Fall = pumpkin!

Fall is my favorite time of year ~ I love everything about it ~ cooler weather, cute sweaters, tons of fall festivals and . . . everything pumpkin! The following is a recipe that started with Cara at http://carascravings.blogspot.com/ and made its way around my favorite cooking message board a few weeks back, and it's fantastic! I brought it to work, and everyone loved it.


An important tip: make sure there aren't any lumps when you're making the cream cheese mixture. I should have, because you can see a few of them in the photo. They don't hurt the eating, just the presentation:)

Pumpkin-Spice Cheesecake Brownies

Brownie Batter:

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter:
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each ground ginger and ground cloves


Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" square metal baking pan. Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients and then gradually stir into butter mixture with a wooden spoon. In separate bowl, beat together cheesecake batter ingredients. Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan, and spoon cheesecake batter over. Dollop remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. Swirl the batters together by running a butter knife back and forth through the pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until center is set. Cool completely on wire rack and chill before cutting and serving.