Name: Cream Cheese Brownies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 28 min
Total time: 43 min
Ingredients: ½ cup salted butter; ¾ cup dark chocolate (finely chopped); ¼ cup cocoa powder; 1 cup granulated sugar; ¼ cup, lightly packed brown sugar; 3 large eggs (room temperature); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; Scant 1 cup all-purpose flour; ½ teaspoon baking powder; 8 oz. cream cheese (room temperature); 3 tablespoons granulated sugar; 1 large egg (room temperature); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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With a swirled cream cheese topping, these cream cheese brownies are the best of both worlds: the perfect blend of cheesecake and brownies. The cream cheese adds a tangy flavour and delicious creaminess to fudgy, slightly chewy brownies.

Brownies with a cream cheese swirls, cut into squares with some tipped.

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Recipe Rundown: Cream Cheese Brownies

Prep Time
15 minutes

Bake Time
28 minutes

Total Time
43 minutes

Servings
16 brownies

Difficulty
Intermediate

Calories
282 kcal*

Primary Ingredients
All-purpose flour, butter, sugar, brown sugar, chocolate, cocoa powder, cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla.

*Calories are an estimation.

How This Recipe Works

Woman smiling, with long brown hair in a dark brown shirt.

If you love brownies but often find them too sweet or too much of the same, then do we have a recipe for you! Adding cream cheese makes a standard brownie into something much more exciting, and chocolate and cream cheese is a classic pairing for a reason (think red velvet).

The goal of cream cheese brownies is not a crackly top, because the topping is the cream cheese mixture swirled with extra brownie batter. It covers too much of the brownie to allow it to crackle. The topping is more soft and tangy, with a really beautiful look that comes from swirling the two together. These are impressive brownies but they're so easy to make.

I often make these for parties (I sometimes cater for friends and family), cutting them into 64 bite-sized squares instead of the standard 16. They're always a favourite and go over really well with crowds. This recipe is for a 9-inch tin. You could also use our sourdough discard brownies for the base and add the cream cheese topping, using the same swirling method.

Ingredients You'll Need and Why

Standard brownie ingredients like cocoa, chocolate, and sugar, plus cream cheese. These are our notes from recipe testing. See below for the full recipe card with complete measurements and instructions.

Cream cheese brownies ingredients with labels.

Flour: all-purpose is best. Bread flour makes the brownies too chewy and dense, and pastry flour makes them too delicate. We haven't tested this recipe with a gluten-free alternative.
Cocoa: since the brownies are leavened with baking powder, you can use Dutch process or natural cocoa. We prefer Dutch process for the smoother, deeper chocolate flavour but either will work.
Chocolate: use dark chocolate, around 65% cocoa solids. Keep in mind that changing the type of chocolate by more than 5% cocoa solids in either direction will impact the texture of the brownies. We don't recommend using chocolate chips, which have stabilizers added and which will also change the texture.
Cream cheese: unsweetened plain cream cheese, usually sold in blocks. Don't use the type that's meant for spreading on bagels. It should just have milk, some kind of fermenting agent, and maybe salt in the ingredient list.
Butter: we recommend salted butter for this recipe. If you only have unsalted, double the amount of salt added to the batter.
Sugar: plain granulated white sugar. Cane sugar doesn't mix as readily and the grains are larger, which makes for denser brownies with a pitted appearance.
Brown sugar: light or dark brown sugar, both are fine for this recipe.
Eggs: these should be large eggs at room temperature. Large eggs are 57 grams, weighed with shell. Using cold eggs will seriously impact the texture of the brownies. To quickly bring cold eggs up to room temperature, submerge in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
Vanilla: added vanilla extract boosts flavour and sweetness, making the brownies more complex. You could also try a very small amount of almond extract to replace the vanilla, just a few drops.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.

How to Make Cream Cheese Brownies

The base brownie recipe is very traditional, with chocolate melted in the butter before mixing in the other ingredients. The brownie batter is all mixed in one bowl but there is a specific order that the ingredients should be added in.

Brownies steps 1 to 4, with cream cheese mixture, melted butter and chocolate, with sugar added, and wet ingredients mixed.

Step 1: beat the cream cheese until fluffy, then mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. The cream cheese should be at room temperature so this mixture will be runny. If the cream cheese is cold, it can be lumpy. Take ¼ cup of the cream cheese mixture and transfer it to a separate bowl.

Step 2: melt the butter and chocolate over a double boiler, being careful to use a heat-safe mixing bowl (like pyrex). Take off the heat and mix in the cocoa powder before setting aside to cool to room temperature. Adding the cocoa to the hot butter and chocolate blooms it, improving the taste.

Related: Peanut Butter Brownies

Step 3: mix in the sugars. The mixture will be grainy and thicker once the sugar is added.

Step 4: whisk in the eggs, vanilla, and salt. The mixture will loosen again with the addition of the eggs. If the eggs are cold, the chocolate might seize and it will make the batter too thick, taking on a dull appearance.

Brownies steps 5 to 8, finished batter, pouring cream cheese onto batter, with brownie batter, and swirled together.

Step 5: mix in the flour to just combine. The batter should be thick and glossy. If it's dull and hard, it's either due to cold ingredients or incorrect measurements.

Step 6: reserve ¼ cup of the brownie batter and set aside. Transfer the remaining brownie batter to a lined and greased 9-inch baking dish and pour the cream cheese mixture over top.

Related: Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

Step 7: mix the reserved brownie batter with the reserved cream cheese mixture. This will thin out the brownie batter. Dollop the mixture over the cream cheese.

Step 8: use a knife or toothpick to swirl the thinned brownie batter into the cream cheese mixture. Less is more when it comes to swirling. If you do too much, it'll simply blend together. Bake for about 25 minutes, then cool in the pan before slicing and serving.

Expert Tips for the Best Brownies

Stick to the ratios: reducing sugar or butter, using incorrectly sized eggs, or measuring the flour wrong will all have a big impact on how the brownies turn out. Keep the amounts as written and use a kitchen scale if you have one.
Use a double boiler: heating chocolate too quickly will burn it, making the brownies bitter. It's best to use a double boiler, either a for-purpose pot or a heat-safe metal or glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. The bottom of the pot/bowl shouldn't touch the water.
Swirl as outlined: we tested different methods for the best swirl, and this is what won out. While we'd like to be able to just pour the cream cheese mixture over the brownie base and swirl it in, the brownie batter is simply too stiff for that.