These Cream Cheese Brownies are rich, chocolatey fudgy brownies with a cheesecake ripple!
This recipe is made with a simple and fudgy one-bowl brownie batter, then swirled with a foolproof 4-ingredient cheesecake batter!
Nothing beats a classic, fudgy chocolate brownie… except maybe one that’s swirled with cheesecake! These cream cheese brownies are the ultimate sweet treat, made with ripples of cheesecake and whorls of rich chocolate. They’re also incredibly easy to make, with a one-bowl brownie recipe and a simple 4-ingredient cheesecake swirl.
The brownie portion of these cheesecake swirled brownies is adapted from my favorite brownie recipe (which you may also recognize from these Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies!). While I always prefer to make my desserts from scratch (especially if they’re as easy to make as this one), I have also made these using Ghirardelli’s Classic chocolate brownies with great success! If you’ve been asking yourself what desserts can you make with brownie mix, Cream Cheese Brownies are a fantastic option!
These brownies work best in a 7×11 pan, but you could also make a 9×9 pan work, I’ve found that a 9×13 pan makes the brownies much thinner than I like them to be.
How to Make Cream Cheese Brownies:
To make cheesecake swirled brownies, you’ll need a fudgy brownie batter and then, of course, a small batch of cheesecake!
To make the cheesecake swirl, you’ll need to combine cream cheese, sugar, an egg, and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth. For best results, you’ll want to start with room-temperature cream cheese, and I also recommend using an electric mixer to beat your ingredients together so that the cheesecake is completely lump-free. Then you’ll drizzle this over the chocolate brownie batter and swirl with a knife before baking.
Can you add chocolate chips to brownie mix?
Yes, stir them into the batter last, just before spreading into the baking pan. The average batch of brownie batter can handle having about 1 cup of chocolate chips added.
How do you cut brownies cleanly?
Allow the brownies to cool completely before attempting to cut. For a very clean cut, refrigerate the brownies for several hours, use a warm knife (the best way to warm a knife is to run it under hot water and then dry it off just before cutting), and wipe the knife clean between cuts.
I recommend lining your baking pan with parchment paper so that once the cream cheese brownies have cooled completely you can simply lift them out of the pan and place them on a cutting board to cut them that way — much easier and neater than trying to cut directly in the pan!
What do you serve with brownies?
These cream cheese brownies taste great on their own, or they also are wonderful when served warm with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or chocolate syrup! Walnuts, pecans, and sprinkles are some other great options!
*NOTE: I originally suggested that you could use your favorite box mix as a substitute for the from-scratch brownie batter, but after a few people had difficulty with the recipes I no longer recommend using a box mix. I have had success using Ghirardelli’s Classic Chocolate brownie mix, but outside of that I can’t vouch for the success of this recipe using a box mix!
Equipment
Ingredients
Brownies
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar light or dark, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Cheesecake Swirl
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a metal 7×11-inch pan with baking spray.
- Combine butter and chocolate chips in a large, microwave-safe bowl.
- Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well and microwave again for another 15 seconds and then stir well again. Repeat in 15 second intervals until chocolate and butter are completely melted and well-combined.
- Add cocoa powder and stir well.
- Add sugars, stir until completely combined.
- Add eggs and then egg yolk, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
- Add vanilla extract and salt and stir to combine.
- Add flour and stir until completely combined.
- Reserve ¼ cup of the batter and spread the rest of the batter evenly into prepared pan. Prepare your cheesecake topping.
Cheesecake
- Combine cream cheese and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat until creamy.
- Stir in egg and vanilla extract. Stir until well-combined.
- Pour cheesecake over prepared brownie batter. Take your reserved ¼ cup brownie batter (if it has become stiff just stir it with a spoon) and drop/drizzle over cheesecake.
- Use a knife to swirl brownie batter and cheesecake together.
- Bake on 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with a few fudgy crumbs.
- Allow to cool COMPLETELY before cutting and serving.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
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I’m a baker and I prepared these last night – they taste great! My question is this – should they have a fudgy texture? They are not crumbly at all. Not mushy either…just very soft.
They do have a more fudgy texture.
Made these last night and they turned out great. I used an 8×8 glass pan and had to cook them more like 45 minutes because they were so thick. I will definitely make these again.
Did yours have fudge texture also… I am cause of the pan size and extended cook time.
These were amazing and so easy to make! The brownies were not too sweet, but had that rich cocoa flavour. We have organic cacao powder, but opted to go with Hershey’s cocoa and weren’t disappointed. We also used our 9×13 brownie pan and baked for 20 minutes and they turned out perfect. Our new go-to brownie recipe – thank you!!
Now after reading some of the comments, I will say that yes, the brownie mix set aside to swirl into the cheesecake mix was soooo thick by the time we were ready to use it that yes, the commenter who said they softened it in the microwave before swirling is something we will do next time because we did have a hard time with the swirl.
