Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

Even when I was in high school I liked to bake. I was reminded of this by one of my best friends who put a comment on my facebook wall about how I told her I would bring her some cheesecake brownies. But instead of the large pieces I  promised, I brought her small pieces thanks to my little sister eating most of the batch. Of course I cracked up because all I remember is my friend's obvious disappointment at the small pieces. Not gonna lie those cheesecake brownies were the bomb and I don't blame my sister. Since then I have graduated from box brownies to making them from scratch. Not that anything is wrong with box brownies...they are still pretty tasty. Any-who I decided that my cheesecake brownies needed a little oomph! And I was like heck yeah Nutella you are totally nominated, but guess what? My grocery store didn't have any. Do you see what I am working with here people? Ugh! So I settled on peanut butter. And I pouted all the way to the checkout lane.
I got home and researched some recipes and found one I liked, modified it a little bit, scowled at the peanut butter and voila! Peanut butter cheesecake brownies. Enjoy!

I couldn't wait to cut into them...notice the jagged edges?

Admire the peanutbuttery deliciousness

Ok maybe I shouldn't have scowled at the peanut butter!



Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

Brownies:

Nonstick cooking spray
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, finely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Peanutbutter Cheesecake:
8-ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg

Brownie!
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil or parchment paper so you can pull out your brownies later. Make sure whatever you use comes up high enough on the sides. Spray with non-stick spray. Heat chocolate and butter in microwave safe bowl gradually until melted. Stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes. Stir/beat in sugar, eggs, and vanilla into cooled chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir/beat in flour and salt. Spread the batter in pan
Cheesecake!
In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, peanut butter, egg, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Be sure to not overbeat.
Construct!
Drop large spoonfuls of the peanut butter cheesecake batter across the layer of brownie batter. Take a knife or skewer to swirl the layer of peanut butter cheesecake batter with the brownie mixture. Bring up some of the brownie batter to ensure the brownie mixture and cheesecake swirl nicely.
Bake!
Bake for 32-35 minutes, or until the batter in the center of the pan is set, or a toothpick has just a few brownie crumbs sticking to it. Let cool, then lift the brownies up and out using the foil or parchment paper and peel it away. Cut the brownies. Stuff you face! :)
Source: Epicurious