Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

You remember my last post? Yeah, well these are the Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Brownie's uglier cousin: Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies. They are as ugly as they are delicious. So pretty delicious=)
These pictures embarass me. They really do. I know a lot of people refuse to put subpar photos on their blog, but obviously I have low standards. Love me anyways? But honestly, I wouldn't have had any pictures to share with you. And who likes a food post with no pictures in it? Exactly: no one.

As I said with the other brownies, I brought these to a bakesale and they were gobbled up in just a few minutes! It was crazyyy. Also, like the last brownies, these were soooooo under baked (I didn't bring the really bad ones to the sale. Those were put in a much better place... my mouth). So definitely watch for doneness when you pull these out.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies
Smitten Kitchen
Makes 16 2-inch square, thick brownies
Brownie batter
 1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
 1 cup sugar
 2 large eggs
 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Cheesecake batter
8 ounces cream cheese, well softened
 1/3 cup sugar
 1 large egg yolk
 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Plus
 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used minis and it worked fine!)

Make brownie batter: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Microwave chocolate and butter together in a safe dish and mix until they combine. Whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.

Make cheesecake batter: Whisk together cheesecake batter ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Add in chocolate schips. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a knife or spatula.

Bake brownies: Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Slicing tip: Chill the brownies until they’re almost frozen before cutting them. It makes it much easierto get a clean slice.

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

Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Brownies

Ugh. So my computer is dead once again. My sister is gracious enough to let me use hers here and there so I can check blogs and such things. Since I've been MIA for a little bit, I haven't gotten to show you guys what I have been making. Granted, I haven't taken too making pictures either=/ Oops. But bear with me here.

These brownies were OMG good. Really really good. Like eat half of the 8x8 pan in one evening good. But you should probably not do that. Do as I say, not as I do.

It calls for a white chocolate frosting which threw me a little because I'm used to the classic pairing of cream cheese frosting. But I trusted Jessica at How Sweet It Is (I mean who couldn't possibly trust her?). The brownies were soooo good. Raise-the-roof-swing-low-sweet-chariot good.

So I told you they were so good and that I had to eat so many, right? Well... I made a second batch. And doubled the recipe. And dyed them green. And made a cream cheese frosting for good ole time's sake! Holy yumm. Green for St. Paddy's day. (See how behind in my posting I am?) I brought the pan to school (or else you know I would have eaten then for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and my friends helped me gobble them down. Although I will say that bringing your friends green my give you some strange looks. However, one bite will change their minds!

Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Frosting
from How Sweet It Is

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons red food coloring
2/3 cups chocolate chips (optional, I omitted)

Preheat oven to 350.
Butter and flour an 8 x 8 cake pan.

In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, red food coloring, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to create a paste.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then add remaining teaspoon of vanilla. With the mixer on medium speed, add in cocoa powder mixture. Beat until batter is completely red. (If at this time your batter is NOT red, you can add a little more food coloring if desired. Color will depend on brand.) Add flour and salt, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread in the 8 x 8 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.


White Chocolate Frosting
1 stick of butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces white chocolate, melted
1-2 tablespoons milk (or more if needed)

Cream butter in an electric mixer until fluffy, then add vanilla. Slowly add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer on low speed. Add in melted white chocolate and beat until incorporated. To reach desired consistency, add in milk 1 teaspoon at a time with mixer on low speed. If frosting becomes too liquidy, simple add additional sugar.

 Pretty blurry huh? Well you get the picture. See Jessica's blog for a drool-worthy post!

Cappuccino Brownies

So today is my birthday=) I am now 18! Everyone likes to think of all the things they can do once they turn 18, and I'd have to say I'm most excited about the driving curfew being extended.

My birthday this year is pretty awesome. Last year was a mild birthday that I like to think was holding back in anticipation for this year. I have lots of plans. Yesterday morning, my two friends and I went to First Watch for breakfast, which has amazing fresh options. I love it there. I had a parfait and an amazing muffin. If I could figure out the secret to their muffins, I'd... well I don't know really. But I would probably give my self the nickname "Muffin Goblin". Well no, I should pick something less ugly, like "Muffin Maiden". So after breakfast we walked over to the conveniently placed movie theater and saw "Black Swan". Natalie Portman is gorgeous, though I've always known this. It's twisted, creepy, scary; a definite thriller. Younger audiences advised.

