Name: Cheesecake Brownies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 135g dark chocolate (I used 72%), coarsely chopped; 120g unsalted butter, cold from the fridge is fine; 10g dutch process cocoa or regular unsweetened cocoa, sifted; 2 large eggs (about 100g not including shells); 135g caster sugar (granulated sugar works fine but will not give the super glossy brownie top); 65g light or dark brown sugar; ¼ tsp salt; ¼ tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste; 65g all-purpose flour, sifted; 225g full fat cream cheese, at room temperature; 60g caster sugar; 1 large egg (50g not including the shell), at room temperature1/4 tsp vanilla (optional)

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This easy Cheesecake Brownies recipe is the best of both worlds - fudgy brownie base topped with a brownie cheesecake topping. These brownies are a super delicious twist on a classic homemade brownie recipe.

edge shot of cheesecake brownies with cheesecake swirl

Hi hi - just popping in to share this cheesecake brownies recipe! These easy brownies are a riff on my fudgy homemade brownies recipe, with a brownie cheesecake topping. I am slowly padding out the brownie recipes section on my site - I don't know why it took me so long, but here we are!

I loved the twist up on the classic with my brookies recipe, so I decided to throw a brownie cheesecake recipe at you too just for good measure. This Cream Cheese brownie situation is one I know you will love. I also use the same brownie recipe as the base of my brownie pie (which I can't wait to try with a cheesecake swirl!)

I love making homemade brownies, particularly to use as the base of a brownie bar - if you love these cheesecake brownies be sure to check out my caramel brownie slice recipe, my peanut butter brownie bars recipe and my squiggle slice recipe!

This cheesecake brownies post has all the things you need to know about making homemade brownies:

How to make Cheesecake Brownies
Tips and Tricks for great fudgy brownies
How to cut Brownies cleanly
Can brownies be made ahead of time?
Frequently Asked Questions

How to make Cheesecake Brownies

Homemade cheesecake brownies are super easy to make - take your favourite brownie recipe, and add a super quick brownie cheesecake topping. Here's how:

Melt together the chocolate and butter. You can either do this in a double boiler, or I prefer to just pop it into the microwave in a heat safe bowl.
Add the cocoa powder to the chocolate. This 'blooms' the cocoa powder, bringing out even more of the chocolate flavour.
Whip together your eggs, brown sugar, and white sugar. Whipping well until the mixture is thickened is the key to the crackly brownie top the internet loves. Add your vanilla (I use paste, vanilla extract is fine too), and stir in.
Add the chocolate and cocoa mixture and whisk well to incorporate.
Add the flour and stir until just combined.
Transfer the brownie layer to the prepared pan, then make your cheesecake layer.
Combine all the cheesecake topping ingredients in a medium sized bowl, and mix until smooth.
Dollop most of the cheesecake batter on top of the brownie, and swirl using a spoon or a toothpick. I like to bring some of the brownie batter up to the surface to give a nice swirled texture.
Add the remainder of the cream cheese mixture and swirl
Bake the brownies until just set, then leave to cool and enjoy!

Tips and Tricks for great fudgy brownies

There are a few things to take note of to ensure that you get the best possible outcome with your cheesecake brownies:

Room temperature ingredients. For this recipe, that applies to eggs and cream cheese. The butter can be cold from the fridge, as you are melting it with the chocolate. Having room temperature cream cheese and eggs mean your brownie and cheesecake mixture will swirl together well.
Good quality chocolate. I used Whittaker's 72% chocolate for these brownies - the chocolate flavor is right up front with brownies, so use a good quality chocolate, one you would be fine eating as is.
Don't over bake. If you over bake your brownie, you run the risk of it becoming cakey. Start checking after 20 minutes of bake time.
Leave brownies to cool before cutting. I know it is hard. But brownies are so much easier to cut when they are at least slightly cool. If you're in a rush, once some of the heat has gone out of the baking pan, you can put the brownies in the fridge to help speed up the cooling process - I often put a small cooling rack in the fridge to put some air flow under the pan too. Use the freezer if you really need to, but don't tell anyone I told you that.
Line the pan well. A well lined pan makes life so, so much easier, particularly when it comes to things like brownies where you want to be able to lift them right out of the pan to cut. I use two pieces of parchment paper that both extend over the edges of the pan, and secure them down with binder clips. This means that when it comes time to remove the brownies, I can use the parchment paper as 'handles' to lift them out.

Get all my tips and tricks on how to get the perfect crinkly brownie top in my fudgy homemade brownie recipe!

