Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

My 20th birthday I celebrated in Virginia with my family.  I was home from college and Fig came to visit with our friend Naomi.  We had a Barbecue chicken dinner at the picnic table with the family and some neighbors (who brought a red velvet cake for me not knowing my mom had made me an Oreo cheesecake)!  That was the first time I'd ever had red velvet cake and it was great!  When I found this recipe I knew it was the best of both worlds!  I made it for our March Dine and Sign.

I also liked the way the blogger from "eat at allie's" described herself, 

"I am a wifey to one and mommy to three. I do not stamp, scrapbook, or make cards. I am not creative. Cooking and baking, those are my outlets. That is what I'm good at. I am often asked by others for my recipes so I thought that I would start this blog to share some of my favorite foods with family, friends and the rest of the world. Enjoy!"

I could have written this (with the exception of the third child)!   This is how I've been gifted and what I love to do!

Ingredients:

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
1 cup unsalted butter
4-oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
 

2 - 8oz blocks cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
Melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until combined and very smooth.
Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and food coloring.

Add chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.

Add flour and salt and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.

Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.

To prepare cheesecake mixture, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. 

Drop in dollops onto prepared brownie batter. 

Gently swirl two batters with a butter knife.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set.

A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned. 

Cool in the pan completely before slicing and serving, either at room temperature or chilled.
Enjoy!

Note: Mine were really sticky I may try using parchment paper next time instead of the foil.