Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

Wait a second, where did my easy week go?! I went from nothing (well, almost nothing) on the agenda to supplying all of the food for Stephen's class Halloween party and a very specific cutesy treat for Joe's party, chili for the trunk-or-treat tonight, check-up for Bracken, carpet cleaning, and a few other odds and ends. This was supposed to be the week of relaxing and doing nothing! Besides baking a cheesecake. Which I am very excited about. Trick-or-treating tomorrow, Happy Almost-Halloween! 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies (inspired by Completely Delicious)
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
1 cup dark chocolate chips (or 6 oz dark or bittersweet, chopped)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips for topping

Pumpkin Filling:
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 Tb unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tb all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

pinch of salt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or greased foil. If using nuts, spread them on a baking sheet and place in the oven to toast while the oven preheats. Remove when they smell toasty! (Don't worry, you'll know it when you smell it. Only takes a few minutes.)

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together over medium low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and salt. Whisk the eggs and vanilla in one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Add and mix until just combined. Stir in the nuts and save some chocolate chips to sprinkle on the top.

Cream the cream cheese, butter, and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the flour, spices, and salt and mix until combined. Add the pumpkin puree and mix until smooth.

Spread half of the chocolate batter in the prepared baking pan. Gently spread the pumpkin filling on top of the brownie batter, and dollop the remaining chocolate batter over the top of the pumpkin filling. Use a knife, chopstick, or skewer and gently swirl the chocolate dollops through the pumpkin filling. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top.

Bake until edges are set but the middle is still a bit jiggly, about 25-30 minutes. Remove and let cool completely in the pan. Lift the brownies out with the parchment or foil and slice. (If you want an even cleaner cut, refrigerate for a bit before slicing.)

In my humble opinion, sometimes pumpkin and chocolate work together, and sometimes they don't. In these brownies, they absolutely do! I think it's the cheesecake-y-ness that bring them together perfectly.

These brownies are rich, fudgy and chocolatey, with a generous, creamy ribbon of spiced pumpkin goodness. They're a scrumptious fall treat, and I have no brain left for description. They're yummy!! Make some!! :)