Cream Cheese Brownies

I prefer the taste and texture of boxed brownies, but I like adding things to make them "fancy" so caramel, pecans, chocolate chips, coconut, peanut butter chips, OR cream cheese filling.

If you really want to make your brownie batter from scratch, the one at Smitten Kitchen is supposedly the best on the web and SUPER convenient since most people already have cocoa powder in the kitchen.

You need:

• Prepared brownie batter, from a boxed mix
• 1 bar cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1/2 to 1 tsp vanilla

Prepare an 8 inch square baking pan.

Make a box of brownie mix according to package directions.

Pour half of the brownie mixture into the prepared pan and distribute evenly.

Cream together cream cheese and sugar. You can check to make sure it's sweet enough for your taste, add more sugar if you want. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Pour the cheesecake mixture over the first half of the brownie batter and try to distribute it evenly.

Pour the remainder of brownie batter over the cheesecake mixture and smooth it out, shake the pan just a little if that helps. 

Take a clean knife and run a few swirls through the pan. Not too many or you'll mix everything together, just a few for a good swirl. 

Bake on 350 for 35-45 minutes, or until edges are puffed up and the center is set.

Note: If you're intimidated by the brownie layering you can just put the brownie batter in first, pour the cheesecake mixture on top, then swirl a bit.