Cream Cheese Brownies
Published October 16, 2024
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
- Total Time
- About 1 hour, plus cooling
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 50 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE BATTER
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
¼ cup/31 grams powdered sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
FOR THE COCOA BATTER
10 tablespoons/141 grams unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar
⅓ cup/50 grams semisweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup/96 grams all-purpose flour
¾ cup/71 grams unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-processed or natural)
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
Nutritional analysis per serving (16 servings)
25 grams carbs; 68 milligrams cholesterol; 233 calories; 4 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 15 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 143 milligrams sodium; 4 grams protein; 17 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides to make a sling. Lightly butter the parchment.
- Step 2
Make the cream cheese batter: In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, egg, powdered sugar, flour and vanilla until well combined.
- Step 3
Prepare the cocoa batter: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter and sugar. Cook, stirring, until the butter is melted, then remove the pot from the heat. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is homogenous and opaque and the sugar has dissolved, about 4 minutes. Add the chocolate and let stand 1 minute. Whisk to combine.
- Step 4
Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and stir to combine. Transfer about two-thirds of the cocoa batter to the prepared pan and spread in an even layer.
- Step 5
Spread the cream cheese batter evenly over the cocoa batter, then dollop the remaining one-third of the cocoa batter over the cream cheese layer. Using a butter knife, swirl the batters together in a decorative pattern.
- Step 6
Bake until the brownies are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 24 to 28 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool completely.
- Step 7
To serve, use the parchment overhang to lift the brownie out of the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Private Notes
Comments
I found that the sugar didn’t dissolve after 5 minutes whisking so I proceeded anyway with the chocolate and egg additions. Slight separation after the chocolate which emulsified back in beautifully with the addition of the eggs. I used a gluten free all purpose mix of flour which works just fine, very moist brownies. The brownie batter was incredibly thick so I didn’t bother separating the 1/3, 2/3 for adding the cream cheese mix. Swirling the cream cheese mix onto the brownie mix with the spatula I scraped out the bowl with resulted in a nice swirl and the cream cheese sank a bit creating layering similar to the photo so I don’t think it matters so much.
Very tasty. Will use the whisk on the hand blender next time. Which will be soon. Also, baked about 5 minutes longer.
Easy to make and delicious!!! I doubled recipe and baked in a 9x13 for longer cooking time.
I thought these were fantastic. I agree with others regarding the chocolate batter being super thick and the cook time being much longer (45 mins for me). I used almond flour because I am gluten free and wonder if this contributed to the moistness of the brownie (some reviewers found them "cakey" which I didn't at all).
Yum!! After a work lunch that had the absolute worst brownie I had ever had, I still had a craving. I make these just over a week later. I followed the recipe exactly and they were fabulous. I thought they were a tad salty so the next time I'll cut back on the salt a bit. That could just be me. They were still the best cream cheese brownie that I have ever made. I can see myself making these on a cold, winter day, perhaps when there's inclimate weather.
Sometimes things turn out just a little better if you make small changes, sometimes not so much. This time it worked. I made 2 changes to the cream cheese batter: I only used 6 oz. of cream cheese & I added about a quarter cup of white chocolate chips to this as well. The batter was very thin but it tasted great in the finished bake. To the chocolate batter I added about 1/2 tsp. of espresso & I added more cocoa powder than what was called for - closer to 1 cup. To be honest, this batter was very stiff, but it turned out well. I didn’t try to swirl the cream cheese batter, I just let it drip onto 1/2 of the chocolate batter. When I carefully added the rest of the chocolate batter over the cream cheese, i carefully smoothed it over the cream cheese. I then finished off with hefty drops of cream cheese batter in the top. This was excellent after baking. The chocolate was rich & dense & the cream cheese was perfect. Not swirled - dolloped!