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Cheesecake Brownies are the perfect homemade dessert – both the brownie portion and the cheesecake portion are made from scratch! These are rich and fudgy chocolate brownies and creamy cheesecake all in one!
The moment that the thought of cheesecake with brownies enters your mind, it’s all over from there. Brownie cheesecake is a melt-in-your-mouth texture with the perfect brownie crust.
We’ve made so many cream cheese brownies from this recipe that I literally can’t even keep count. If you’re ready to fall in love with a flavorful treat, this is the one for you.
Ingredients in Cheesecake Brownies
- Unsweetened baking chocolate – Chop it up coarsely for the recipe.
- Unsalted butter – You can substitute salted, but reduce salt in the recipe to 1/4 teaspoon.
- Granulated sugar – The main sweetener!
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – Use natural unsweetened cocoa or Dutch process.
- Eggs – Be sure to buy large eggs. Eggs give the brownies structure and keep them nice and gooey.
- Cream cheese – Make sure it’s at room temperature. Only use full fat!
- Sour cream – Make sure it’s at room temperature. Full fat or low fat, but not fat free.
How to make Cheesecake Brownies
1. Make the cheesecake mixture: Beat the sour cream and cream cheese until it is smooth. Then add in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla and beat together.
2. Make the brownies: Add the butter and chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl and heat until the two ingredients are melted. Stir the cocoa and the sugar into the melted mixture. Then stir in the vanilla and eggs, followed by the salt. Slowly stir in the flour.
3. Add the batter: Once the brownie batter is made, add it to the pan.
4. Add cheesecake topping: Pour the cheesecake mixture over the top of the brownies.
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5. Use a butter knife to swirl the cheesecake and brownie mixture – you just want gentle swirls, don’t mix the entire thing. Bake until cheesecake is cooked through, then cool to room temperature and chill for at least 4 hours before cutting.
Expert Tips
- To make the perfect cheesecake brownie bars, it’s extremely important that you have the sour cream, cream cheese, and eggs at room temperature. This helps there not be any lumps in the creamy mixture.
- I always bake my recipes with foil lining the pan, but you can also line the pan with parchment paper.
- How to store brownies: Just add them to an airtight container and keep them cool in the fridge. They should stay fresh for up to 3 days.
- Can you freeze cheesecake brownies? If you want to freeze this brownie cheesecake recipe, just add the leftovers to a freezer-safe bag or container and store them for up to 3 months.
Storing & Freezing
Due to the dairy ingredients in the brownies, they do need to be kept in the fridge in an airtight container. You can also freeze them for several months.
FAQ
The swirled look in brownies has to be done before baking them. Just use a butter knife and place it into the two layers of mixtures. Slightly swirl it around.
If you don’t set out certain ingredients (mentioned in the recipe card) at room temperature, it will cause the texture of the cheesecake to be lumpy.
To make sure that the brownies are done baking, look at the top of the brownies. The top should no longer be shiny looking, and the edges should be pulled away from the sides of the pan.
Cheesecake Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
Brownie Layer:
- 4 ounces (113g) unsweetened baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
- ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter
- 1 ¾ cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (10g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (124g) all-purpose flour
Cheesecake Layer:
- 16 ounces (452g) cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup (123g) sour cream, room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×9-inch square pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Make the brownies
- Place chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high power in 30 second increments, stirring between each, until chocolate and butter are melted and smooth (about 2 minutes, depending on your microwave).
- Stir sugar and cocoa into chocolate and butter mixture using a spatula or wooden spoon. Stir in 3 eggs and vanilla, then stir in salt. Mixture will be grainy looking but smooth. Stir in flour carefully.
- Spread brownies in prepared pan and set aside.
Make the cheesecake
- Beat cream cheese with sour cream until smooth, then beat in 2 eggs, sugar and vanilla.
- Pour mixture over the top of the brownies in pan. Use a butter knife or a long skewer to swirl the brownies.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until slightly puffed and no longer glossy (will be light golden around the edges of the foil). Cool completely at room temperature then chill for at least 4 hours before slicing and serving.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator or freeze for up to 3 months.
I let mine cook for 52 minutes which might have been a little too long for my oven because the top was completely a golden brown (whoops 😅). Hopefully it still turns out tasty!
Instructions for amount of eggs in the brownie & cream cheese layers don’t match in the ingredients when mixing each layer (3 for brownie/2 for cream cheese but listed opposite in description)
What is the correct amounts? Excited to make these!
Fixed sorry about that thanks for catching it!
Very unclear on how many of the 5 eggs go with which part!! And vanilla. So stressful trying to guess when you aren’t baking inclined.
It tells you in the ingredients and directions.
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