Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

I don't know what's gotten into me. I'm not really a baker but something about the impending coolness of fall and the slight chill in the air has gotten me in the mood for baking. Fortunately this coincided perfectly with several occasions that allowed me to off-load some of my baking.

These brownies are ridiculously good. I had been drooling over the recipe for a while and used my relatively calm second half of the week (following a Greek test and a Pastoral Care paper) to bake them, knowing that I could take them to a gathering at a friends' house on Friday night.

Let me just say, that I don't know how I managed to not eat half of the pan before Friday night. I did sneak a few and allowed Joe to have them. I am never that person that brings something to the party that everyone fawns over, but these brownies are that dish. Word cannot describe how good these are. They are the perfect combination of something familiar and something a little unusual.

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

(source: Cara's Cravings)

Ingredients:

Brownie Batter:

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter:

6 oz cream cheese, softened (I used fat-free.)

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp flour

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp each ground ginger and ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" square metal baking pan.

For the Brownies:

Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients and then gradually stir into butter mixture by hand.

For the Cheesecake:

In a separate bowl, beat together all ingredients.

To assemble:

Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan. Spread the pumpkin batter over it, distributing evenly. Drop the remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. To make the swirls, run a butter knife back and forth through the pan. (I totally failed at this part! Oh well, they still tasted amazing.)

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until center is set. Cool completely and chill before cutting and serving. (Mine took a little longer to cook, probably because I used a glass pan instead of dark metal. I baked mine for about 50 minutes.)