The brownie mix is super thick, but spread nicely in the pan and came up super fudgy and not at all cake-like. I was also expecting the cheesecake batter to be much thicker, but admit we did use the leftover egg white on top of the 1 egg, and so our cheesecake batter was a bit runny but it turned out great. Baked at 350 for 20mins was perfect for our 9×13 pan!
Is 9×9 pan will do in this recipe as well?
We have only tried this as written but that being said, I do think it would work ok in an 9×9 pan. You’ll want to bake until the top is set, I would check it around 16-18 minutes.
Excellent recipe! The brownies turned out great! Must try!
I only have an 8×8 tin, but thought I could bake it in two batches. How much time would you recommend baking it for using an 8×8 tin? Or maybe a standard cupcake tin?
We have only tried this as written but that being said, I do think it would work ok in an 8×8 pan. You’ll want to bake until the top is set, I would check it around 20 minutes.
These are hands down the best cream cheese brownies EVER!! and I’m not a brownie fan. I questioned the brown sugar but that is absolutely what made them. Thanks so much for sharing. Fantastic!
So glad you enjoyed these, Wendy!
These are very good and not very difficult to make.
I reduced the sugar for my brownie batter. It tasted just as heavenly and rich. however, my cheesecake batter has a “tofu” texture. I am not sure if it was due to the fact that i accidentally exceeded the baking time (totally forgot timer!!!). Nevertheless a very delicious dessert.
I used a box mix and added mini ghiradli chocolate morsels….we tooped with cherry pie filling. It turned out amazing! I think with the box mix, the key is to pick out a fudgy brownie mix!
amazing
I am about to make this, I only have an 8×8 pan, would that be ok to use?
Hi Dylan, if it is a deeper 8×8 pan, it should work. If not, it does have a slightly smaller volume so I would worry the brownies would overflow while baking. It would probably work better in a 9×9 pan if you have one?
Delicious! Made them for my husband’s birthday!
Made this the other day. Recipe was so easy to follow and it turned out fantastic. Note, I needed a little more cooktime than the recipe stated. Brownie layer is nice and fudgy as it should be. Paired with vanilla ice cream, this one is a winner!
So Sad! These brownies looked so beautiful when I pulled the pan out of the oven, but they were completely runny in the middle. Followed the recipe exactly! I baked for a total of one hour after putting them back in oven. They were basically still raw after cooling completely. Such a waste of ingredients.
Sorry these brownies didn’t work out for you, Stephanie, they are usually a hit with our readers!
I just made this today with a Ghirardelli brownie mix. I followed the box directions to make the batter and then followed these directions. I had to bake mine for 45 minutes so the toothpick came out mostly clean. We didn’t let them cool all the way but they still turned out great. The 1/2 cup of batter was pretty thick so I stuck it in the microwave for 15 seconds and it drizzled on top perfectly for me.
Thank you for the idea!
Hi, I was wondering if I doubled this recipe could I use a 9×13 pan?
I need to make brownies for a benefit dinner.
I’ve never tried so can’t say for sure. You may want to bake it in two pans. Enjoy Jody!
Just made these for the first time. Keeping my fingers crossed that they’ll bake ok.
The brownie batter was super thick.
We’ll see:)
Hi,
Can I use dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet?
I haven’t tried it with dark chocolate, let us know how it goes!
Followed the recipe to a tee and ended up with super thick brownie mix. So thick that I couldn’t spread the 1/4 cup on top. Put it in the oven for 25 minutes at 350 and it was still quite raw in the center. Decided to decrease the oven temp to 325 and put it back in for 5 minutes. Seemed to do the trick. The brownies themselves tasted pretty good, but the brownie mix was too thick. I’m wondering if the recipe should call for a larger ratio of wet to dry ingredients.
Glad you enjoyed the brownies Taylor. But I am sorry they didn’t turn out as expected, I am not sure what went wrong.
The same thing happened to my batter too. I’m not a beginner Baker, but this batter just seemed off. 25 minutes was not even close to enough time and they are pretty gooey after an hour, like raw gooey. The sugar also didn’t mix well so the consistency turned pretty gritty. But, the cheesecake was great, so maybe I’ll just have to experiment with the actual brownie batter
Oh my! I just made this and it is really me of the best desserts I think I’ve ever eaten. It definitely THE best I’ve ever cooked myself. Turned out amazing and it was a huge hit. I never leave comments on recipe sites and this is my first so that says a lot. Thanks so much for this divine treat.
I am so glad you enjoyed these brownies Pamela!
I made these for a co-worker’s birthday. They were a big hit! From now on, this will be my go-to recipe for brownies with a little pizzazz!
That’s awesome Rebecca! So happy to hear they were a hit!