Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Brownie Bliss!

These wonderfully decadent, swirled with cream cheese, easy to make, topped with chocolate chip brownies just happen to be my favorite. That's no small task, because I am a lover of all foods chocolate, especially the brownie. I made these last weekend following a hike with friends (That's right. I went hiking...less guilt about the brownies). As we made our way up and down a narrow ravine path I was craving chocolate. Most people would be thinking of a nice cold drink, but I was thinking of chocolate cheesecake. I told my hiking buddy and she agreed. We needed chocolate. After the hike we all agreed to meet back at our house for a cookout that evening. Now I had an excuse to make a whole chocolate dessert. You see, I rarely bake unless we're having company over. I cannot be trusted with a whole pan of cream cheese brownies. Nope. When it comes to dessert, I am weak in will. As I began looking for a dessert recipe, chocolate cheesecake was still on my mind, but I didn't want to work that hard to satisfy my craving. I'd just hiked 2.5 miles down a ravine, up a ravine, down a ravine, and up again, after all. Then it hit me...chocolate cream cheese brownies! At least I'd have the flavors of chocolate and cream cheese baked together, but I wouldn't have to dig out my springform pan or melt chocolate!


These really are pretty easy. Just prepare a 20 oz. box mix of brownies according to the package directions and pour into the bottom of a greased 13 X 9 inch pan.



Now mix together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and an egg.



Drop spoonfulls of the cream cheese mixture evenly over the pan of brownie batter.



Use a knife to swirl the mixtures together.



Sprinkle with chocolate chips. And pop em' into the oven for 35-40 minutes.



Here are the last two brownies. I sent half the pan home with our friends and over the next day and a half we consumed all but these two. And then I realized that I never took a picture of the finished product. So here they are. A little beat up from a couple of days in the pan and possibly not the best looking to begin with anyway since they didn't get "picked". But I don't discriminate. These two didn't last long either...



Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Brownies

1 20 oz. package brownie mix
oil
eggs (amounts vary based on the brownie mix used)
water
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions. Pour into a greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Combine cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a bowl. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. Evenly drop the cream cheese mixture by spoonfulls onto the brownie batter. Cut or swirl through batter several times with a knife for a marbled effect. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool; cut into squares.