Oreo cheesecake brownies

I just love baking hybrids; nutella pretzel brownies, cream cheese brownies, cookies and cream cupcakes and I'm dying to make these twix cookie dough cheesecake bars (how ridiculous do they sound?). So this is where brownie meets cheesecake and oreos.. C'est delicieux!

My second sister had to bring most of the batch to her colleagues, in fear that we'd end up eating the whole tray.. Bakers, I'm sure you'd understand the dangers. I love this recipe because you basically smother a nice thick layer of cream cheese in the middle and then put more brownie batter on top. Not only does the cream cheese layer look effortless, it tastes heavenly. Enough said, give these a try!

Oreo cheesecake brownies
Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 package (8 oz or 250 g) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar/icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 and 1/3 cup coarsely chopped Oreo cookies

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C. Butter a baking pan and line with parchment/baking paper.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Then whisk in sugar and bring to a boil. Whisk frequently, boil for a minute. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
3. In a bowl of a stand mixer (or by hand), beat together cream cheese, confectioners' sugar & vanilla extract until combined, about 1 minute.
4. In another bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder & salt. Whisk until combined.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs until combined. Whisk in melted butter-sugar mixture until well combined. Stir in flour mixture until combined, followed by Oreos.
6. Spear half of the brownie batter into an 8 inch baking dish, then followed by a cream cheese layer. Then, distribute the remaining brownie mixture, spreading it evenly. Swirl with a knife if desired.
7. Bake for 24-28 minutes, until brownies & cheesecake are set. Insert a knife into the cheesecake mixture, and it should come out clean. Edges will be lightly browned.
8. Let it cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack before lifting out the parchment paper to remove the brownies.
*Tip I read from Smitten Kitchen: Freeze them after it has cooled down, so it's easier to cut them.

Adapted from Sweet pea's kitchen

High school politicians and cheesecake brownies

So I came back from the UN Than Evatt competition (similar to the UN model comp in many countries) on Friday... I will just say that I was completely astounded by how intellectual all these year 11s and 12s sound (I felt so little... yet I'm 'tall') communicated with each other, and actually could just think on the spot after some kind of ambiguous or long winded question?! The whole debate was at a pretty fast pace and since it was my first time though, I was quite intimidated at first! But the candidates were really nice, I also had a supportive partner and even though I didn't get to speak much, it was a good experience! I would love to do it again next year.

Anyway, sorry I have a bit of a bad habit to ramble in my food posts..I know some of you are like "WILL YOU JUST GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT?"

I created these cream cheese brownies, however I decided to do shake the recipe up a bit. I just basically doubled the batter for a bigger pan instead of an 8 by 8 inch pan (so extra thick chocolate brownie baby!) with lots of cream cheese swirled and swirled and please dear God, do not over-bake it. I literally just cannot tolerate over-baked brownies that are dry and cakey. What kind of brownie is that?

Without a doubt, this will make a crowd pleaser. It's far too easy to make, and it looks great; it's hard to 'over-swirl'. Who doesn't like huge chunks of cream cheese? My eldest sister also exclaimed "It's the best thing you've ever made!" I should probably get the recipe along with the Baked brownie recipe framed...

Of course, if you don't want such a gigantic, brownie square, you can just opt out and cut the recipe in half. Eat this straight from the fridge, which is fudgey and the classic cheesecake taste or at room temperature. However, you can also warm it up which are both my sisters' favourite ways to eat it. Don't be put off by the sound of 'warm' cheesecake.. It's a hybrid okay! Cheesecake brownies are awesome warm, with a scoop of ice cream. Period.

What's your favourite kind of cheesecake to eat? Mine is oreo cheesecake!

Cheesecake brownies
*Yields 16 huge squares: 5 cm x 5 cm squares or 2 inch x 2 inch.
Brownie batter
2 sticks (226 g or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
170 g (6 ounces) dark chocolate
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Cheesecake batter
340 g (12 ounces) cream cheese, well softened *
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk (use 2 if the batter is too thick)

*There is supposed to be 16 ounces in the batter if the recipe is doubled, but I felt that there would be too much!

Plus:
1/2 cup chocolate chips to put on top *optional

Brownie batter method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C and butter a 9 x 13 inch pan (22 x 20 cm) pan or line it with parchment paper.
2. Heat butter and chocolate over a double boiler,although you could probably do it in the microwave as well. Whisk occasionally, until melted.
3. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.

Cheesecake batter method:
1. Whisk cheesecake batter ingredients together until smooth . Dollop over brownie batter and swirl with a knife or spatula.
2. Bake brownies for about 32 minutes, until the centre is just set. Do not over bake it!

* Smitten Kitchen's tip: Chill brownies until almost frozen before cutting them. This makes it easier to get a clean slice.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Raspberry and walnut cocoa brownies

Yet another brownie post, I don't think I'll ever get sick of brownies. Melting butter and chocolate with a hint of espresso is honestly so fragrant, and whipping up brownies on a late night is perfect. Midnight brownies I'd say. Although, the flavour gets better the next day, as does with any cake or brownie. The next day, it has developed its texture and your tastebuds will be screaming "Oh my goodness how did it get this good?"

