Looking to treat yourself? Then feast your eyes on these Brownies with cream cheese, a no-fuss recipe that’s easy to make and even easier to indulge in! These rich, fudgy, homemade brownies swirled with a tangy cheesecake filling will swoon your taste buds!
Swoonworthy Cream Cheese Brownies
Let’s face it, boxed brownies leave you with sad, dry slices that leave you unsatisfied and wanting SO much more. This is exactly why I love perfecting gourmet brownies, because who wants to make a treat to indulge with just to be left totally unsatisfied?!
These Cream Cheese Brownies hit the spot every.single.time. They’re thick and fudgy with the mostly delicious chocolate flavor that makes for a satisfying combination with the swirls of cheesecake filling.
To make them the best indulge-worthy brownies I bake them with a little bit of water in a baking dish under the pan of brownies. This simple kitchen hack yields brownies with a nice even bake across the entire batch!
And if you’re not sold on cream cheese brownies being indulge-worthy then maybe you’ll love my gourmet style No Bake Cookie Brownies or Peanut Butter Crunch Brownies!
Rebecca’s Recipe Review
Taste: Divine. Seriously, if you love cheesecake, and even if you don’t, I think you’ll love the rich, indulgent blend of chocolate and cream cheese in this recipe.
Texture: Dense fudgy brownie swirled with silky cheesecake mixture. Chocolate chips add a bit of texture to each bite but can be omitted if that’s not your thing.
Ease: 6/10.
Pros: Delicious, beautiful, impressive. Perfect for any occasion!
Cons: This recipe isn’t difficult to make but does have two moving parts (brownie and cheesecake) and makes for a lot of dishes. But it’s so so worth it!
Would I Make This Again? 100%! I made so many batches to get this recipe “just right” and shared every batch with different groups of people and even those who had the “not quite right” batches raved about them! This recipe is a WINNER!
Cream Cheese Brownie Recipe Highlights
- Decadent & Delicious! Fudgy chocolaty brownies swirled with sweet, tangy cheesecake filling creates a luxurious texture with incredible flavor. Good enough to make anyone’s mouth water!
- Homemade! Brownies are simple to make at home and worth the extra work for these cheesecake swirled brownies.
- Easy Ingredients! Don’t let homemade brownies scare you away. The ingredients are simple and easy! If you do any baking at all, I’m willing to bet that you have the pantry stale ingredients needed for the recipe already on hand.
- Optional Variations! I provide delicious variations to this recipe so that you can decide for yourself what the perfect cream cheese-swirled brownie tastes like! Options include fruity flavors, peanut butter, nuts, and toppings!
Cream Cheese Brownies Recipe Ingredients
This simple but decadent brownie recipe is made in three easy layers. First is the homemade brownie layer, which combines just the right balance of butter, sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, flour, cocoa, salt, and mini chocolate chips to create the perfect fudgy base for these cream cheese brownies.
Second is the cheesecake layer made with cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla bean paste! I highly recommend using a high-quality, full-fat cream cheese such as Philidelphia Cream Cheese for the best flavor. Also, note that if you don’t have vanilla bean paste for the cheesecake layer, you can swap it out for an equal amount of vanilla extract.
The last layer is optional but is a must for me: a sprinkle of semi-sweet mini chocolate chips!
Cream Cheese Brownies Variations
- Peanut Butter Lovers – Create a peanut buttery twist on these brownies by adding a bit of creamy peanut butter to the cheesecake batter mixture before dolloping it onto the brownies. Take this variation one step further by topping it with crushed peanut butter cups!
- Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies – Dollop raspberry preserves or jam around the cheesecake dollops for a raspberry cheesecake brownie! Try this with your favorite flavor of jam or preserves for a fruity take on these cream cheese swirl brownies!
- Mocha Flavor – Mix in a teaspoon or two of espresso powder into the brownie batter to give these brownies with cream cheese a decadent mocha flavor!
- Chocolate Chips – I love making this cream cheese brownie recipe with semi-sweet mini chocolate chips but feel free to mix it up. Try swapping them out for dark chocolate, peanut butter, or even white chocolate chips!
- Nuts – Add some crunch to these cream cheese brownies by mixing in some chopped nuts! Pecans, walnuts, almonds, or whatever nut you prefer!
- Toppings – Instead of topping the brownies with more mini-chocolate chips try finishing them off with chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers, Twix, or your favorite candy bar!
How To Make Brownies With Cream Cheese
- Prepare a water bath, the baking pan, and preheat the oven. I like using this 9×13-inch pan because of its nice sharp corners.
- Melt the butter, then add granulated sugar, ensuring that the butter and sugar have started emulsifying with no butter separated on top of the sugar.
- Mix canola oil and vanilla extract into the butter and sugar until there’s no separation between the ingredients. Make sure there isn’t any oil resting on top!
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, using a fork.
- Sift the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt into the butter and sugar mixture. Stir minimally, only until almost all of the dry streaks are gone.
- Fold in the semi-sweet mini chocolate chips until completely incorporated and no dry streaks remain.
- Prepare the cheesecake batter by beating the cream cheese, large egg, and vanilla bean paste together.
