Fudgey Cream Cheese Brownies (adapted slightly from Cooks Illustrated)
2/3 cup flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
2 oz bittersweet chocolate
4 oz semisweet chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
1¼ cups sugar
2½ tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
8 oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
1 egg yolk
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder together in a small bowl and set aside. Butter/grease an 8 inch square baking pan (I used glass), then line with foil. Make sure to leave enough extra foil on 2 sides to lift the brownies out using the foil as a sling. Make sense? Grease the foil too.
Chop all chocolate as fine as you can. Place in a large, glass, microwave safe bowl and add the butter. Microwave for 30 seconds, remove from microwave, and stir briskly . Return to microwave for 20 more seconds. Remove and stir. Repeat 1 more time, and stir until all chocolate is melted and smooth. Whisk in 1 cup of the sugar, and 2 tsp of the vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each, until completely smooth. Add dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.
In a small bowl, beat cream cheese with remaining ¼ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and egg yolk until smooth and creamy.
Pour half the brownie batter into prepared pan. Drop half the cream cheese mixture, by spoonfuls, over batter. Smooth the spoonfuls of cream cheese out a bit, so you can pour the other half of the batter over the top. Drop the remaining cream cheese on top by spoonfuls again, and swirl through the batter, using the blade of a knife or chopstick or something. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to settle the batter.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, until edges of brownies have puffed slightly, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with fudgey crumbs on it. Batter means not done, no crumbs means oops!! Overdone!
Cool brownies completely in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving. Use foil sling handles to lift brownies from pan, then cut into squares and serve. Keep leftovers covered and in the fridge.