The 31st of October brings without doubt one of the best days of the year for any kid – Halloween! There’s excited chatter of the best costumes and anticipation of which house will be giving out the full-sized chocolate bars. But, if your a high schooler who’s maybe a little too tall to put on your witch hat and go trick-o-treating, you may be wondering, how can I celebrate? Instead of stealing candy from a younger sibling, why not satisfy your sweet tooth by putting on your baker’s hat and apron?
In my spare time, I love to bake! The delicious product always provides an incentive to preheat the oven and haul out the Kitchen Aid mixer but I also find something so satisfying about measuring quantities of flour, baking soda and cocoa, levelling them off and then watching my cake rise in the oven. However, I know that two months into the school year with assignments and deadlines, baking’s not something I get to very often.
Did you know that in 2015 ahead of the Great Comic Relief Bake Off, a survey conducted by baking company, “Cake Angels”, found that one in three people asked said that they had felt more stressed than five years previously and that 80% of them had started baking to relieve some of that pressure. Baking helps to focus the mind as a successful product often relies on exact measurements added in the correct order. While you must have complete focus on the recipe, it also allows us to utilize our creative side in terms of choosing the recipe and decorating the product. All in all, baking has been scientifically proven to create a therapeutic effect on our minds.
Which is why a couple weekends ago, I did a quick online search for something yummy to whip up. When I came across various pictures of brownies topped with a myriad of sweets, I decided to combine my favourite moist chocolate brownie recipe along with a standard cream cheese icing recipe to create these delicious cheesecake swirl brownies. The process was fairly simple and only took about 25 mins to prep with all the ingredients on hand. My only tip is to make sure you let them cool for a good 20 minutes before serving. As enticing as it may seem to gobble down a warm, oozing brownie as soon as it comes out of the oven – they will definitely look and taste a whole lot better is you resist the temptation – trust me!
Enjoy the recipe below and if you try them, I’d love to hear how they turned out in the comments below!
Chocolate Brownies:
- 250 ml of butter, melted
- 500 ml of white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 250 ml of all-purpose flour
- 160 ml of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2.5 ml of salt
- 10 ml of vanilla
Cheesecake Topping:
- 235 ml of cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 80 ml of white sugar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat together the butter and sugar for the brownies. Add eggs and mix well.
- Combine the cocoa, flour, and salt before stirring into the sugar mixture. Mix in the vanilla.
- Spread evenly into a 9×9 inch prepared pan.
- Using an electrical mixture, beat together the cream cheese, egg and sugar for the cheesecake topping until smooth.
- Dollop the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie batter.
- Swirl together using a toothpick.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are firm.
- Cool before cutting into squares.