Oreo Cream Cheese Brownies

Everything I see on Annie's Eats is drool worthy - she's one of the most popular food blogs out there for a reason!  I often bookmark her desserts with good intentions to make them, but have trouble finding occasions to do so - and I do not want to be "stuck" with 2 dozen cupcakes, cookies, brownies, etc - because I.will.eat.them.all.  So, when John and I decided to have a party for the 4th of July, I got excited because I'd finally have a reason to try one of my many flagged sweet treats.

These brownies were a big hit at the party (although there were 4 or 5 desserts total - I have awesome friends!) and we ended up having some left over to indulge in over the past week.  They were pretty simple to make, and although "Oreo" in the description is what initially got my attention, I think the best part about these brownies is the cream cheese icing that is incorporated.  It adds a really unique taste and makes them almost cake like.  I doubled Annie's recipe and it's listed below.

Oreo Cream Cheese Brownies

Recipe Source: Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter

1-1/2 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

3 cups chopped Oreo cookies

12 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1 cup confectioners sugar

3 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

For the batter:

Combine the butter and sugar in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Whisk often and boil for about 1 minute.  Remove from heat.

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl.   Add the eggs to the pan with the butter and sugar and stir well until completely incorporated.  Add milk.  Transfer the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir well.  Fold in the chopped Oreos until just combined.  Spread the batter into a 9 x 13 baking dish lined with tin foil (for easy removal/cutting).

For the cream cheese mixture:

Combine the cream cheese, confectioners sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium high until creamy and smooth.  

Drop the cream cheese mixture into the brownie mixture in dollops.  I used a wooden spoon to swirl the cream cheese mixture together with the brownie batter to incorporate it throughout and create a marble effect.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  (I tried baking for a shorter amount of time but it was clearly not done...must have been the addition of the cream cheese?)  Let cool completely before cutting.  I refrigerated and then cut the brownies which made this process easier.