Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

This raspberry cheesecake brownies recipe is an inspired and swoon-worthy collision of creamy cheesecake and cakey brownie and sweetly tart raspberries. You simply gotta taste it for yourself. And then share it with everyone you know.

Seven squares of raspberry cheesecake brownies on a metal sheet pan.

Adapted from Joy Wilson | Joy the Baker Homemade Decadence | Clarkson Potter, 2014

These raspberry cheesecake brownies are where cakey chocolate brownies and sigh-inducingly creamy cheesecake collide. [Editor’s Note: Just to repeat ourselves, they’re more cakey than fudgy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Just saying, most folks like to know in advance what to expect so they can properly satiate their chocolate craving.] You don’t want to skimp on the fresh raspberries. As one of our testers commented, “When you get a raspberry, <ZING!> You hit the mother lode of flavor and the recipe comes alive with a slight overload of tart.” We couldn’t have said it any better.–Renee Schettler

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

Seven squares of raspberry cheesecake brownies on a metal sheet pan.
Brownies are one of those incredibly easy things to make with little planning or forethought. They were the first thing I learned how to bake as a kid. Here, though, I've given the standard brownie an update by adding a raspberry-infused cream cheese layer and studded the whole thing with tangy, scarlet berries.

Prep 25 mins
Cook 35 mins
Total 1 hr
Dessert
American
9 to 16 brownies
332 kcal
5 / 4 votes
Print RecipeBuy the Joy the Baker Homemade Decadence cookbook

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Ingredients 

For the chocolate brownie layer

  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
  • 4 tablespoons (2 oz) unsalted butter plus more for the pan
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour plus more for the pan
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cream cheese layer

  • 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons (1 oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons raspberry jam
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup fresh raspberries* or more if desired

Directions
 

Make the chocolate brownie layer

  • Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Butter an 8-inch square pan, line it with parchment paper long enough to extend beyond the sides of the pan and butter and flour the parchment paper. (The parchment paper will ensure that everything is easy to remove from the pan, but if you don’t have any on hand, simply butter and flour the pan.)
  • Bring 2 inches (5 cm) water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over the simmering water. Melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and let the mixture cool slightly.
  • In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk the eggs into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture. Add the sugar and beat until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir well. Stir in the vanilla. Spread the brownie batter in the prepared pan.

Make the cheesecake layer

  • In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and butter until smooth and thoroughly combined. Add the sugar, jam, and egg and mix well. Stir in the flour and vanilla. The mixture will be very liquidy.

Assemble the raspberry cheesecake brownies

  • Gently pour the cheesecake mixture onto the chocolate batter in the pan. Drag a regular table knife through the batter to gently swirl the cream cheese mixture into the chocolate mixture.
  • Press the fresh raspberries into the swirls of cream cheese mixture. Your experience will be superlative when you ensure there’s a raspberry in each bite.
  • Bake until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of the pan comes out with only a few moist crumbs clinging to it, 35 to 43 minutes.
  • Let the brownies cool completely in the pan. Using the parchment paper as handles, lift the entire chunk out of the pan and slice it into 9 to 16 portions, depending on the size of your craving. The brownies will keep, wrapped individually, and stored in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.
Print RecipeBuy the Joy the Baker Homemade Decadence cookbook

Want it? Click it.

Notes

*Can I substitute frozen raspberries?

Unfortunately, this isn’t one of those instances where frozen berries are going to work. They have too much moisture and the texture won’t the same. If you just can’t wait to make these—and we don’t blame you—you can add an extra tablespoon of raspberry jam. You’ll still get the flavor without the puddles that would be left by frozen berries. 

Show Nutrition

Serving: 1brownie, based on 9 piecesCalories: 332kcal (17%)Carbohydrates: 37g (12%)Protein: 5g (10%)Fat: 19g (29%)Saturated Fat: 11g (69%)Trans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 98mg (33%)Sodium: 221mg (10%)Potassium: 137mg (4%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 27g (30%)Vitamin A: 514IU (10%)Vitamin C: 2mg (2%)Calcium: 49mg (5%)Iron: 2mg (11%)

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Recipe Testers’ Reviews

Although I’m usually firmly in the fudgy brownie camp, the raspberry cream cheese layer helped me forgive the slightly cakey texture.