How to cut Brownies cleanly

I get asked this often - how do you cut brownies cleanly? There are a couple of tricks:

Wait until they are cool. Even better, give them a wee spin in the fridge before you cut them. This is especially important for a cream cheese brownie recipe like this one.
Use a nice, sharp chef's knife. This is important. If you want, you can run it under hot water and dry it before you cut it, so you have a hot, dry knife
Wipe the blade between cuts. This is important for things like brownies which are fudgy. A clean blade will give you the best chance at a super clean cut on a brownie.
If it all gets wonky and messy, don't worry. They will still taste good. I've been all set to shoot a recipe and cut my brownies wonky and had a meltdown - i've been there I promise. We still ate them.

brownie with bottle of milk in the background

Can brownies be made ahead of time?

Yes - brownies are a great make ahead dessert. In fact, these cheesecake brownies do best if you make them a few hours before you are wanting to serve them, to give them enough time to cool down before cutting.

If you want super fudgy brownies, once cool, you can put the whole pan, lightly covered with plastic wrap, into the fridge overnight or until completely cool. Cold brownies are my favourite.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page

Which baking pan did you use?
I make my brownies in a 9"x9" square pan, lined with parchment paper overhanging both sides. I find that a metal pan is much better than glass when it comes to baking as glass is a poor conductor of heat.

Do Cheesecake Brownies need to be refrigerated?
Yes - store your cheesecake brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.

Can this recipe be made with boxed brownie mix?
I haven't tried it but you certainly could try making a box mix for the brownie base and then adding the topping for easy cream cheese brownies!

How do you tell when they are baked?
Over baked brownies aren't my favourite - you are best to lean toward under baking them than over baking them. Start checking the brownies for doneness after 20 minutes - you are looking for the edges and top to be set and if you insert a skewer into the middle, it should come out with a few moist crumbs attached. If the cheesecake layer splits a tiny bit don't worry - this is just from the eggs baking and contracting, causing a little split.

Can you freeze cheesecake brownies?
From experience, cream cheese doesn't freeze super well. My regular brownie recipe freezes great (just thaw in the fridge before eating), but I wouldn't recommend freezing this recipe.

Can I add chocolate chips?
You can do whatever you like here. I personally don't like chocolate chips in my brownie, but if you do, go for it.

Can I use salted butter?
Yes - if you don't have unsalted butter that is totally fine - just hold back a little on the salt content in the brownie batter.

Do I have to use caster sugar?
No - you can use regular granulated sugar if you like. In New Zealand, our sugar is much coarser, so I call for caster sugar in the recipe. However if you are in the US or you have finer sugar, regular granulated is fine. Either work great in the recipe, caster just dissolves better when being whipped with the eggs to form that crackly top. Another reason why baking with grams is the best - 200g of sugar is 200g sugar.

For more brownie recipes, check out:

Made this recipe and love it?

If you made this recipe then I would LOVE for you to leave me a review below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram if you make it!

A note on salt and oven temperature

It is important to note the type of salt that is called for in a recipe. I use Diamond Crystal salt throughout my recipes - if you use a different sort of kosher salt or regular table salt you will need to adjust accordingly as some salt is 'saltier' than others. Morton's salt is twice as salty, so you will need half the quantity. Same goes for a regular table salt. I am working to get gram measurements throughout my recipes for salt but still getting there.

All oven temperatures are conventional unless otherwise stated. If you are baking on fan / convection, you will need to adjust the temperature. An oven thermometer is a great investment to ensure that your oven is the correct temperature.

Using the double / triple function in the recipe card

You will notice that there is a '1X' '2X' '3X' button in my recipe card. This can be used for doubling or tripling a recipe. However, please note that this only doubles the ingredient quantities in the ingredients list and NOT in the method. If there are quantities or pan sizes in the method of the recipe (for example weigh out 150g brown butter), you will need to scale this number manually. It will also not change the baking time in the recipe so you will need to adjust this yourself too. It is always a good idea to read through a recipe fully before doubling it just to check this. If you would like to scale this recipe or convert for another pan size, use my calculator!

Tools and equipment

For a list of my go-to tools and equipment, I have a post you can refer to here.

Why is this recipe in grams?

I post my recipes in grams as it is the most accurate way to bake. Cups are not only inaccurate but they vary in volume worldwide. There is no way for me to provide one cup measure that works for everyone. However, posting in weight fixes this issue. If you would like the recipe in cups you are welcome to convert it yourself via google, but please do not ask me to do it for you as I am not comfortable providing a recipe using a method that I have not tested. Baking with a scale is easy, accurate, and also makes cleanup super simple. Here is the scale that I use if you would like a recommendation! Here's to accurate baking!