Cookies and Cream Brownies

Obviously, I am in a cookies and cream place. It's not the worst place I've been though, so I'm fine with it. This uses my regular brownie recipe with a few additions. I also baked it in a 9x13 instead of an 8x8, so they were thinner. It gave me more surface area for the cheesecake swirl, so that's why I did it, but if you want fatty brownies, you follow your heart. 

For the Brownies:

1 stick unsalted butter

8 oz chocolate chips (you're really going to use the whole 12 oz bag, but 2/3 of it for now)

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

3 eggs

1/2 c flour

1/4 c cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract 

4 oz chocolate chips for mixins (see, I told you)

8 Oreos crushed up (big chunks is fine)

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 13x9 pan (I just used cooking spray). 

2. Put 8 oz chocolate chips and butter in a heat-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until chocolate and butter are just melted. Don't over-heat. If there's still a few lumps, just stir, and the residual heat will melt everything. 

3. Add sugars to the melted chocolate mixture and combine. This will help cool the chocolate off a little before you add the eggs.

4. Add eggs one at a time and mix well before adding the next. Add vanilla.

5. Add flour, cocoa powder, and salt to the bowl and mix well to combine. Don't worry about over-mixing here. 

6. Add the other 4 oz of chocolate chips now and about 2/3 of the Oreo chunks; stir to incorporate. 

For the Cheesecake Swirl: 

4 oz (half a block) cream cheese, room temp

1 egg

1/4 c granulated sugar

Splash of vanilla

1. Using a mixer, beat to combine all ingredients. 

Assembly:

1. Pour brownie batter into prepared pan. Top with the cheesecake swirl- I just poured lines of the cheesecake mixture. 

2. Take a knife and create swirls with the chocolate and cheesecake layers. 

3. Top with the remaining Oreo chunks. 

4. Bake at 375F for about 30 - 40 minutes. *I baked them for 30 minutes, and they were still a little gooey, which I mean isn't a bad thing, but they could've stood a few more minutes. My oven is also notorious for this, so still check at 30 minutes.