Fudgy Cheesecake Brownies

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 glass baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a couple inches of overhang on two sides (this will allow you to lift the whole tray of brownies out of the pan for easy removal). Grease the dish with olive or avocado oil as well so that they do not stick.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and hot butter. Stir it briefly then allow it to sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. The heat from the butter will begin to dissolve the sugar (this helps make a fudgy & gooey brownie texture). Please note that the sugar will not completely dissolve. After 5 minutes, whisk the butter and sugar vigorously for 30 seconds until smooth.

Add in the eggs, water, and vanilla extract. Whisk again for 30 seconds or so, or until smooth.

Add in the cocoa powder, flour, and salt. Stir the mixture until it is glossy and well combined, but be sure to not overmix the batter.

Scoop out about one third of the brownie mixture and set it aside for the swirl layer. Stir the chocolate chips into the remaining brownie batter.

Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. The batter will be on the thicker side.

Next, prepare the cheesecake mixture. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour, egg white, and vanilla until combined. Be careful not to overbeat!

Using a cookie scoop, alternate dropping portions of cream cheese and portions of the reserved brownie batter all over the top of the batter that is in your baking dish.

Use the tip of a sharp knife to swirl the batter together. The brownie batter will be thicker than the cream cheese batter, just take your time moving in a figure 8 motion and they will swirl together. Be careful not to swirl too deep.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the batter is mostly set but there is still a slight jiggle. Allow to cool at room temperature for an hour and then chill in the fridge for at least another hour to set completely.