of pulling out the electric mixer we are just going to mix the ingredients together in one bowl with a wooden spoon. The result is a nicely compact brownie with a dense and fudgy texture. Once the brownie batter is in the pan (we do keep some brownie batter for later) we top it with a cheesecake filling. The main component in a cheesecake is cream cheese, that white, soft and spreadable cheese with a slightly tangy flavor. It has a 33% butterfat content so its texture is wonderfully smooth and creamy. The one thing you do need to keep in mind is that cream cheese needs to be at room temperature before it is beaten so it will be nice and smooth with no lumps. Then we add a little sugar, an egg, and some vanilla extract for texture and flavor and after gently spreading it over the brownie layer, there is only one thing left to do. And that is to place small dollops of that leftover brownie batter over the cream cheese filling and then running a knife or wooden skewer through it all to give a nice marbleized effect. You can eat these squares the same day as you make them, but I prefer refrigerating them overnight as this gives the flavors time to soften and mingle.

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Have ready a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) square baking pan that has been lined with aluminum foil across the bottom and up two opposite sides of the pan. Set aside.

In a stainless steel (heatproof) bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (with a wooden spoon) after each addition. Stir in the flour and salt and beat, with a wooden spoon, until the batter is smooth and glossy and comes away from the sides of the pan (about one minute). Remove 1/2 cup of the brownie batter and set aside. Place the remainder of the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Then in the bowl of your food processor (or with a hand mixer), process the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla, and egg and process until creamy and smooth. Spread the cream cheese filling over the brownie layer. Spoon small dollops of the reserved brownie batter evenly on top of the cream cheese filling. Then with a table knife or wooden skewer, swirl the two batters without mixing them.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the brownies start to pull away from the sides of the pan and the edges of the brownies are just beginning to brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Refrigerate the brownies until they are firm enough to cut into squares (at least two hours). Once chilled, remove the brownies from the pan by lifting with the ends of the foil and transfer to a cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut into 16 squares. It is a good idea to have a damp cloth nearby to wipe your knife between cuts. These brownies can be stored in the refrigerator for several days.

Makes about 16 - 2 inch squares.

Source:

Medrich, Alice. 'Cookies and Brownies'. Warner Books, Inc. New York: 1999.

Brownie Layer:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

4 ounces (114 grams) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/2 cup (70 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Layer:

8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature

1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

   
     
 

Bookmark and Share

Join Our New & Featured Recipes Email List

New Recipes

 

     
   

 

 

Top 40 Recipes of 2009*

*Top 40 Recipes based on actual site traffic from January 1, 2009  to December 30, 2009.

1. Chocolate Chip Cookies

2. Red Velvet Cake

3. Shortbread Cookies

4. Royal Icing

5. New York Cheesecake

6. Carrot Cake

7. Sugar Cookies

8. Vanilla Cupcakes

 9. Banana Bread

10. Chocolate Truffles

11. Pound Cake

12. Ganache

13. Apple Crisp 14. Oatmeal Cookies 15. Pumpkin Pie
16. Apple Pie 17. Gingerbread Men 18. Pavlova 19. Coconut Macaroons 20. Biscuits
21. Cream Scones 22. Lemon Bars 23. Rum Balls 24. Snickerdoodles 25. Whipped Cream Frosting
26. Yellow Butter Cake 27. Pumpkin Cheesecake 28. Fruit Tart 29. Lemon Curd 30. Butter Tarts
31. Chocolate Crinkles 32. Thumbprint Cookies 33. Melting Moments 34. Boston Cream Pie 35. Chocolate Cupcakes
36. Nanaimo Bars 37. Mexican Wedding Cakes 38. Molten Chocolate Cakes 39. Almond Biscotti 40. Peanut Blossom Cookies
Joyofbaking.com on Facebook

 

Contact Us   Privacy Policy Follow Joyofbaking On Twitter

Arabic Mandarin Dutch French German Hindi Indonesian Italian Japanese Korean Norwegian Portuguese Russian Spanish Greek Swedish Finnish

Use of materials on Joyofbaking.com is entirely at the risk of the user and Joyofbaking.com, Stephanie Jaworski or Rick Jaworski will not be responsible for any damages directly or indirectly resulting from the use.

This website and the contents are not endorsed or sponsored by the owner of the "Joy of Cooking" series of books or its publisher Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Content in any form may not be copied or used without written permission of Stephanie Jaworski, Joyofbaking.com.  Students and non profit educators may use content without permission with proper credit. 

A baking resource on the Internet since 1997

Copyright  1997 to 2010 Stephanie & Rick Jaworski