cream cheese swirl brownies

It seems like we celebrated my husband's birthday all week last week.  Wednesday, his actual birthday, was celebrated at a pizza parlor between a meeting and his night class.  He opened his gifts over chicken wings and pepperoni-which I must admit is not too shabby.

Thursday, I made his birthday dinner-the ever predictable, annually requested, birthday pot roast with buttermilk mashed potatoes.  And I'll admit this little nugget as well...that pot roast was "AMAZEBALLS."  And that was from the Hubs himself, however he was using "amazeballs" snarkily.  I'd bet one meeeellion dollars that he would want me to clarify that he never uses that word.  I'd also bet one meeeellion dollars that he just found out about amazeballs because it has never crept out of his mouth before last night.  So yes folks, that birthday pot roast was tender, full of flavor and amazeballs.

Friday we went to my MIL's for a bit of nostalgia.  At every one of her son's birthdays she invites the family over to celebrate.  Whichever son is celebrating a birthday gets to choose the dinner for that night and tonight Hubs threw in a casserole from childhood.  I am making buttermilk pound cake (remember Hubs does not like birthday cake) and bringing cream cheese swirl brownies to the party.  He struggled between the two desserts, so I thought why not make both.  It is his special day and he is pretty amazeballs if I do say so myself.

Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies
makes 9

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for baking dish
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
2 large eggs
2 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Lightly butter an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.  Line with parchment leaving a 2 inch overhang and butter parchment.
2. In a bowl of a standing mixer, combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, eggs yolks, and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla.  Mix in the mini chocolate chips.
3. In a small bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda; set aside.  In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt 8 tablespoon butter and 1/2 cup chocolate chips, let cool to room temperate.  Remove from heat and add 1 cup sugar.  Stir in half of the flour mixture.  Add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla; stir to combine.  Mix in the remaining flour mixture.  Remove 1/2 cup of the chocolate mixture, and place in a plastic sandwich bag.
4. Pour the chocolate batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading the batter evenly with a small off-set spatula.  Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate batter, spreading to the edges.  Clip a corner of the bagged chocolate batter and pipe the batter on top of the cream cheese mixture.  Run a knife through the mixture to swirl.
5. Bake until set and golden brown about 45 minutes.  Remover from oven, and cool on a wire rack.  Cut into squares, and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.