This first WBM recipe is cheescake brownies. I love cheesecake brownies, especially the ones my mother in law makes. So when I came across this recipe over at Joy of Baking.com, I knew I had to give it a try.
Let me tell you, I love all things rich and sweet and chocolate. But these little guys just about did me in. They were so rich and the chocolate pacified my chocolate cravings above and beyond what I needed. The brownies were very "fudgy" which I liked and the cream cheese was yummy in all of its gooeyness, but just one brownie and your done. Seriously, this is coming from someone who LOVES sweets so I can imagine that if you don't do rich sweetness then your taste buds would go into shock, not to mention you blood sugar.
Brownie Layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
Cream Cheese Layer:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9" x 9" square pan *I used an 8" x 11.5" baking dish and it was fine.* 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. *Remeber that the chocolate is unsweetened so when your husband sticks his finger in the bowl like mine did, don't warn him. Just enjoy the sour expression on his face.* Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla. 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 side of the bowl (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.
Mix the cream cheese and the vanilla until smooth.Add the sugar and egg and continue mixing until creamy. Spread the cream cheese mixture 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 side of the pan and the edges of the brownies are just beginning to brown. *It took a little longer for my brownies. I'm not sure how much longer but I was getting a little impatient.* 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). *Yeah, we skipped this part and went straight to eating the brownies. They were so hot that we had to eat them with a spoon right out of the baking dish. But that's how it is at our house. We love sweet stuff!* 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. The brownies can be stored in the frig for several day.
Right out of the oven then half eaten:
These little jewels were good but not near as good as my mother in law's. I give them a 3.5 out of 5.
Don't forget to let me know in the comments if you tried this recipe and how it turned out. If you blog about it, link me up as well. Have a great Monday!
