Cheesecake-Swirled Brownies

The Highams' first post... and it's not even a family favorite! We just felt left out in this recipe-posting frenzy, and so desperately took the opportunity when given last night, to make a blog-worthy recipe, one that could almost measure up to "chocolate pudding cake" and caramel marshmallow balls. It took an hour to research (well, maybe not quite so long to find the brownie recipe... I get carried away looking at food blogs :), and another thirty minutes to go to the store and get cream cheese (and, we figured as long as we were going to the store, we might as well pick up some things for dinner, so we wouldn't break our promise to not eat out as much, that we just made three days ago), and then another fifteen minutes to put together. They were taken to a ward party at the park, and (I think I have the right to say) quickly eaten, though I've alway thought that people mostly choose the desserts that look good, and that doesn't really say anything about how they taste. However, I can say that if you're a fan of cheesecake and chocolate, they did taste very good :) And you could always substitute your fav brownie batter for this one... I got the recipe from smitten kitchen ( http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/cheesecake-swirled-brownies/ ), where a lot of our recipes will probably come from :D

PS- Sorry about the quality of the pictures, but you have to give us some credit, since we had to take them at the park, when it was already getting dark! Because in what strange dimension would the Highams ever have time to take pictures of the food they were bringing to a party... we are always late!!

Cheesecake-Swirled Brownies

Brownie Batter:

1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

2/3 c. sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 t. vanilla

2/3 cup AP flour

Cheesecake Batter:

8 oz cream cheese, well softened

1/3 c. sugar

1 large egg yolk

1/4 t. vanilla

Make Brownie Batter:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Heat butter and chocolate in a medium sized heavy saucepan over medium low heat, whisking occasionally, until just melted
3. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in 9x9 baking dish.

Make Cheesecake batter:

1. Whisk together the cheesecake ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a butter knife (I think the best way to do this is to fold bits of the brownie batter over the cheesecake batter, then swirl!)
2. At this point, you could also add chocolate chips (I was going to, but forgot!)

Bake Brownies until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 35 minutes, then enjoy!