Monday 2 February 2015

Healthified Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies



These raspberry cheesecake brownies are the last recipe I created on the day that shall not be named. The day when no pictures turned out and my neighbours all heard my wrath.

The day when expletives flew from my mouth quicker than I could apologize for them.

Was it because they were bad? NO. The brownies were dense and chewy and the cheescake was sweetened perfectly with bits of raspberry swirl.

BUT THE CAMERA ISSUES. Dear Lord. Sometimes I wonder how profession photographers do it. I nearly had an aneurysm simply trying to sort out some photos of brownies, cookies and raw vegan chocolates.








This is the sort of stress that ironically can only be cured by aforementioned brownies. 






Now these are healthified although I did use organic sugar in the cheesecake if only for the one reason being I didn't want the colour to change too much. Feel free to make these with stevia in the cheesecake layer (I buy the big bagged stuff that you can use for baking) and that will work just fine, too.








They were really fudgey and delicious. And sadly none of that really shows. So you will have to make them and show me, okay?!?







Enough of my pity party -- let's have a look at the recipe, yah?


Healthified Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies 

Yields 16 brownies 

Gluten Free & Low Sugar



Ingredients:

For the Brownies


  • 3/4 cup oat flour 
  • 1/2 cup almond flour, sifted 
  • 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder 
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 flax eggs, 2 whole eggs or Egg Replacer (I used 2 teaspoons egg replacer mixed with 4 tablespoons water) 
  • 2/3 cup coconut sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice) 
  • 1/2 cup greek yogurt or non-dairy yogurt, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate, melted

For the Cheesecake Swirl

  • 8 ounces light cream cheese (1 block) 
  • 1/4 cup organic cane sugar 
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  • 3-4 tablespoons low sugar raspberry preserves 



Baker's Note: If you are in a pinch -- just use boxed brownies and follow the directions on the box. Make cheesecake swirl for on top and bake until the cheesecake springs to the touch and toothpick inserted in the center comes out 

* After some tweaking I have changed the flour ratio in this recipe!




Directions:


  1. Preheat oven to 350 
  2. Grease an 8x8 pan and line with parchment paper
  3. In a small bowl sift all dry ingredients for the brownie batter and set aside
  4. In a large bowl combine all wet ingredients and blend thoroughly
  5. Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and stir until fully combined
  6. Spread the thick brownie batter evenly into the pan 
  7. For the cheesecake layer mix all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl until smooth and pour on top of brownie layer
  8. Dollop the raspberry preserves over the batter randomly (but somewhat evenly so every piece has some!) 
  9. Using a butter knife or toothpick swirl and marble the raspberries throughout the cheesecake layer
  10. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean 
  11. Let brownies cool completely before serving
  12. Refrigerated leftovers keep for 3-5 days









Easy peasy. 





As you can see there are two versions. Hearts and squares.

Full disclosure: the hearts were a pain. I used cookie cutters and because the brownies were higher than the cookie cutter itself I had to push the cheesecakes out which squished them quite a lot. To make them hearts I would suggest investing in a heart pan and scooping some brownie layer, tapping it flat and then adding the cheesecake in each one individually. If you really want to cut it out you would have to chill the brownies overnight so they are really firm. Otherwise cut into squares -- they will be just as pretty with a drizzle of chocolate and way less difficult.








I cut mine into little bite sized portions and they were perfect! Definitely a magical flavour combination happening in these brownies.

Do you have any special Valentine's Day plans? I used to work at a restaurant and every V-day be stuck watching happy couples and awkward first dates sit down for a meal on the oh so beloved day. Personally I am just happy to have an occasion to bake desserts. That's more or less how I see every holiday now. FOOD? Okay. I'll make food.


How about you? Thoughts? Brownies? CHEESECAKE? YES TO ALL THOSE????


Happy Cheesecakin'

XO

1 comment:

  1. These brownies seems to be delicious and I really liked your post. I will definitely try this recipie at home. Thank you for sharing this with us.

    ReplyDelete