I set out to make a pretty tried and true recipe for marbled cheesecake brownies. For you. Okay, and for me to eat when the children weren’t looking. And look … more
I set out to make a pretty tried and true recipe for marbled cheesecake brownies. For you. Okay, and for me to eat when the children weren’t looking.
And look what happened.
These cheesecake brownies are meant to please everyone {namely, all of you, and a full three-thirds of my children – one of whom doesn’t like brownies much, and one of whom doesn’t like cheesecake much}. They’re not too chocolatey, and not too cheesecakey. But don’t worry. They still take a stand – right in the middle, but confidently so. It’s not like they wimp out of being brownies and cower at being cheesecake. Instead, they marry the two in the most delightful way.
If I’m being honest with you, I’m going to have to admit that I blog about desserts more often than about anything else since I tend to assume that they’re popular. And rather than becoming thicker-skinned about the whole blogging thing, it appears that I’ve become more touchy. Or at least I’ve become more touchy about the possibility of becoming more touchy. Maybe I should explain.
We talked about the rules of blogging just last week. And you were all really supportive – both of my crankiness, and of my reluctance to follow those rules {It sounded like this: Yay! Don’t follow the rules! Be more fun than that!}. For the most part, the rules don’t seem natural to me. And in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have even one paid advertisement on this site {the Better Batter button is unpaid – I asked for it because I believe in the company}. Yes, I’m selling a book, but I have no idea whether or not this blog helps in that regard.
Since it seems I don’t blog to make money {it’s hard to make money when your site isn’t ‘monetized}, building site traffic is not the same goal it otherwise might be. And I think those rules of blogging were created to maximize money-making online.
So why do I blog, and why do I care about the popularity of my posts?
I blog for the same reason that I do book signings: To talk to you. To find out where you are, and where you’d like to be. For the team. Team Gluten Free. I think that the Team is moving in the right direction, but we’re not where we need to be yet {ultimately, for my son since he has celiac disease}. And I want to talk to you about that. I want to help you move from Point A to Point B, since a rising tide lifts all boats. But it doesn’t work so well if I define those points for you. The popularity of a post gives me hints, but since I am the one blogging, I define the parameters. And I tend to get discouraged if something doesn’t resonate, since that means that I have failed to ‘find’ you where you are.
Does any of this make any sense?
I wish there were a better way, since this often feels like I’m just groping around in the dark, hoping to land in the right place at the right time.
For now, I’ll just make these cheesecake brownies. ‘Cause I think there’s a good chance that you are either a cheesecake person, a brownie person, or an in-the-middle person. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate (if bars, chopped; if discs, as is)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 extra-large eggs
- ⅔ cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (I use Better Batter)
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if using Better Batter)
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 12 ounces cream cheese (one and one-half packages), softened
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 extra-large egg
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan with vegetable shortening or unsalted butter, then line with crisscrossed strips of parchment paper, allowing them to overhang the sides slightly (to make it easier to remove the bars after baking). Set the baking dish aside.
- In a medium-sized microwave safe bowl, microwave the butter and unsweetened chocolate for 30 seconds at a time on high power, stirring in between intervals, until smooth and shiny. Add the 1 cup sugar to the chocolate and the 3 eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add the flour, xanthan gum, salt and baking powder, and mix to combine.
- Pour the brownie batter into the bottom of the prepared pan, and shake to evenly distribute the batter. Place in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for about 15 minutes, until shiny and nearly set. It is better to underbake the brownies than to overbake them, since they will go back in the oven.
- While the brownies are baking, in a separate medium-sized bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream and ¼ cup sugar, and beat until well-combined. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix just until blended.
- Once the brownie layer has come out of the oven, cool slightly and pour the cheesecake mixture over the top and shake to evenly distribute the batter. Return the pan to the center of the oven, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the center of the cheesecake is almost set. Again, better to underbake rather than overbake.
- Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the sides, and allow to cool in the pan. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or up to overnight.
- Remove the pan from the refrigerator, slice into squares with a wet, serrated knife and serve chilled.
Love you. Mean it.
xoxo Nicole
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