Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

I've made these brownies on several occasions, and they're always a huge hit. Whether it be coworkers, teammates, or just family and friends, a batch is always quickly devoured. When I got the idea that I might want to make my swim team a batch of SOMETHING, my mind quickly wandered to these. Because what could be better than rich, chocolaty goodness combined with the sweet, creamy deliciousness of cheesecake?

Hmm... I can't think of anything. Except for maybe these Blueberry Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls that are currently in my oven. But brownies. CHEESECAKE brownies. Another journey to embark on soon; after I finish these rolls.

Come on, beat me to making them. I dare you.

CHEESECAKE BROWNIES

For the Brownies:

8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)

1 cup bittersweet (or semi-sweet) chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs and one egg white

2/3 cup flour

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips (OPTIONAL)

For the Cheesecake:

8 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)

2 egg yolk

7-10 teaspoon sugar (depends on how sweet you like it)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease an 8" square pan. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cut the butter into pieces and along with the chocolate place in a microwave safe bowl. Melt at 30 second intervals until completely melted. Don't forget to take the bowl out and stir the mixture between every 30 seconds. Chocolate retains its shape as its being heated and you don't want to accidentally burn it. I put the bowl in a little less than three times. Beat in the sugar and eggs until combined, and then mix in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the vanilla (and chocolate chips). Spread evenly into the pan.

To make the cheesecake portion beat the cream cheese smooth in a bowl. Add in the egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla and mix until smooth. Spread the cream cheese mix over the top of the brownie batter. Using a knife fold the cream cheese into the brownie to create a slight marble affect. Carefully smooth out the top of the batter with a spatula.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. LET COOL. Once cool cut into bars, remove from pan, and let completely cool off. Share with friends and family. Or be greedy and keep the entire batch to yourself. Either one works.

More-Blueberry-Than-Muffin Blueberry Muffins

Eric is OBSESSED with blueberries. And when I say obsessed, I mean like totally and absolutely crazy about them.

So naturally, I would make him blueberry muffins. It IS summer and they ARE in season! And seeing as there's an overload of them in the market, why not overload them in the muffin as well? Eric's verdict? More blueberries, less muffin! If he had his way, I'd put just blueberries in a muffin pan and bake them for him. Kind of defeats the purpose, but whatever floats his boat.

Which is another thing he's obsessed with. Boats. I don't blame him. Given the choice I would rather spend the next few months on a boat, soaking up the sun, sipping lemonade, eating blueberry muffins... instead of returning to a dark and gloomy school. And yes, it really is dark and gloomy! My oh-so-wonderful high school has decided that in order to "go green" they must turn off all the lights in the hallways. While this might actually conserve energy, it does promote a rather drab atmosphere.

I might just have to get myself a boat, kidnap Eric, bake some muffins, and disappear until spring...

...And seeing as that probably won't go too well with the adult figures in my life I'm stuck here.

At least there's blueberry muffins to cheer us all up. And these, my friends, are DEFINITELY something to brighten up your day. (Figuratively speaking, of course. If they actually brightened... well, then my school might seem a tad more inviting.)

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup (1 1/3 stick) butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 pint blueberries (if you're not that big of a fan of loads and load of blueberries, then just reduce the amount that you add to the batter. A cup shall suffice.)

A bit cinnamon, a bit more sugar...

Heat oven to 375°F. Line about 16 muffin cups with cupcake liners.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Cut the butter into pieces and mix together with the lemon zest until smooth. Add the sugars and then blend in the egg and vanilla.

Combine the flour mixture, sugar mixture, and buttermilk whilst blending on a slow speed.

Fold in the blueberries. Be careful though! If you're too rough the juices will escape and dye your batter purple. Unless you don't mind such things.

Fill each cup approximately 3/4 full. Sprinkle a cinnamon sugar combination (half and half is good) over the top of the muffins.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until muffin tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. With these muffins you might not think they are done because of the excess of blueberries, but don't let yourself be fooled otherwise they will burn.

Once fully baked remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before attempting to move them to a cooling rack to fully cool. Be careful, they're hot!

Oh, one last thing. If I were you, I wouldn't want to share these.

Back to Business

So I have become aware that in the past few months I have been M.I.A.

There are several reasons to attribute to this:

1) I got my first summer job. Working as a Circus Camp Counselor. That basically took over my entire summer, but I DID get to meet some pretty cool people who worked with me there.

2) Off-season swimming. Why I continue to get up at 5:30 every morning to be in the pool at 6, during SUMMER no less, I cannot explain. Swimming is a sport where looking in, you can't understand it, but looking out, you can't explain it. All I have to say on this matter is I am committed, and I love it.

3) My various trips, which include a family vacation in the middle of nowhere northern Wisconsin, a week at Horseback Riding Camp, and another week in Perry County, Kentucky.What is there to do in Kentucky? you might ask. ASP! The best week of my summer.

4) ASP. I believe this deserves its own post. Otherwise known as the Appalachia Service Project, this is a mission trip that my church youth group and I embark on every year to fix houses for those less fortunate than us. Not only is it tons of fun, but you're doing a good deed at the same time! Whilst there we bonded with our families, dug ditches, painted walls, laid down tiles, and worked on various other house repairs. In our free time we proceeded to play "Kool-Aid Pong", pierce our ears, and various other shenanigans. Needless to say, I think this year was another success.

5) Once I was back home, I decided to try and make the best of the one week of summer that I had left and spent my days lying on the beach, shopping, going to Six Flags, and scheming adventures (that aren't going to be mentioned here) with my best friend.

6) And now, in the last few days that I have left of my summer, I have started redoing my room. This includes ripping out all the drywall, and the ceiling, and doing electric work, and yaddah yaddah blah blah blah. Tons of boxes. Tons of dirt and dust. Tons and TONS of allergic annoyances. But in the end, it will be worth it.

Now with the first day of school looming right around the corner (Next Tuesday already!) I am in super freak-out mode.

--That book for English I had to read? No problem, did that ages ago.

--Those 200-something math problems I have to do? Almost done... almost done...

--The 5 painting I need to finish for Advanced Art? What five paintings? Oh, shoot.

Now I'm not saying that I didn't bake at all this summer, because that would be unthinkable. I definitely baked. Even with my mom's loud protests in the background, yelling something about not using the oven when the A/C is on, I stood in the kitchen sweating and baking.