It's October and I am loving everything pumpkin. Of course it doesn't have to be fall or October for me to love anything pumpkin related. I've been known to make pumpkin scones in June. It's a year round love fest, me and pumpkin.
Something else I love is brownies. Hmmm, who doesn' t love a chewy chocolate brownie? I'm not sure many people dislike them. And if you do, it's simply because you couldn't have had my brownies! Ha! I kid, I kid.
When you have one good thing - brownies, and you mix it with another good thing - pumpkin, and then mix those with something that is as decadent as it gets - cheesecake, you create a dessert that is downright sinful.
I was scanning through one of my cookbooks that is all desserts, and I ran across a recipe for pumpkin swirl brownies. The only bad thing about it is it called for a boxed brownie mix. Food allergies!! Ahhh!! <--- just imagine me screaming this! I knew then that I had to set about making them myself. Breaking out a tried and true brownie recipe, and then adapting the pumpkin cheesecake filling, I created a yummy pumpkin cheesecake brownie that tastes so good that it's almost too good to be true. Or not, if your not a brownie lover.
Scroll down for a printable version.
What do you need?
::Brownies::
½ + ⅓ cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon ground flax seed + 3 tablespoons water {mix this together first, set aside}
⅔ cup flour
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 /8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
::filling::
1 3oz package cream cheese, softened
½ cup canned pumpkin puree, not the pie mix
1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons water {mix this together first, set aside}
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
What do you do?
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch brownie pan.
2. Hopefully you have mixed together your flax "egg" and set it aside.
3. Mix together your cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and flour. Set aside.
4. Cream your sugar, butter, vanilla, and water. Add your flax "egg" and mix until just combined.
5. Adding small amounts at a time of your dry mixture to your wet ingredients, mix until just combined.
6. Pour half of this mixture into the greased pan.
7. In a small bowl, beat all of the filling ingredients until combined.
8. Spread the mixture evenly onto half of your brownie mix.
9. Spoon the rest of the brownie batter on top of your cheese cake mixture, use a knife and swirl and cut through the mix the best you can. It will be sticky because of your flax seeds, this is normal.
10. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out nearly clean. A little on the toothpick is the way it should be. Allow to cool completely before cutting and/or removing from the pan. Approx an hour and a half.
Slice into bars and enjoy!
