Halloween Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

 Hi everyone! With Halloween coming up in two days, I wanted to share another Halloween recipe with you! If the first two weren't your cup of tea, hopefully these Halloween Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies are right up your alley. With a dark chocolate brownie bottom and an orange cheesecake on top, this black and orange treat is the ideal Halloween dessert with the colors to match!

HOW TO MAKE HALLOWEEN CREAM CHEESE SWIRL BROWNIES:

You Will Need:

For the Brownie Layer:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Layer:

• 8 oz cream cheese at room temp
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• orange food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper or foil and spray with non-stick spray. Set aside

For the Brownie Layer:

1. In a medium bowl, add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.
2. In a small bowl, add the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix with a fork until well combined.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until just combined. 
4. Reserve 1/4 cup of the batter for the swirls then pour the remaining batter into the prepared baking dish.

For the Cream Cheese Layer:

1. In a medium bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Blend until smooth.
2. Add in the orange food coloring and stir to combine.
3. Gently spread the cream cheese layer on top of the brownie batter.
4. Drop tablespoons of the remaining brownie batter on top and gently swirl with a knife or skewer.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until set. Remove and let cool completely before slicing.

MY REVIEW

When making these brownies, everything went smoothly. This is an easy recipe to follow with no complications, and it came out perfectly. The blackness of the dark chocolate cocoa and the bright orange cheesecake made for the perfect spooky swirl. Along with aesthetics, the taste of these brownies were spot on. The thick consistency of the batter resulted in a very thick and fudgy brownie which I loved. While the orange top didn't taste EXACTLY like cheesecake, the sweet cream cheese taste was close enough for me. It was sweet but not overly sweet like boxed brownies. I'd give this recipe a 10/10. Between taste and presentation, this dessert hit the nail on the head. I will definitely be making these for Halloweens to come.

Original recipe: https://www.persnicketyplates.com/halloween-cream-cheese-swirl-brownies/