Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Swirled Brownies

So, I took my favorite brownie recipe and stuffed it full of pumpkin spice cheesecake, and I am here to share it with you! That's right, buttery, delicious, chocolatey brownies perfected with pumpkin spiced cheesecake. Hello Thanksgiving dessert! Not only is the cheesecake swirled on top of the brownie, but it also get sandwiched inside the brownie itself. Y.U.M!

I hope your  fall has been delightful and productive. Mine sure has. New job, new stuff, Jesus is good. Let's get right to the recipe ok?

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

recipe adapted from Baked Occasions 

makes 24 bars

For the Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 plus 2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 cup pumpkin puree 

1 large egg yolk

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and very creamy. Add in all the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Refrigerate while you make the brownie batter!

For the Brownies

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces dark chocolate (I always use these)

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position rack in the center of your oven. Butter the bottom and sides of a 12 cup individual brownie pan** (what I used).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, and salt. Set aside.

In a double boiler, melt together the chocolate and butter. Once melted and smooth, turn off the heat and add both sugars. Remove bowl from the pan (the chocolate mixture should be room temperature) and add two of the eggs. Whisk until combined. Add in the remaining egg and gently whisk in until combined.

Sprinkle flour over chocolate mixture and fold in just until combined. 

Fill each individual brownie cup 2/3 full, top with just under a tablespoon full of cheesecake, top with enough brownie batter to cover the cheesecake. Once all cups are full, take around a teaspoon full of cheesecake and dollop over each brownie. swirl a few times with a knife.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. 

Let cool and devour. 

Notes:

These need to refrigerated to keep them fresh.

**If you don't have an individual brownie pan, you can use a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Pour 2/3 of the brownie batter into the pan and smooth the top. Top the batter with the cheesecake mixture and smooth the top. Drop the remaining batter over the cheesecake, and swirl. Bake for 30-40 minutes. 

Salted Caramel Brownie Pies

I don't even know where to begin with this recipe. It's one of the most delicious and requested things that I make and I always welcome the opportunity to do so.

Fluffy, light, airy, buttercream gets sandwiched between two brownie cookies with crackly tops and tender middles. It doesn't get any better than that folks. 

Oh, and see that flower up there? Yeah...that's a rhododendron bloom from my parent's yard and I picked it illegally and apparently gave my father a heart attack. I guess I'll do almost anything to get a good photo!

Salted Brownie Pies

makes 10-12 sandwiches

inspired by The Baker Chick

For the Brownie Sandwich Cookies

12 ounces dark chocolate, total (5 ounces roughly chopped)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Microwave butter until melted and add 7 ounces of chocolate. Stir until completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

Place eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add in flour, baking powder, melted chocolate, and the 5 remaining ounces of chopped chocolate. Mix until just combined and put in the fridge to chill for no more than 10 minutes. 

Scoop dough into a pastry bag and cut off the end. Pipe 2 inch circles of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. You'll know the cookies are finessed when the tops of crackled. 

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the Salted Caramel Buttercream Filling

1 cup unsalted butter, softened (I usually allow my butter to rest on the counter overnight)

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 caramel sauce (I used the pre-made stuff, but homemade would work as well)

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Place butter, sugar, caramel, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy.

Place buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with a decorative attachment and pipe onto the flat side of a brownie cookie. Sandwich the filling with another brownie cookie. 

Sprinkle fine sea salt on the tops of the finished sandwich cookies and enjoy!

the baked brownie.

Ok guys. Oh. My. Goodness. Theeesseeeee brownies. Just think about all the good food words - rich, dense, super chocolate-y, perfect, delicious - multiply them by 1,000,000 and you have an accurate description of these babies! I want to live in these brownies and then eat my way out of them. Gosh. 

I've made these three times in the last week. Once just because I wanted to try them, then for my worship team, and finally for my coworkers. Every single person RAVED about these brownies and I cannot get enough. I ate a whole pan by myself...despite the fact that these have a whole cup of butter in them. Woops!

Make these immediately and share them with everyone you care about. Or share them with someone who doesn't like you because these will definitely change their minds. Or be like me, make a whole pan and eat them all by yourself while watching the Real Housewives of All the Cities...I wish I was kidding.

Baked Brownies - Yield 24 delicious, perfect brownies
slightly adapted from the Baked: New Frontiers in Baking Cookbook 

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed, light brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and butter the sides and bottom  of a 9x13 inch glass baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

Put chopped chocolate and butter in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water, and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add vanilla and stir until combined. Do not over beat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula (not a whisk), fold flour gently into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour is visible.

Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it.

Let the brownies cool completely, then cut, and eat!

these are worth every bit of dirty dish cleaning and crumb sweeping.