This is relatively straightforward as written, but I seemed to have more than a few dollops’ worth of cream cheese. I ended up with a pretty solid layer of cheesecake that didn’t swirl very much, but it still tasted fine! Next time, I might add a little more jam to up the berry flavor, as my fresh berries were pretty lackluster.

Definitely a winning combination, but don’t look for fudgy brownies. This produces moist, cakey brownies, and they are most definitely better 24 hours after coming out of the oven, when all the flavors have melded together.

Everything was easy to assemble and perfectly written in terms of timing. I microwaved the chocolate and the butter for less than 2 minutes, starting with 1 minute and 30-second increments.

I let them cool for about 2 hours. They definitely tasted better the next day, especially when served with vanilla ice cream.

As soon as I read this recipe, I knew I had to make time to test it. I quickly finished my homework and, with the help of my little sister, started working on it. Of course, this was also a great excuse to buy 2 containers of raspberries—just in case 1 was not enough. It’s super easy to follow and is made with very few ingredients.

The brownies took 35 minutes exactly. The taste was awesome—not too sweet and the raspberry flavor was very prominent. Is it a brownie or a raspberry cheesecake? It’s a perfect mix of both in my book. How can anyone say no to chocolate and raspberries? Even my little sister, who doesn’t care much for chocolate, loved these.

Whoa man, these rocked. One bite and the fussing over a double boiler is forgotten, the hassle of washing the mixing bowl gone, and the confusion about how to “dollop” then “swirl” the liquidy cheesecake topping is ancient history. And really, these are not hard things. Everything was washed up and put away before the bake was over.

And by that time, I was on to thinking about other things—like how sad it was that there were only 9, and if I eat 3 warm, 3 fridge-cold, and 3 frozen, then they’d already be gone.

And how nice it was that my package of raspberries yielded 18 that were not squishy or moldy or otherwise affected by the fact that it was February and that there were exactly 2 berries per portion. This is my brain.

I didn’t have any problems with sticking, even though my parchment only had cooking spray, no flour. The 5 minutes in the double boiler was spot-on. I would’ve preferred using the microwave in 30-second bursts on 50% power. I cooled the mixture while I measured the dry ingredients.

Next time I’ll leave lots of peaks and valleys when I put the brownie layer in the pan so the layers will be more varied. I baked them for 43 minutes. It seems like a long time, but they weren’t close to being done at 35 minutes. Once cooled, they were still pretty gooey, proving they weren’t dried out. They were good warm but even better the next day cold from the fridge, nice and fudgy. The tart raspberries were my favorite part. I’ll definitely make these again.

These were quite tasty and not cloyingly sweet. They were easy to make and came together quickly. There seemed to be more than enough of the cheesecake layer. Instead of dropping it in dollops, I simply spread it on top and then used a butter knife to swirl it into the chocolate layer. The result was a paisley pattern that was pretty during baking but disappeared after baking. But it still tasted good.

Love this small-batch dessert— just the right amount to share and with a special topping to make it more delicious and appealing. I only make something like this when I can share it, and since I shared it with my workout buddies, I made it 12 servings instead of 9, and they were rich enough to satisfy even the most opinionated brownie-lovers in the crew.

I was grateful to be able to limit myself to a single one the evening I made them, and, strictly for quality control purposes, another the next morning with coffee. The verdict was unanimously delish. I think they were even better when refrigerated overnight. I loved the slight fudginess the second day, but my tasters were eagerly circling the batch as they cooled.

If you’re feeling greedy, cut them into 9 portions. One of my tasters suggested making it 4 servings! I think 12 worked, and for the “oh, I could only have a bite” crowd, take those 12 and cut them diagonally in half and place them in paper liners on a silver platter.)

