Double Peanut Butter Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

BakingBlonde is my hero. Seriously. Go to her website and look at all of her amazing things.

I normally avoid dishes that involve peanut butter since my son cannot have it; I just feel plain mean having things that I can't share with him.

But these are SO worth waiting for naptime.

I've been trying to cut back on what I bake because I ALWAYS gain weight over the summer when I'm home. I guess at work I'm always running around and rarely have TIME to snack, so it's easier to be good. Plus, at home, I eat crap because it's THERE. So I'm trying to just not have the stuff THERE.

But these babies make me not care.

I cannot say enough about these little brownies. I had been toying with making them for awhile, and tried to not tempt myself... but when my pregnant friend Denise was planning to come over, I figured I should be a good hostess and make them for her. I mean, it was totally selfless. I did it just for her. Really.

Uh huh.

Ingredients:
Brownie batter:
(The brownie batter was very un-batter-like; it was much closer to the texture and consistency of a chocolate mousse. I was worried about this, but they were perfect!)

• 1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
• 1 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
• 3/4 cup butter, very soft (not melted but softer than room temp)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 TBS vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
  

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Swirl

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened1/2 cups creamy PB
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 5-6 Reese's peanut butter cups (regular size) cut into 6-8 pieces each

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x8" square pan with foil and lightly coat with PAM cooking spray.

In a microwave safe bowl melt the two baking chocolate squares in 30 second intervals stirring after each interval until smooth and melted after stirring. Do not scortch! Remove from microwave and allow to come to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until combined. Beat in eggs one at a time until blended. Add vanilla and melted chocolate. Mix to combine. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl and wisk together. Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture. Do not overmix.

In separate mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, peanut butter sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg and beat until just combined. Spread about 2/3 of chocolate brownie batter into prepared pan. Evenly drop 1/2 of cheesecake batter in dollups over brownie batter. Run a knife through both mixtures to slightly swirl.

Dollop remaining brownie batter and cheesecake batter over swirled mixture. Run knife through the browine and cheesecake dollups (not all the way through the already swirled layer) to create a swirled pattern.

Bake for 40-45 minutes**, or until center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center has a few crumbs stuck to it. Do not overbake or they will harden, if underbaked they will be too gooey. Every oven is different so watch and check these after about 35-40 minutes of baking to ensure propper doneness.

**After about 35-40 minutes of baking (with about 5-7 minutes of baking time left, you just need to eyeball it) gently place cut up Reese's cups over top of almost fully baked brownies. Finish baking until a toothpick inserted in the center has a few crumbs stuck to it. The Reese's PB cups will melt but hold their shape slightly. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting and serving.