We spent last weekend with Doug’s sister and her husband who brought their beautiful four month old daughter to visit. They also brought us a a 1kg bag of dark chocolate buttons. Have you ever seen a kilo of chocolate buttons? It looks a little something like this:

What to make first with such a large amount of chocolate? Top of the list for me was Smitten Kitchen’s Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies and I am so glad that I did make these. These are really delicious – dark, rich, intensely chocolately and with the added bonus of a cheesecake layer. Please make these, they are really really really good.

For the brownies:

• 4 ounces/110g butter
• 3 ounces/85g unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup plain flour

• 8 ounces/225 grams cream cheese
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped chocolate, buttons or chips

To make the brownies:

Butter an 8 inch square baking tin. Melt the butter and chocolate together over a low heat and mix together. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugar, vanilla and eggs. Then whisk in the flour until it is just combined and spread evenly into the baking tray.

To make the cheesecake topping:

Whisk together all the ingredients until smooth. Spread on top of the brownie mixture and then using a knife swirl through the cheesecake mix into the brownie layer so you get a rippled, almost marbled effect. If you are feeling extravagent then sprinkle another handful of chocolate over the top!

Bake at 175 degrees centigrade or 350 degrees fahrenheit for around 35 minutes. I have a fan assisted oven so mine were ready at around 25 minutes. Warm from the tin these are the most delicious gooey chocolatey treat and they are just as good for the next week. I can highly recommend them for a morning tea break. Nothing will get you through the rest of your day like one of these. I think these are the best thing I have ever baked and luckily I had made two trays!