This is almost a pantry dessert, as most ingredients are easily on hand, and where I live fresh organic raspberries are seemingly available all year round. I had nearly the right amount of chocolate in a Dark Bitter Valrhona (a 3.5-ounce bar). Borrowing a tip from Alice Medrich, I melted the chocolate in a Pyrex measuring glass set inside a pan of simmering water. Not only does this make melting chocolate safe and almost foolproof, but with the volume, the chocolate phase could continue in this 2-cup jug.

The cream cheese topping comes together very easily, especially with the cream cheese completely at room temperature, requiring nothing sturdier than a silicone spatula. The cheesecake mixture ended up being more like a complete covering, but it was easy to marble with a few strokes, and I planned the placement of the berries as best I could to make sure that each piece would have 1 to 2 berries. The baking time of 40 minutes was almost accurate. I gave it another 4 to 5 and checked it using the Thermapen, which read just over 200℉ with the slightest crumb on it.

Once cooled, they had a lush denseness. These slice up really pretty, and you could easily serve them as mini-dessert bites for a very special party.

These raspberry cheesecake brownies were very good. By the way, I always dust my pans with cocoa powder instead of flour to prevent white spots on the bottom when making any type of chocolate dessert.

I’m a sucker for a good brownie, and somewhat of a brownie purist, so I was anxious to try the “base” of this recipe, without the cheesecake topping, and I was pleasantly surprised. These brownies came together in just a few minutes and into the oven they went.

I did make a few modifications. First, based on what I could find at the store, I used semisweet chocolate chunks instead of bittersweet. To compensate for the extra sugar in the semisweet, I reduced the 3/4 cup sugar to 1/2 cup sugar for the actual chocolate brownie part. I didn’t want to use a double boiler to melt the chocolate: chopped chocolate pieces/chips can be carefully melted in the microwave in 15 seconds intervals stirring at each interval until just melted, or also in a saucepan on the stove over extremely low heat, the gentlest of simmers, stirring constantly with a whisk to avoid scorching or burning.

I immediately whisked in the eggs and they didn’t curdle because the saucepan was barely warm at this point. The additional ingredients were measured and mixed in less than two minutes. Use parchment if you have it, it’ll save you from clean up and I didn’t even butter my parchment and the brownies released beautifully.

I absolutely love the ease of this recipe, and my method only dirtied one saucepan. I must say the brownies were delicious and served with Strauss vanilla bean ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, chopped almonds, and Maraschino cherries, they fulfilled my craving for a delicious brownie sundae. I’d definitely make these brownies again. They are more cake-like than fudgy and they hit the spot and were a cinch to make!

HUNGRY FOR MORE?

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Comments

  1. Could these be made with frozen raspberries rather than fresh? It’s hard to get good fresh berries in the winter where I live. Thanks!

    1. Mary, when frozen raspberries are thawed they’re watery, so it may cause the brownies to be too wet. If you can’t get fresh raspberries at this time, my advice is to skip this and try one of the other Valentine’s Day desserts. (Sorry.)

  2. 5 stars
    My sister and I made these for New Year’s Eve! They are very beautiful and as the note states, definitely more cake-y than fudge-y. Loved the tart zing of the raspberries.

  3. 5 stars
    I’d like to bake these babies for a birthday and was wondering if I could make them in your average springform, so they look more birthday cake-like. Have you any advice on how much more dough and topping I should prepare?

    1. linda, we didn’t test the recipe like that, so I don’t want to steer you wrong and give you suggestions that might fail and cost you money. Sorry. Maybe one of our readers does?

      1. Thank you for the quick reply! I think I’ll try baking them as a cake another time when there’ s not so much at stake 😉 and while I’m at it: my biggest compliments for your site! I still haven’t tried anything, but have marvelled at the pictures with watering mouth and eyes (I get quite emotional with food) and plan to try as many recipes as possible. Have a nice sunday!

  4. 5 stars
    I want to try these but also want to make eating too many a challenge. Are there any thoughts on how well they would freeze?

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