Christmas Cookies for Santa: Another Try

If Mrs. Claus helped load the sleigh, perhaps her peppermint perfume permeated into the sack of toys, already filling Santa’s nose with her sweet scent. So maybe he didn’t need my peppermint reminder to think of his wife on his trip. Despite this insight, I thought Santa still wanted a moist brownie with his glass of milk.  

 

But a plain brownie fell short of Saint Nick’s cravings. No, he preferred something slightly special, something out of the ordinary. But what? As I reached into the cupboard to pull out m mixing bowls, I spotted my springform pans.

 

Springform… Cheesecake… Cheesecake brownies?

 

With that thought as the starting pistol, I was off to the races. I mixed, swirled, and baked my way to a simple yet decadent dessert Santa would be sure to love.

 

 

Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

from CL’s recipe

Be sure to coat the bottom of the pan really well with cooking spray. A thin layer from the bottoms of the brownies stuck to my pan, but it made a nice little treat for me to enjoy!

brownies

1½ c. flour

1¾ c. granulated sugar

½ c. unsweetened cocoa

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ c. butter

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped

¾ c. milk (2% or fat free)

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

 

cream cheese swirl

½ c. cream cheese (any works—regular, reduced fat, or fat free)

1 egg white

¼ c. granulated sugar

¼ tsp vanilla extract

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Generously coat a 9×13” baking pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. To make the brownies, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add the butter and chocolate to a small bowl, and microwave for 30 sec. Stir, then microwave another 15 sec, or until melted.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla, and eggs. Add both the milk and chocolate mixtures to the flour mixture, stirring until everything is incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
5. To prepare the cream cheese swirl, add all of the ingredients to a medium bowl. Beat until smooth, then pour in dollops on top of the brownie batter. Using the tip of a knife, swirl the brownie batter and cream cheese topping together. Bake for 30 min, or until a toothpick comes out mainly clean and the edges of the brownies begin pulling away from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.