Fat Witch Cream Cheese Brownies

For Christmas, I asked for the Fat Witch Brownies cookbook. With a subtitle that reads: Brownies, Blondies, and Bars from New York's Legendary Fat Witch Bakery...how could I resist? As it turns out, the owner and author, Patricia Helding, is my homegirl in so many ways. Aside from the fact that she is a successful big city bakery owner, Ms. Helding is also a banker turned baker! She worked on Wall Street as a trader before taking the plunge and pursuing her passion: brownies. (Sidenote: Yes, brownies can be some one's passion.) Let's be honest here. I think most of us prefer indulging in chocolately goodness to the "BUY!...NOOOO!!!...SELL!" craziness that is the New York Stock Exchange. But maybe not. And that's what makes the world go round. But the point is that she had the cojones to go through with it. And now look at her. Opening bakeries, writing cookbooks, and even getting blogged about right here. 

Fat Witch Cream Cheese Brownies 

Here's What You Need:
8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups (12 oz.) bittersweet chocolate chips
16 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 tsp. salt
 

The lovely cast.



Here's What to Do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9-inch x 9-inch baking pan with butter or spray. Dust with flour and tap out the excess.



Melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. If all goes according to plan, your ingredients will go from looking like:



 this...

  ...to looking like:


...that!



Set the chocolate aside to cool.

Next, beat the softened cream cheese and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Beat in 1 egg and set the mixture aside.



Cream cheese + sugar + egg = perfection.



Place the remaining 1 1/4 cups of sugar in a large bowl and beat in the remaining 3 eggs, one at a time until smooth.


A one!

   

And a two!


 

And a three!



After adding in the eggs, beat the vanilla and the cooled chocolate mixture until well blended.



Mmmm...vanilla.

 


Mmmm...chocolate.



Measure the flour and salt...

...and sift together directly into the chocolate batter.

Mix the batter gently until no trace of the dry ingredients remains.

Spread 3/4 of the chocolate batter evenly into the prepared baking pan. Pour the cream cheese mixture evenly over the top of the chocolate layer in the pan. Then, gently pour the remaining chocolate batter over the top of the cream cheese layer, spreading evenly with a spatula.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for a 1 1/2 hours. Cut into squares just before serving. And in the wise words of one Lloyd Christmas: "Mmmm...that sounds good. I'll have that."

 

A big THANK YOU to Patricia Helding for the inspiration...oh, and for the delicious brownies!