Mexican Chocolate Brownies

My first official sale! I made brownies last night for a lady who is having a Mexican themed cocktail party. Now, brownies are good just about any time, just the way they are, but I thought it would be fun to follow the theme and made a Mexican-inspired variation by adding a cinnamon flavored cream cheese swirl.

I followed my favorite brownie recipe from the wonderful publication "Every Day Food" (yeah, a Martha Stewart owned magazine). Loaded with butter and semi-sweet chocolate, this recipe (when put in for half the recommended baking time) yields the most fudgy, gooey, and delicious brownies ever had. If you're one of those "edge" brownie lovers, this might not be the brownie for you (although my favorite piece is from the side of the pan where you get a little bit of the crunchy crust but also a sizable portion of the moist and super chocolatey insides).

So I made one pan of each. As always, the classic brownie is still a win, but there was something delightful about the cinnamon version that was a nice homage to Mexican Hot Chocolate. I would definitely make them again.

Brownie

• 1 cup butter
• 8 oz semi- or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs

Cream Cheese Swirl

• 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 tbs butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbs flour
  
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚

Line 9x9 pan with parchment paper and butter sides and bottom.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, melt butter and chocolate over a pot of boiling water. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Incrementally add flour mix to chocolate. Do not over-mix.

In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together, then add other ingredients until smooth.

Pour half the brownie mixture into pan. Pour cream cheese over brownie mix. Top with remaining brownie mix. With spatula, swirl brownie and cream cheese mix. Be careful not to over mix. You can make some very lovely patterns in the batter by gently criss-crossing the batter in opposite directions with the spatula.

Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes. The original recipe calls for 55-60 minutes, but that produces a very cake-like brownie (at least in my oven). I like mine baked to the point a toothpick inserted in the middle has lots of crumbs sticking to it, but not undercooked where it is still a liquidy batter sticking to the toothpick.

Enjoy!