Cream Cheese Brownies

I had a bit of a rough day at school the other day.  It's the end of the year and more students than usual are restless and not putting forth their best efforts/behavior.  It is frustrating for me because I want to see them finish the year strong and get good grades.  However, that is  just not happening with some of them.  I was feeling sad, so when I got home I decided that I needed to bake brownies.

I also went for a 6 mile run so I felt like brownies were a good way to motivate myself to run the full 6 miles and then also have a little treat to help make me feel better.  It helped!  Plus, the next day was better.  Sometimes I guess there is just something in the air at high school that makes students act a little crazy.

These brownies were delightful.  I got the idea for them from browsing the website at America's Test Kitchen.  I adapted their recipe a tad, but overall I followed similar instructions.  They had really great ideas for making the brownies look beautiful and to make sure that the brownie and cream cheese swirls nicely and the cream cheese doesn't sink.  They were pretty tasty and I am pretty excited about having even more brownies waiting for me when I get home!  Bad day or not, these brownies are a great recipe to have for special occasions or just to enjoy a little treat after dinner! 

Cream Cheese Brownies

Ingredients:

2/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp espresso powder

4 oz 70% cacao chocolate

8 tbsp unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

4 oz light cream cheese

1/2 cup greek yogurt (I used 0% Fage)

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 and line a 9 by 9 inch pan with foil.  Spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.  

2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese for a few seconds and then microwave for 30 seconds.  Beat in the 1/2 cup greek yogurt, 2 tbsp sugar, and 1 tbsp flour until creamy.  Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, place butter and cut up chocolate.  Microwave at 50% powder for about 1-2 minutes or until the chocolate is melted.  Stir every 30 seconds to check.  

4. In a seperate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and espresso powder.

5. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until combined, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the chocolate mixture until well combined.  Then, mix in the flour mixture until just combined.  Set aside 1/2 cup of the brownie batter.

6. Spread the brownie batter into  your prepared pan.  Then, spread the cream cheese mixture over the top.  Finally, use the 1/2 cup of reserved brownie batter and place 6 spoonfuls on top of the cream cheese layer so that they are spread out.  Using a knife, swirl the batter by cutting through the layers horizontally and then vertically.  

7. Bake for 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Use the foil to remove the brownies from the pan and let cool for about 1 hour before cutting. 

Enjoy :)