Also, I got an early present over the weekend....


Ahhh! It's the Verizon Ally. It's the first smart phone in my family and I'm in love! We got a rebate on the phone so it ended up being free! And, the price of the data plan was reduced too! It's sooo cool! I love all the apps and features and it's pretty much my best friend at the moment. The only thing that could make it better would be if I could easily blog from it and check blogs. I can access my blogger account, but scrolling through whats in my reader is difficult=/ I'll figure something out.


These brownies have nothing to do with my birthday, but I really enjoyed them. They were the first recipe I mad out of a new cookbook my friend got me for Christmas. The book is adorable and has large pictures on every page. However, it only contains straight recipes and no other personal touches. Also, It failed to mention an oven time for this recipe. I went with 350. This was a weird book with no author either. AND, the method they use to combine ingredients for this recipe is odd. Everything is thrown in one bowl and mixed. And it calls for an 11 x 7 baking pan? Who has that? Ok, I'm done ranting=)


As you might be able to see, it is quite sunken in the middle while the sides are puffy. Yeah, no one knows why it happened. But, since I wasn't giving any away, I didn't care how it looked because it tasted amazing. I made the glaze suggested, but had to improvise as we did not have nearly enough powdered sugar. With the glaze and a dusting of cocoa powder, these cappuccino brownies kept me going throughout the week! (Well, actually 3 days 'cause I ate them so fast!)


Cappuccino Brownies
from "what's cooking Baking"
makes: 15

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups self rising flour (i made my own)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder, and extra for dusting
1 cup butter, softened, and extra for greasing
1 cup superfine sugar
4 eggs beaten
3 tbsp instant coffee powder, dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water

white chocolate frosting:
4 oz white chocolate, broken into pieces
4 tbsp butter, softened
3 tbsp milk
1 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Grease an 11 x 7 inch shallow cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and cocoa into a bowl and add the butter, sugar, eggs, and coffee. Beat well until smooth, then spoon into the prepared pan and smooth top.

Bake in preheated oven (I did 350), for 35-40 mins, or until risen and firm. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and peel off the paper lining. Let cool completely.

Frosting:
Place chocolate, butter, and milk in a microwave safe bowl and melt them together. Sift in confectioners' sugar. Beat until smooth, then spread over the cake. Dust the top of the cake with cocoa, then cut into squares.

White Chocolate Brownies

These were to die for. So so so good. Obvi I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate. I've said it before and hopefully the shock factor has gone down at this point. But why can't I still find a way to enjoy brownies? When I saw this recipe I bookmarked it immediately and knew I had to try it!


Some comments about the recipe said it needed something throughout so that it wasn't just straight brownie. Another level of interest was needed, basically. Having that in mind, I added dark chocolate chips throughout. In the end, I don't think I needed the dark chocolate chips. As a white chocolate lover (nay, adorer) I could have handled just straight white chocolate brownie. And that's what I'll do next time, because yes, there will be a next time for these. The chocolate drizzle, however, may be more interesting to do instead. I opted out of it this time because I haven't had the easiest times with squeezing chocolate for a drizzle effect. But maybe next time. I loved how she baked it in a round pan as well. So I'd stick with that too.


White Chocolate Chunk Brownie Wedges
from Cookie Madness

Brownies:
4 oz butter (I used regular salted)
4 ounces white chocolate baking bar, chopped (Divided use)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (spoon and sweep)
2 oz semi-sweet chocolate, cut into chunks

Glaze:
1 ounce semisweet chocolate
2 teaspoons butter or margarine

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch round metal cake pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray.

Melt the butter and half (2 oz) of the white chocolate together in a heat proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Alternatively, you can melt the butter in the microwave, add the white chocolate to the hot melted butter, stir well then microwave at 30 second intervals until melted. Let cool slightly.

Combine eggs, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with a hand-held electric mixer for about 3 minutes or until lighter in color and slightly thicker. Add melted white chocolate mixture and vanilla and mix well, then gently stir in the flour. Fold in remaining 2 ounces white chopped chocolate plus the 2 oz of melted semi-sweet. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake for 23-28 minutes (mine took 28) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled.

In a heat proof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt glaze ingredients until smooth, stirring often. Drizzle over brownies or transfer to a freezer bag, snip off the tip, and squeeze over brownies. Let stand until set. Cut into 18 wedges.