Caramel Cheesecake Brownies
Cheesecake Filling
4 oz cream cheese
½ cup (4 oz) mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour or 1 tbsp Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour or 1 tbsp of your favorite GF flour
Brownie
2/3 cup flour or 2/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour or 2/3 cup of your favorite GF flour + ½ tsp xanthan gum (omit if your flour already contains)
1 tsp instant expresso powder (I use Café Bustelo, but use your personal favorite)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup caramel bits (See notes)
½ cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1¼ cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp GF vanilla
Cheesecake Filling
Place cream cheese in microwave safe bowl & heat for 30 – 45 seconds until it is easy to spread.
Add mascarpone, sugar & flour.
Whisk together until thoroughly combined & smooth. Set aside.
Brownie
Lightly spray an 8x8 inch baking pan with GF baking spray.
Whisk together flour, espresso powder, baking powder & salt. Set aside.
Melt butter, chocolate chips & caramel bits. You can do this in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Or you can do it in the microwave, using 30 second intervals & stirring in between.
In large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs & vanilla. Add the melted mixture & whisk until smooth.
Add flour mixture & gently fold until just combined.
Reserve ½ cup of batter. Pour remaining batter into prepared pan.
Top with cream cheese mixture & gently spread over batter as best as you can.
Spoon/pour the reserved ½ cup batter over cream cheese layer.
Swirl batter into cream cheese layer with table knife.
Bake at 325° for 40-45 minutes. Toothpick inserted in center should come out clean.
Place pan on wire rack. Cool for about an hour before cutting.
Serving Suggestions
Drizzle with chocolate &/or caramel ice cream topping
Dollop of whipped cream
Vanilla ice cream
Notes:
This recipe is adapted from aheadofthyme.com/caramel-cheesecake-brownies. Thanks Sam & Dan!
These brownies are delicious, but very rich, so cut them small. The original recipe suggests cutting into 9 squares, but I cut them small enough to get 16 brownies.
Caramel bits don’t melt as easily as chocolate chips, so make sure they are really melted – whether you do it on top of the stove or in the microwave.