Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

Years ago I made a chocolate chip cream cheese bar recipe using the Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookie mix. In recent years I haven't been able to find the mix in stores, and I prefer to not use box mixes anyway so I haven't made them in a while. My sister Maria made these similar Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies a few weeks ago for a family gathering, and everyone said they were delicious. Unfortunately I missed the gathering so I decided to try these today to use up a block of cream cheese that I had no plans for. This recipe is very easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for them to cool off before being able to dig in! I baked them for 25 minutes and it was done on the outside but the inside was a little undercooked (but still delicious!), so next time I will bake the bottom crust a few minutes longer before adding the cream cheese and top crust. 

This is the perfect recipe to bring to someone else's house for dessert since you can make it the day before and just bring it in the 9x13 pan, or cut the squares and assemble on a plate or platter. Either way, this recipe is sure to please both kids and adults!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

Recipe courtesy The Recipe Critic website

 

COOKIE CRUST:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup oil

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

12-ounce package chocolate chips

 

CHEESECAKE:

1 8-ounce package Cream Cheese, room temperature

1 egg

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter, oil and sugars. Add eggs and beat until fluffy. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Put half of the dough mix in the bottom of an ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan or casserole dish with half of the dough, forming a crust. Use your hands for this as if you were filling a pie plate with a homemade pie crust. Bake for 10 minutes.

 

While baking, beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl until well blended. Take the crust out of the oven and spread the cream cheese mixture on the top, being sure to cover the entire top. It will be ooey and gooey and may blend with the crust and this is OK.

 

Take the other half of the cookie dough and crumble it on top of the cream cheese coating, being sure to cover it all. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

 

Let cool for 30 minutes, then cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. Store in the fridge, due to the cream cheese.

 

NOTES:

Flour your fingers before patting down brownie mix on the bottom of the pan to keep it from sticking to you.

 

When making your cheesecake mixture make sure your cream cheese is room temperature. If it is too cold it will not mix properly. (To speed up the process you can microwave the cream cheese at 10 second increments until you achieve room temperature consistency.)

 

Avoid cracks in your cheesecake by not over mixing. Too much air will cause the cheesecake to rise too rapidly in the oven which is what creates the cracking. Instead, mix the cream cheese and sugar completely then switch to a low blend once you add the egg.

 

Let the bars cool for 30 minutes before storing them in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Placing them in the refrigerator too soon after cooking will cause condensation which will make the cheesecake texture gummier and more inconsistent.

 

You can also use other cookie dough flavors instead of chocolate chip. Peanut butter, M&M, etc. The original recipe used a package of chocolate chip mix, I used my recipe for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies.