Disclaimer: this post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar. I received sample products to use in recipe development  however all opinions are honest and my own.

Chocolate. Cream Cheese.  Brownies. You’ve all had these before, I don’t even need to explain them to you. They are so popular and so well known, I naturally assumed we had already made them on the blog. Surprise surprise…we hadn’t! While we have a red velvet cream cheese brownie for Valentine’s Day we seemed to be missing the traditional chocolate version. I am here to fix that!

It had been awhile since I’ve eaten these brownies, but they tasted even better than I remembered. I think a big part of that is because we use a homemade brownie here, none of those boxed mixes. I know, I know, they’re easy. I used to be a devout user as well. In college, my roommate and I basically lived off of boxed brownie mix and pasta salads (strange combo looking back). This is no place for boxed though, trust me! The brownies come out so much more fudgy and moist (sorry) than any boxed brownie ever could. Kelly converted me with her Nutella brownies and now there is no turning back.

In my research I also learned from America’s Test Kitchen (aka the kitchen gods) that you don’t want to dump the cream cheese on top and swirl, as the cream cheese gets too heavy and settles down in the middle of the brownie. We want a layer of brownie, a layer of cream cheese, followed by another layer of brownie and that is what we are going to swirl. Look at those layers!

This year marks the 175th anniversary of Imperial Sugar which is a HUGE milestone! They believe that when you are baking for the ones you love, you’re sharing that love with them. In that case, I am sharing my love to all of you with these cream cheese brownies. I may not have gotten to eat many (I won’t name names, but someone else in the house ate the rest of them…) but I promise they are something worthy of a 175th year celebration.

There is one more #choctoberfest recipe coming your way! Another big shout out to Imperial Sugar for sponsoring this event and don’t forget you could win a year’s worth of sugar as  part of the #choctoberfest giveaway.

Happy baking!

~Stephanie

Fudgy Chocolate Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup granulated Imperial Sugar
• 2 cups dark chocolate chips
• 3 eggs (2 for brownie layer, 1 for cream cheese layer)
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup powdered Imperial Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper.
2. In small sauce pan, melt butter, granulated sugar and chocolate chips over medium low heat. Stir frequently.
3. Once melted, transfer from sauce pan into mixer and beat in 2 eggs and vanilla.
4. In separate small bowl, stir together flour and baking powder.
5. Slowly add flour and baking powder mixture into chocolate and beat until combined. Set aside.
6. In another mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with hand mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar and remaining egg and beat thoroughly.
7. Set aside about 1/2 cup of the chocolate mixture in a microwave safe bowl. Pour remaining batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.
8. Gently spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the top of the chocolate.
9. Heat the 1/2 cup of chocolate mixture about 20-30 seconds in microwave until smooth and pourable. Dollop chocolate over the cream cheese. Use a knife to swirl the chocolate batter through the cream cheese.
10. Bake 30-35 minutes, until edges are set and a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.