Tis the season for pumpkin everything! Why should brownies be any different? Basically all I did was take my Good-Chocolate Brownies recipe and put a pumpkin cheesecake layer in the middle. Yeah huh.
Domestocrat’s Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies
For the brownies:
8 oz. (about 1.25 cups) chocolate, chips or chopped
1 stick (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter
4 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
4 tbsp. greek yogurt
3/4 tsp. espresso powder
1 cup King Arthur unbleached cake flour (AP works too just don’t overmix!)
For the pumpkin cheesecake layer:
8 oz. light cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Start by melting the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler.
When it is fully melted, remove from the heat and stir in the espresso powder and cocoa powder. Make sure there are no lumps.
While the chocolate cools down a bit, gather the rest of the ingredients. Mix the sugar, vanilla, salt, eggs, and greek yogurt together.
Carefully add the chocolate mixture and make sure they are fully incorporated. Slowly incorporate the cake flour into the chocolate mixture. Don’t overmix here! Stop right when the flour has all mixed into the chocolate.
In a separate bowl, mix together the cream cheese, pumpkin, brown sugar, and spices with a hand mixer. Beat together until the mixture is smooth.
Line a square baking pan with foil, grease the foil, and spread half of the chocolate batter on the bottom. Top with all of the pumpkin cheesecake mixture, spread out evenly.
Top the pumpkin cheesecake layer with the remainder of the chocolate batter and spread out evenly. Use a butter knife to make a pattern in the brownies so you can see the pumpkin layer coming through.
Bake on 350 degrees for 40 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out somewhat clean but the center should be a bit underdone/fudgey.
These brownies are fantastic on their own but the sweet, creamy layer of pumpkin cheesecake in the middle is just divine. It’s packed with flavor and a perfect compliment to the chocolate.
Domestocrat 
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