Perfect brownies are the key to my success...

Last week I gave you guys a hint to what I would be making over the weekend. Here's the hint:

It's not quite a brownie, but it's not quite a cake either.

Now what I actually made was Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies. Can you say sweet delicious sugar high? Cause after eating a couple of those, I sure can! I made these as a valentines day gift for Dan. And since Valentines Day is over, I guess I can tell you all what I did for it. I had these super secret plans and I gave Dan hints the week before about what his gift might involve. The best one was "You can touch it, but it can't be wrapped." That

really confused the heck out of him. What I actually did was I got a box of those cheesy valentine cards and hid them around his room in places he would slowly find them. In fact, he hasn't found them all yet! (mwahahaha brilliant plan worked out). Then, while he was in class I made him these red velvet cheesecake brownies. And they turned out to be AWESOME. I mean, how can you go wrong with cake and cheesecake mixed together? I actually didn't have all the necessary ingredients so I improvised a bit. I noted on the recipe what I used instead.

Moral of the story: I heart Valentines Day

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Adapted from Baking Bites

1/2 cup butter

2 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used 2 oz semi sweet chocolate chips)

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract (I had no vanilla, so I omitted this altogether)

2 tsp red food coloring

2/3 cup gf all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

8 oz cream cheese, room temp

1/3 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar because I didn't have vanilla extract)

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a brownie pan. Or grease your Perfect Brownie Pan Set!

Yeah that's right. As seen on TV people. Jealous?

Anyway, then mix together the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and food coloring. 2 tsp is an estimate; start with 1 1/2 and then see if you want it to be a brighter red. Then mix in the flour and salt and combine until there are no lumps of flour. Pour the cake batter into the brownie pan (or the Perfect Brownie Pan Set) and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Try and get this as smooth as possible as well. As I noted above, I used vanilla sugar because I failed to buy vanilla extract at the store.And it actually worked really well! Note to self: use vanilla sugar in everything.

Drop the cheesecake batter onto the cake batter in dollops, then swirl together with a butter knife. I swirled mine a little too much and the cake and cheesecake formed together into one entity. Which was delicious, so whateva! Bake for 30-40 min or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool before slicing. Or let cool before pulling the top off of the precut brownies! Thanks Perfect Brownie Pan Set!

Oh also, one last thing! The College Housewife is now on Twitter! Follow me here

XOXO

Natalie