Marbled Cheesecake Brownies
"But Why Is the Rum Gone?" Test Kitchen brings you the solution to that "Aw, crap, I only have a cup of flour left in the house" situation that always occurs when you've been overdoing the holiday baking. It involves Kahlua; Kahlua makes all Brownies better, both when you use it in your baking and when you have it in a Black Russian* while you're baking. Just refer to the Kahlua as "extra love" when serving these brownies to your uptight, teetotaling friends. The alcohol bakes right out, so they'll never figure out your secret to amazing Brownies.
Marbled Cheesecake Brownies
1 box Betty Crocker (or other, similarly smug) brownie** mix
0.5 cup vegetable oil
0.25 cup Kahlua for baking, more for you
1.5 tablespoons water
3 eggs
0.5 teaspoon cinnamon
8 oz./225 grammes cream cheese, softened
0.5 cup white sugar
dash salt
a couple handfuls of chocolate chips (left over from making those dipped butter cookies)
Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC. In a large bowl, mix the brownie powder (hah!), the vegetable oil, Kahlua, water, cinnamon, and 2 of the 3 eggs. Make yourself a Black Russian.* Pour half the batter into a greased/oiled baking pan, and bake it for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a smaller mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and sugar. Beat in remaining egg and salt. Pour mixture over partially baked layer. Spoon remaining chocolate batter over filling, but not all in one clump (aesthetics, people!). Using a knife, cut through batters to marble, but don't overmix. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for another 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean. Finish your Black Russian while it bakes. Cool Brownies; cut into bars.
* What, you don't know how to make a Black Russian? It's a shot of Kahlua with a double shot of vodka. I like adding Bailey's, Coke and a bit of Guinness, but that's atypical. I learned that mix at the Capitol Bar on Aungier Street, where they have €4.95 cocktails on Thursday evenings. It's delicious.
** You see those directions on the back of the brownie mix box? Ignore those. Mostly. Those people know how to make adequate, socially-acceptable brownies for plebian consumption, but not proper Brownies for the connoisseur. They're a good substitute for when you can't be arsed to make something properly homemade, or when you haven't got any flour in the house. ::sheepish grin:: This is why you're poshing them up, so that they're edible. Keep a box in the house, but use only in emergencies of extreme laziness.
PS* I actually have 1.25 cups of flour left, but it's still not enough to make any of the cookie recipes I was contemplating. And if you'd like the Brownies-from-scratch recipe I use, just ask.
Marbled Cheesecake Brownies
1 box Betty Crocker (or other, similarly smug) brownie** mix
0.5 cup vegetable oil
0.25 cup Kahlua for baking, more for you
1.5 tablespoons water
3 eggs
0.5 teaspoon cinnamon
8 oz./225 grammes cream cheese, softened
0.5 cup white sugar
dash salt
a couple handfuls of chocolate chips (left over from making those dipped butter cookies)
Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC. In a large bowl, mix the brownie powder (hah!), the vegetable oil, Kahlua, water, cinnamon, and 2 of the 3 eggs. Make yourself a Black Russian.* Pour half the batter into a greased/oiled baking pan, and bake it for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a smaller mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and sugar. Beat in remaining egg and salt. Pour mixture over partially baked layer. Spoon remaining chocolate batter over filling, but not all in one clump (aesthetics, people!). Using a knife, cut through batters to marble, but don't overmix. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for another 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean. Finish your Black Russian while it bakes. Cool Brownies; cut into bars.
* What, you don't know how to make a Black Russian? It's a shot of Kahlua with a double shot of vodka. I like adding Bailey's, Coke and a bit of Guinness, but that's atypical. I learned that mix at the Capitol Bar on Aungier Street, where they have €4.95 cocktails on Thursday evenings. It's delicious.
** You see those directions on the back of the brownie mix box? Ignore those. Mostly. Those people know how to make adequate, socially-acceptable brownies for plebian consumption, but not proper Brownies for the connoisseur. They're a good substitute for when you can't be arsed to make something properly homemade, or when you haven't got any flour in the house. ::sheepish grin:: This is why you're poshing them up, so that they're edible. Keep a box in the house, but use only in emergencies of extreme laziness.
PS* I actually have 1.25 cups of flour left, but it's still not enough to make any of the cookie recipes I was contemplating. And if you'd like the Brownies-from-scratch recipe I use, just ask.