- Beat in the granulated sugar until smooth.
How To Perfectly Swirl Cheesecake Brownies
- Pour a portion of the brownie batter into the prepared baking pan. Then, dollop the top with half of the cheesecake mixture. Dollop the remaining brownie batter next and then top with the remaining cheesecake mixture.
- Swirl the brownies and the cream cheese mixture together by using a knife to run through the brownie batter and cheesecake mixture. You want to run the knife with the wide side to truly displace and pull the batters along.
- Sprinkle semi-sweet chocolate chips over the top of the swirled battered if desired.
- Bake the cream cheese brownies on the middle rack, rotating the pan halfway through the bake time.
- Remove the baked brownies from the oven and then allow them to cool completely before removing them from the pan to enjoy.
How To Store Brownies With Cream Cheese
Store brownies with cream cheese swirl in an airtight container or Ziploc bag with the excess air squeezed out of it. Then, store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
How To Freeze Cheesecake Brownies
These brownies can also be stored in the freezer by flash freezing on a large pan for 1 hour, then wrapping individual slices in plastic wrap and then again in aluminum foil. Then, place the double-wrapped brownies in an airtight container or Ziploc bag with the excess air squeezed out of it. The brownies can then be kept in the freezer to eat within two months.
Keep in mind that brownies with cream cheese don’t freeze as well as plain fudge brownies. This is because as cheesecake brownies thaw, the cream cheese in the brownies tends to sweat, creating extra moisture. This can then cause soggy brownies with an altered taste.
How Do You Cut Fudgy Brownies?
First, you should allow the brownies to cool completely before cutting into them. For sturdier slices during cutting, you can also chill these brownies in the fridge for an hour after cooling at room temperature. Once cooled, I like to use this plastic knife as it yields the cleanest cut!
Can I Use Box Brownie Mix?
This recipe has not been tested with box mixes because different mixes yield different results and textures.
You are welcome to try it yourself; note that you need 2 box mixes to replace the homemade brownie batter in this recipe, and I recommend starting with the Ghirardelli Fudge Brownie Mix.
But the recipe, as written, will yield the best results.
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Brownies with Cream Cheese Swirl
Equipment
- 1 9×13-inch metal cake pan
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring spoons
- 3 rubber spatulas
- 1 Medium saucepan
- 2 small bowls
- 1 Sifter
- 1 Large mixing bowl
Ingredients
Brownie Layer
- 1 cup salted butter 227g
- 2½ cups granulated sugar 500g
- 2 tablespoons canola oil or vegetable oil
- 5 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 116g
- ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder 80g
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
Cheesecake Layer
- 16 ounces cream cheese 452g, softened to room temperature
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- ½ cup granulated sugar 100g
Topping
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips Optional for sprinkling over the top.
Instructions
- Place an 8×8 baking dish (or similar) filled with 1 inch of water on the lower shelf of the oven. This is technically optional; we tested with and without and found that the brownies with the water bath were more even across the top, whereas the ones without rose a bit on the edges.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a metal 9×13-inch cake pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Make sure some of the parchment is over the edge of the pan for easy removal. This may require two sheets, one going in each direction of the pan – make sure the one that goes across the shorter distance is under the one that goes along the full length of the pan. It can be helpful to grease the pan, too, to help the parchment stick.
- Melt 1 cup salted butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat. Add in 2½ cups granulated sugar and stir until smooth and the butter and sugar have started to emulsify and no butter is separated on top of the sugar. Remove from heat, transfer to a large bowl, and let the mixture cool for 5 minutes, stirring often to release heat.
- Add 2 tablespoons canola oil and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract to the butter and sugar and mix them in with a rubber spatula until thoroughly combined and there's no separation between the ingredients (no oil resting on top).
- Mix in 5 large eggs one at a time, beating with the spatula or a fork after each one. Mix until fully incorporated.
- Sift the ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, and ¾ teaspoon salt into the butter and sugar mixture, stirring gently and minimally, until almost all the dry streaks are gone.
- Fold in the ½ cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips until completely incorporated and no dry streaks remain.
- In a medium bowl, beat together 16 ounces cream cheese, 1 large egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste until fully incorporated.
- Add ½ cup granulated sugar and mix until smooth.
- Pour about ⅔ to ¾ of the brownie batter into the prepared and dollop with half of the cheesecake mixture. Dollop on the remaining brownie batter and then top with the remaining cheesecake batter.
- Use a butter knife to run through the brownie and cheesecake mixture with the wide side to truly displace and pull the batters along to swirl.
- If using, sprinkle ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips over the top of the batter before baking.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes on the middle rack, rotating halfway through.
- Remove from the oven and allow the brownies to cool completely (about 2 to 3 hours) before removing the brownies from the pan and slicing them with a large sharp knife into squares. We like using these plastic knives because they yield clean slices! The brownies can be chilled for 1 hour after cooling at room temperature for 2 hours for sturdier slices.
Video
Notes
- You can make a half batch by using just 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, halving the other ingredients, and baking in an 8×8-inch square baking pan.
Nutrition
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