A couple weeks ago we went to visit the husband’s fam. There was a barbecue, and I was in charge of bringing dessert. (And what’s new with you?) I needed something easily transportable, something I could make a couple days in advance and that I knew would keep well, even improve with age, and so a brownie/bar was the obvious choice. I was thinking of a turtle bar I made once, with a super-buttery, crunchy shortbread crust and a layer of caramel topped with pecans and chocolate chips, but I also sent out feelers, asking my sister-in-law if she had any special requests. Creepily (can she read minds?), she suggested turtle brownies; she told me my father-in-law wanted something with cheesecake. He also loves pecans. Hence, our simultaneous emails of “Turtle Cheesecake Brownies!”
But first! A disclaimer: even after I accidentally doubled the amount of cream cheese in the cheesecake swirl portion, these brownies still weren’t very cheesecakey. In fact, there were some brownies that were entirely devoid of cheesecake swirl! And so, I was told not to advertise these brownies as cheesecake. But we can’t very well ignore the fact there is clearly a cheesecake swirl going on here, can we? If I had just called these “Turtle Brownies” it would’ve been really confusing, right? You’d be like, but what’s that white stuff? Right? These are the dilemmas.
And so next time I make these, I’ll leave out the cheesecake portion and use an adapted version of my favorite brownie recipe as the base. Or/and, I’ll make a cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust and top it with the caramel-pecan layer. Ooh. Regardless, these things were sinfully delicious and made everyone happy. (“You should definitely blog about these,” said my mother-in-law.)
And what could be bad? Fudgy cheesecake brownie topped with caramel that was the perfect amount of gooey (thank you, Alice Medrich), finished with a ton of buttery toasted pecans and flaky sea salt. The container that held them traveled from house to house all weekend long, and we were constantly eating out of it. Splitting a brownie, then splitting another one. Then splitting another one. Then splitting another one. I sort of never want to see another turtle cheesecake brownie ever again…
Ha! Haha. What a funny joke. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make some ice cream.
Turtle Cheesecake Brownies, adapted from Martha Stewart and Alice Medrich
Ingredients:
For the brownies
- 10 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
For the caramel topping
- 1 3/4 cups lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole pecan halves, toasted and chopped
- coarse or flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-x-13-inch pan with foil, leaving an overhang.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- Place 8 Tbsp (1 stick) butter and chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes; remove bowl from pan. Whisk in 1 1/4 cups sugar. Whisk in 3 eggs. Fold in flour and cocoa mixture until just combined (do not overmix).
- Prepare cream cheese mixture. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and 2 Tbsp room-temperature butter together until combined. Beat in 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, and 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour. Alternately spoon chocolate batter and cream cheese mixture into the prepared pan; with the tip of a paring knife, swirl to marble, being careful not to cut through the foil lining. Smooth the top with a silicone or offset spatula.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edge of the brownie just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. (At this point you can also refrigerate the brownies overnight and make the caramel topping the next day.)
- Make the caramel topping. In a heavy 2- to 3-quart saucepan, combine the brown sugar, honey, salt, and water. Set on medium heat and drop in the chunk of butter. Stir constantly with a heatproof spatula, scraping the corners and bottom of the pan as the butter melts. From time to time, scrape the mixture off the spatula against the top edge of the pan and scrape the sides of the pan clean. Bring the mixture to a medium boil and continue stirring and scraping the pan for about 3 minutes, dissolving the sugar. Stir in the condensed milk and return to a boil, stirring constantly, scraping the sides, corners, and bottom of the pan. Adjust the heat so the mixture boils actively but not too furiously. Continue stirring and cooking until the mixture registers 235 degrees F. Total cooking time will be close to 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Scrape the hot caramel over the cooled brownie. Tilt the pan to level the caramel. Scatter the toasted chopped pecans over the caramel, pressing down into the caramel any pieces that stick up. Sprinkle with coarse or flaky sea salt (optional). Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight to facilitate cutting into bars. Cut while cold; serve at room temperature.
