Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

I have been leaning a little heavy on the cookie recipes lately so I thought I would escape from cookies for at least one blog. What can I say..... cookies are fantastic....

I discovered these brownies on the Beantown Baker’s blog and thought they sounded Halloween-y enough for a Halloween themed bake sale that I am baking for.

Okay, Sue here, I have to interject for a second. Aren’t brownies AWFULLY close to cookies? Bar cookies are still cookies....

 

True. But brownies are not cookies “technically” so I’m okay. I think the addition of the cheesecake layer gives me additional leeway here. But thanks for keeping an eye on me.....jerk....

 

 Anytime....cookie freak.....

 

Anyway....to get back to the brownies... these are a nice change from regular brownies especially if you like cheesecake. The creamy cheesecake and chewy brownie go really well together. I was thinking the addition of some crunchy candied pecans sprinkled under the cheesecake layer would be nice too. I will try that next time!

 

 

 

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients

Brownie Batter

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Cheesecake Batter

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp flour

2/3 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

  Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 9X9 square baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Spray liner with cooking spray.

For brownie batter - Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time.  Whisk together dry ingredients in separate bowl, stir in chocolate chips, and then gradually stir into butter mixture with a wooden spoon.

For cheesecake batter - In separate bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in remaining cheesecake batter ingredients until smooth.

Spread about 2/3 of brownie batter into prepared pan, and spoon cheesecake batter over.

Dollop remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter.

Dollop remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter.

Swirl the batters together by running a knife back and forth through the top brownie and cheesecake layers

Swirl the batters together by running a butter knife back and forth through the pan.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until center is set. Cool completely on wire rack and chill before cutting and serving.

 This week will be filled with more blogs about pumpkin and Halloween type things as we get closer to Halloween and we bake up a storm for the Halloween bake sale. Sue and I are attempting several different Halloween cupcakes to see how spooky we can get them, along with cookies, rolls, and lots of other goodies.

If you live in Lillooet and want to sample some of these blog items (plus a bazillion other treats from a lot of great local bakers) then you can pick yours up at the bake sale that will be held at the Old Mill Plaza on Saturday between 11:00 and 2:00 (I believe). It goes to support the students who are going to Costa Rica in 2012.