Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

What better way to show your Valentine how much you love them!?

Sinful chocolate brownies, creamy cheesecake and sweet swirls of raspberry

Oh, and did I mention we’re using boxed brownies to skimp on time but certainly not flavor

Choose your favorite brand of brownies and gather the ingredients needed to make the mix

Then assemble two 8 ounce blocks of cream cheese that has been brought to room temp, 2/3 cup of sugar, 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon of almond extract (my favorite addition!)

Measure out 1/2 cup of seedless raspberry preserves and set aside for assembly

Add the cream cheese to the bowl of a mixer and blend until smooth.  Add in the eggs, sugar and extract and mix well.  Set aside

Stir up the ingredients listed on the box of brownie mix.  The brand I chose uses one egg and 1/4 cup of oil, but every brand differs

Prepare a 9 x 13 baking pan by spraying with cooking oil

Very important note!  After spraying the pan, line the bottom with parchment and spray with cooking oil

Learn from my mistakes here… I’ve made this without the parchment and it was pretty difficult to get the cheesecake brownies out of the pan.  They were still tasty, but not so pretty

Pour in the brownie mix (reserving 1/2 cup) followed by the cream cheese mixture (reserving 1/2 cup) and spread out evenly in the pan

Add the reserved brownie and cream cheese mixture in dollops

That’s a fancy French term… “dollop”

I’m random so I have no rhyme or reason where I place my dollops.  My Husband, on the other hand, would have a level and a tape measure to ensure even dollop-ness

Lastly,  add in blobs of raspberry jam

Now for the fun part!  Let’s swirl!

Use a wooden skewer or toothpick and swirl through the randomly placed dollops of tastiness

Place in the 350 degree preheated oven uncovered for 30 minutes

 At this point, we’re going to cover with foil for about another 10-15 minutes until the tester comes out clean

Another learn-from-my-mistakes-moment… Tent the foil high enough over the pan that it will not touch the top of the cheesecake brownies

Foil touching the soft, not completely baked cheesecake brownies = disastrous mess

Again, tasty but not pretty

Oh Mama.  This looks so good I’d like to cut into this right now, but no.  Refrain.

Cool on a wire rack and then chill for at least 2 hours before serving

I’ve actually had the best results chilling this over night before serving

Note how the parchment provides easy to remove handles so you can lift out of the pan and right to your cutting board!

Once chilled, cut into squares and serve with fresh raspberries and mint if desired

Enjoy!

Tools used to make this recipe

Anchor Hocking 8 Cup Measuring Cup Glass Batter Bowl with Spout

Architec Carving Board, Gripperwood

KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Qt. Stand Mixer

Pyrex Glass Oblong Baking Dish 9 inch x 13 Inch

Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper

Royal Classique 10 Piece Stainless Steel Measuring Cups and Spoons Set with Silicone Handles

Silicone Flexible Rubber Baking Spatula

Wilton Offset Spatula

Cookie Scoop

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