Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Brownies

Oh, boy. I keep having these days of super-high happiness followed by a crash and burn day where I'm very down. That was yesterday. So I decided that I needed to take a break from studying and do two things that make me happy--bake and eat chocolate.

I decided to try a new recipe for even more fun and I chose this one from Brown Eyed Baker. You might remember that this blog is where I found the Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake recipe. I was good and only had a sliver, but Alex and Elisa had one of these large pieces and gobbled them up. They are even yummier than I expected--fudgy chocolate with the sweet cream cheese layer and bits of cookie! The recipe is now on our "repeat list" and we might mix it up by throwing in chopped up candy or other cookies sometimes. Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Brownies

For the brownies:
½ c. unsalted butter, melted
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
½ c. flour
1/3 c. cocoa
¼ t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
For the cheesecake swirl:8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 c. sugar
6 Oreo cookies, chopped

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

Stir together the cream cheese and 1/3 cup sugar with a spoon until smooth and well blended. Gently stir in in the chopped Oreo cookies. Using a spoon, spoon the cream cheese/Oreo mixture in nine evenly-spaced dollops on top of the brownie batter. Using a dull knife or icing spatula, gently swirl the cream cheese mixture with the brownie batter--not too much.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan and the batter in the center of the pan feels just set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.