Do you ever find yourself trapped in Pinterest? It can happen and does to me quite often. I start pinning and then something catches my eye and while I’m there gawking, something shiny whizzes past the screen and before I know it, I’m drooling over things I never thought I’d eat in a million years.
Take these cheesecake brownies with peanut butter swirl, for instance. John doesn’t like chocolate and peanut butter together. It’s way too American for him. I don’t complain because I risk being asked to eat Vegemite and honestly, that stuff creeps me out. I don’t cook things with chocolate and peanut butter unless someone’s coming to help me eat it.
Until today. I saw brownies with a peanut butter swirl on Pinterest and immediately had to have some. I also saw some chocolate peanut butter brownies drizzled with caramel sauce but I thought that was just overkill.
John’s dad asked me what I was cooking up in the kitchen and to keep it simple I said, “Brownies.” He likes brownies but he would eat anything if it was sweet enough. As I was getting things out of the cabinets to start baking, John walked in and asked what I was making.
His father said, “Brownies but I’m sure we’ll have to wait until they’re photographed before we get one,” and he laughed.
Then I told John they were peanut butter swirled brownies and he wrinkled up his nose and walked back upstairs to his office. I was determined and I’ve got to say, I was right to follow my heart. These brownies are wonderful.
The recipe I saw was for ordinary brownies and then a batch of peanut butter cookies and you swirl the cookie batter through the brownies. That seemed like a lot of work, especially since I was probably going to eat these alone. Since I had cream cheese in the refrigerator, I decided I would make cheesecake chocolate and peanut butter brownies. In for a dollar, in for a dime. John doesn’t like cheesecake either.
Yes, they were this fudgy. Yes, I also undercooked mine because I wanted them this fudgy but you might want to cook them longer. I should have put them in the freezer before photographing but you get the idea that these are really good. If you are a cake brownie lover, you probably want to just wave and say hello because these ain’t it.
- 198 grams / 14 tbsp. / 1-3/4 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup / 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups sugar
- 170 grams / 6 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 6 large eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 cup plain flour
- 224 grams / 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- ⅔ cup creamy peanut butter
- 90 grams / 6 tbsp. sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350° F.
- Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with baking paper.
- In a heatproof bowl over simmering water, add the butter and chocolate .
- Stir occasionally until the mixture is melted and smooth.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, salt, sugar, eggs and cream cheese until smooth and well combined.
- Stir in the chocolate and butter mixture and vanilla.
- Add the flour and stir until incorporated.
- Pour half the brownie batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top with a spatula.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Drop spoonsful of the peanut butter mixture over the brownie batter in the pan and cover with remaining chocolate batter.
- Using a knife, gently swirl together the peanut butter mixture and brownie batter. Bake 30-35 minutes, until the center is just set for fudgy brownies.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.
- When cool, cover and refrigerate until chilled for ease of slicing and serving.
Are you a chocolate and peanut butter lover? What’s your favorite way to put them together?