Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on brownie mix box
Reserved egg yolk
2
teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
1
tablespoon liquid red food color (from 1-oz bottle)
Instructions
Step
1
Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom of 9-inch square pan with shortening or cooking spray. In medium bowl, mix cream cheese and sugar with spoon until smooth. Add flour, egg white and vanilla; mix until well blended. Set aside.
Step
2
Make brownie batter as directed on box, adding reserved egg yolk, espresso coffee powder and food color; mix well until batter turns a rich red color. Spread in pan.
Step
3
Spoon filling by tablespoonful dollops evenly onto batter making 4 rows by 4 rows. Draw knife through mixture in five straight lines horizontally, the vertically for swirled design.
Step
4
Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool on cooling rack, 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until chilled. Cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
Take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before stirring up the batter, allowing it to soften and warm up. Or, to quickly soften cream cheese, remove from wrapper and place on microwavable plate. Microwave uncovered on High about 10 seconds or just until softened.
Liquid red food color in a bottle can usually be found in the spice section of the grocery store. It’s designed to give a bold red color to desserts.
Adding the extra egg yolk to the brownie batter gives structure and helps the cream cheese filling swirl throughout the brownies.
Be sure to insert toothpick in the brownie and not the cream cheese filling when testing for doneness.
To make cutting the brownies a breeze, line the baking pan with foil, allowing some to hang over edges of pan. Once the brownies are chilled, you can lift them out of the pan onto a large cutting board, peel foil away and cut into serving pieces.
