cream cheese brownies

Cream Cheese Brownies

Makes 16 2” brownies.  As usual, Cook’s Illustrated magazine gets it just right.  This was in their July/August 2014 issue and is like a cheesecake in a brownie crust.  Store any leftovers in the refrigerator but let them come to room temperature before serving.

            Cream Cheese Filling:                                 

            4 oz. cream cheese, cut into                 

              8 pieces                                             

            ½ c. sour cream                                   

            2 Tbs. sugar                                        

            1 Tbs. flour                                          

                                                                       

            Brownie Batter:                                            

            ⅔ c. flour                                                         

            ½ tsp. baking powder

            ½ tsp. salt

            4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine

            8 Tbs. unsalted butter

            1¼ c. sugar

            2 large eggs

            1 tsp. vanilla extract

For Cream Cheese Filling:  Microwave cream cheese until soft, 20 – 30 seconds.  Add sour cream, sugar, and flour and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.  Make foil sling for 8”-square baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of foil so each is 8” wide.  Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of pan.  Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing foil flush to pan.  Grease foil. 

For the Brownie Batter:  Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in bowl and set aside.  Microwave chocolate and butter in another bowl at 50% power, stirring occasionally, until melted, 1 to 2 minutes. 

Whisk sugar, eggs, and vanilla together in another bowl.  Add melted chocolate mixture (do not clean the chocolate bowl – you need it in the next step) and whisk until incorporated.  Add flour mixture and fold to combine.

Transfer ½ c. batter to the bowl used to melt chocolate.  Spread remaining batter in prepared pan.  Spread cream cheese filling evenly over batter.

Microwave bowl of reserved batter until warm and pourable, 10 – 20 seconds.  Using spoon, dollop softened batter over cream cheese filling, 6 to 8 dollops.  Using knife, swirl batter through cream cheese filling, making marbled pattern, 10 – 12 strokes, leaving ½” border around edges.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center (of brownie, not cream cheese) comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 35 – 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.  Let cool in pan on wire rack for 1 hour.

Using foil overhang, lift brownies out of pan.  Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about an hour.  Cut into 2” squares and serve.