Truth to be told, I didn't really expect much from these brownies because they use cocoa. But I decided to give it a go anyway, because I was curious. But, I added some raspberries which are perfect. Kind of reminds me of the flourless chocolate cake I made, except this is a brownie and is more dense. Put it in the fridge, it becomes fudge like!

After I ate one, I stood there for a moment and pondered. "This is good. Wait no. This is really good." I like the slightly crunchy top, and the fact that it's not too sweet (I used 3/4 cup instead of 1 and 1/4) and with the crunch of walnuts? It spells a-d-d-i-c-t-i-v-e.  I also like it straight from the fridge! 

Raspberry and walnut cocoa brownies
Yields 16 large or 25 smaller brownies (I used a 8 x 8 pan)
Ingredients:
10 tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter
1 and 1/4 cup (250 g) sugar *although I reduced this to 3/4 cup
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp (65 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch-process)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup (65 g) all purpose flour
2/3 cup (75 g) walnuts or pecans *optional
2/3 cup raspberries *optional

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 F (although I just used 180 C). Line the bottom and sides of a baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Combine butter, sugar, cocoa and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water.
3. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted, and the mixture is smooth.
4. Remove the bowl and set aside until the mixture is warm, not hot.
5. Stir in vanilla and then add the eggs, one at a time.
6. Then, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer.
7. Add the nuts and raspberries if you are using.
8. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre is slightly moist with batter, about 20 to 25 minutes (however I needed to bake it for 10 minutes longer). Let cool completely on a rack. Smitten Kitchen's tip is to freeze it for a while and then cut it with clean lines. I did so, and it is a really good tip to get really clean cuts!

Adapted from Alice Mendrich via Smitten Kitchen

The Baked brownie: with macadamias and walnuts

Is this another post about the Baked brownie? Why yes it is.

 The only difference? Better pictures and macadamia nuts and walnuts in the batter.... My killer, dangerous-to-have-around-the-house kind of brownie.

Cream cheese brownies

My ideal at- home relaxing day is when there's a storm brewing. I'm fine with just the sound of rain too. But summer has been seriously crazy heat, and there's no storm now :(

But, I could just curl up in a ball, and read a good book. Sip some hot tea, watch reruns of Friends, and eat some cream cheese brownies along with them!

Nutella pretzel brownies

I think a lot of people can agree on one thing; Nutella is life. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but spreading some Nutella on toast, or just eating a spoonful of it? Who could resist! We have to thank the Italians for this wonderful creation :) 

Super extra fudgy brownie

This brownie is jam packed, full of intense chocolate flavour and fudginess. Cake-like brownie lovers, this is not the brownie for you. This brownie is perfect for those who love eating extra fudgy brownies with a bowl of ice cream. 

I wasn't able to get good shots because I was not successful in cutting them neatly, and became a little too lazy. It was literally just SO fudgy. I was even able to get the crackly tissue-paper like top in a typical brownie that has a load of sugar (typically 1 and a half cups of sugar or more), but there's actually only 3/4 cup in this recipe. It's because the amount of flour is very, very, very low. It was a bit sticky, but it tasted really great! The best with walnuts.

This recipe is a keeper for those who like fudgy brownies, but in all honesty, I still think the Baked recipe is my favourite brownie recipe. But despite that favouritism, I still really do like this recipe. 

Remember to use good chocolate! I used Cadbury's old gold 70% cocoa and also a bit of Lindt's 70%. 

Adapted from David Lebovitz's book, The Sweet life in Paris (via Canella Vita)

Ingredients

6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for the pan
226 grams (8 ounces) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature.
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

* 1 teaspoon of espresso (optional)
This recipe works well with add-ins, so feel free to throw in whatever you like.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius)
2. Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square baking dish with 2 sheets aluminium foil (I used baking paper/parchment paper), positioning the sheets perpendicular to each other and allowing the excess to extend beyond the edges of the pan. Lightly grease the foil with non-stick cooking spray.
4. In a saucepan, melt butter, add the chocolate, stirring constantly over very low heat until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat. Add in eggs one at a time, then stir in the sugar, vanilla,, then the flour and nuts or add-ins if using.
5. Bake for 30 minutes (don't over-bake!). Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

The Baked brownie

I don't bake brownies often because I've always had the trouble with getting the texture that I like. I've either ended up with way-too-cakey brownies or a hot fudge mess.

I've been eyeing on this recipe for months. I haven't been able to do so because

1. I always run out of good quality chocolate.... My family eats them up.
2. The recipe is very rich and indulgent, not to be made regularly (unless if you have an extremely high metabolism but I would still probably not recommend it hehe)! This recipe calls for five eggs. *here comes the bad type of cholesterol, aka LDL * 

But enough about how this recipe is not so good for health, let's talk about how your tastebuds will feel.

Apparently Baked is superb, renowned for their cookies, granola and of course brownies. According to Oprah, it is one of her favourite brownies, and when something gets Oprah-fied, that something becomes real famous (companies that sponsor her giveaways, Dr.Phil, Rachael Ray, Dr Oz etc).