Name: Mocha Cheesecake Brownies
Ingredients: ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter; 8 ounces (230g) bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped; ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar; 3 large eggs, room temp; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2/3 cup (80g) all-purpose flour; 2 Tbsp (14g) Valrhona (or other Dutch-process) cocoa powder; 1 Tbsp The Spice House Espresso Powder; ¼ tsp salt; 8 ounces (227g) full fat cream cheese, softened; ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar; 1 large egg, room temp; 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Move oven rack to lower third of oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 9" x 9" metal baking pan with parchment paper.
In a microwave-safe bowl, heat butter for 30 seconds. Mix in chopped chocolate, then continue microwaving in 20-second increments, stirring after each zap. Once chocolate is mostly melted, remove from microwave and continue stirring until chocolate is completely melted. Allow to cool slightly.
Pour choco-butter mixture into a large bowl. Whisk in sugar. One at a time, whisk in eggs, then add vanilla.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt.
Fold dry ingredients into chocolate mixture until fully incorporated, making sure to hunt down any hidden pockets of flour. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on medium-high until smooth. Beat in sugar until fully combined. Then mix in egg and vanilla.
Dollop half of brownie mixture (about 360g) into prepared pan, smoothing it out with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. ^[1]
Spread all of cheesecake filling over brownie layer, smoothing the top with a different offset spatula.
Top with remaining brownie mixture, once again smoothing out the top.
Bake for 33–36 minutes. Brownies are done when the top is just set and a wooden pick inserted in the centre comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs attached.
Transfer pan to wire rack and allow to cool for 1 hour.
Once relatively cool, place pan in fridge and chill brownies for at least 2 hours.
After brownies have chilled, retrieve pan from fridge. Gently run a knife around edges, if necessary. Remove brownies from pan by pulling up on the parchment paper, then cut into squares. ^[2]
Store brownies in the fridge. They taste great cold, but they’re especially scrumptious if you allow them to come up to room temp before diving in.

Notes

We found it easiest to divide the brownie batter with the 2-ounce disher from our Scoop There It Is box. This allowed us to easily and evenly distribute the batter before smoothing it out with an offset spatula.
For the neatest cuts, use a sharp chef’s knife and cut into squares while brownies are still cold. Also, wipe the knife clean between each cut.

Slightly adapted from: Sally’s Baking Addiction

Mocha Cheesecake Brownies