Pumpkin Cheesecake Chocolate Brownies

These are the best! And I believe perfect for Halloween - for two reasons. Of course, first is wonderful chocolaty pumpkin flavor, and second, the black and orange combination of colors. When I make them for Halloween I put them in mini Halloween themed muffin cups and serve like that on a platter. Always a hit!

I've been making these brownies for over three years now, and actually can't believe I never blogged about them before...
They are very rich ad moist, chocolate part is just awesome, so much in fact, that I use it for many other chocolate recipes, with adjustment here or there (minus the cinnamon and plus espresso powder or something like that), and pumpkin cheesecake is, well, what pumpkin cheesecakes are. Amazingly moist, flavorful and creamy, as far as I'm concerned, pumpkin at it's best. Together, they just rock.

I think variations of this recipe have been re-blogged quite a lot of times and I honestly don't even remember the one post I originally got it from, but I found it on a few blogs, almost exactly the same as I have it saved on my computer, so I will link to one of those blogs. The only difference I do is I use dark Dutch unsweetened cocoa, and I add 1 tsp of pumpkin spice mix to the cheesecake batter, so I will mark those changes in the recipe.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Chocolate Brownies
from Pass The Sushi

Brownie Batter:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tbs vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dark Dutch cocoa powder  *my change from regular unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teas salt
1/2 teas cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter:

6 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbs flour
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 teas vanilla
1/2 teas cinnamon
1/4 teas each ground ginger and ground cloves
1 tsp pumpkin spice mix  *my addition

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8×8″ or an 11×7″ baking pan.

Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients in small bowl, and then gradually stir into butter mixture by hand.

In another bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in remainder of ingredients until smooth.

Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan. Spread the pumpkin batter over top, distributing evenly. Drop the remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. To make the swirls, run a butter knife back and forth through the pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely and chill before cutting and serving.

If you are looking for an EASY and delicious recipe for your Halloween party, please give these a try, you will not regret it. I make these almost every or every other week from beginning of September to end of November, and sometimes into December too. That is how easy and loved these brownies are!