Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Brownies

Wow. Where have I been? Busy=/ And I just haven't been too inspired to blog. It's probably because of these subpar photos. Usually if I take pretty decent photos I'm more willing to blog. And why not? If I have great pictures I'm much more willing to show it off in a blog post. But taking pictures of my food often frustrates me=( I don't enjoy wasting time setting up a perfect light reflective area to take optimum pictures while my food grows cold.

And these pictures are pretty bad. These bars aren't very well cut and have poor backgrounds. The photos were taken late at night so the lighting is messed up. But I just hope they don't scare you too badly.

Because they are delicious! If you've been reading my blog, you'll know I'm not a big fan of chocolate desserts. Just look through my post history. But, when chocolate is balanced with another flavor, it gets a thumnbs-up. So we have a brownie base then a cheesecake layer SWIRLED WITH RASPBERRY JAM. I brought these in for a bake sale, and they sold in literally 5 minutes. So, even though they don't look so hot in these photos, they were certainly enjoyed by all!

*My only comment: they were super gooey in the middle. Normally I'm all for underbaked goodies, but I would suggest triple checking for doneness when baking these.

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies
from Baking Bites

 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
 2-oz dark chocolate, chopped
 1 cup sugar
 2 large eggs
 1 tsp vanilla extract
 2/3 cup flour
 2 tbsp cocoa powder
 1/4 tsp salt

 8-oz cream cheese, room temperature
 1/3 cup sugar
 1 large egg
 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
 1/3 cup raspberry preserves/jam
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
 In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir with a fork until very smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

 In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisking steadily, pour chocolate mixture into sugar mixture. Stir until smooth. Sift flour, cocoa powder and salt into the bowl and stir until just combined.
 Pour into prepared pan and prepare cheesecake mixture.
 In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Drop in dollops onto prepared brownie batter. Drop dollops of raspberry preserves into the cheesecake batter. Gently swirl batters with a butter knife, giving the brownies a swirly look.

 Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set. A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned.
 Cool in the pan completely before slicing and serving, either at room temperature or chilled.
 Brownies can be refrigerated, covered, for several days.

Makes 16 brownies

White Chocolate Raspberry Scones

My senior year of high school starts Monday. OMG. This is pretty exciting. I'm not gonna lie, I can't wait for school to start. But it's not like I haven't been popping into my school all summer. (I accidentally wrote "pooping" the first time.. whoops) I seem to end up there a couple times a week for various reasons. I hold a couple important positions at my school, and I like to keep involved and active. I'm yearbook editor, president of our Student Ambassador program, and I've been working along side our brand new principal to plan assemblies and dances and the like. As exciting as all this is, it's a lot of work. And I still have some summer assignments to complete first...


When the school year does roll around, it always means one thing. No more sleeping in. Yupp, wake up time for me is 6 AM to catch a 6:30 bus. In that fleeting 30 minutes, I need to get dressed, fix my face ;), do my hair, gather my books and bags (both school, volleyball, and any other after school activity attire), grab any last minute notes for the office, and oh yeah, eat breakfast. With a tight schedule in the wee hours of the morning, it's easy for me to want to skip breakfast. But this is something I do not advocate. I tried it for a while one the years, and I was miserable. Empty stomachs for 5 hours is no fun. So I always try my darnedest to at least have something.


What I've found, is that during my 50 minute ride to school (grrr.....) I have plenty of time for relaxed eating with no stress of missing the bus. However, there are some items you can't easily eat during a bumpy bus ride. (Though I did actually have cereal once or twice. It worked well the first time, but not so much the second... It was quickly put to an end.) I have found that yogurt messes, overnight oat messes, and baked goodies travel well, though=)!


I have then decided that I will put my freezer to use. I'm going to bake some lovely goodies and then freeze them so I can have quick and easy breakfasts for the bus ride! It's genius, yes? And there are so many breakfast treats out there I can't wait to try, and this will give me an excuse to make them=)


First up: Scones. What can be a better combination than raspberry and white chocolate?! I wanted some fresh fruitiness in them, as well as a little touch of decadence. That basically sums up this scone perfectly=)


I do think I should have made them a bit flatter to get a more even cook through, but these tasted amazing none the less. Now, I can't wait for school to start just so I can eat these!


White Chocolate Raspberry Scones
adapted from Noble Pig

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 cup plus
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg yolk
1-1/2 cups fresh raspberries (6 ounces)

Preheat oven to 400o F. In a food processor, pulse together flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter and pulse until pea-size pieces form. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg yolk. Slowly pour buttermilk mixture through feed tube into processor, pulsing until dough just comes together.

Transfer dough to a slightly floured surface and sprinkle raspberries on top. Knead three times to fold in raspberries (my raspberries were mushy so they broke down, if yours are in good shape, they will stay intact). Gather and pat dough into a 1" thick rectangle and cut or pull apart into 2" pieces. Place pieces, about 2 inches apart on two parchment or silicone lined, rimmed baking sheets, sprinkling tops with 1 Tablespoon sugar.

Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let scones cool slightly on sheets on wire racks. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Store in an airtight container up to 1 day).