Merry Cherry Brownies

Name: Merry Cherry Brownies
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 48 serving(s)
Ingredients: 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened; 1/2 cup sugar; 1/2 cup drained chopped red maraschino cherry; 1 tablespoon red maraschino cherry juice; 1 egg; 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate; 1 cup butter; 2 cups sugar; 2 teaspoons vanilla; 4 eggs; 1 1/2 cups flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts

Submitted by Courtly

"A yummy holiday treat! From a brand name baking magazine."

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photo by Seedbeads

Ready In:: 1hr 30mins
Ingredients:: 13
Serves:: 48

ingredients

Cherry-Cream Cheese Filling
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
¹⁄₂ cup sugar
¹⁄₂ cup drained chopped red maraschino cherry
1 tablespoon red maraschino cherry juice
1 egg
Brownies
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 ¹⁄₂ cups flour
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts

directions

Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of 13 x 9 inch pan with shortening or spray with cooking spray.
In medium bowl, beat all filling ingredients with spoon until smooth; set aside.
In 2 quart saucepan, melted chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring frequently, until smooth; remove from heat. Cool 5 minutes.
In large bowl, beat chocolate mixture, 2 cups sugar, the vanilla and 4 eggs with mixer on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in flour and salt on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat on medium speed 1 minute. Stir in nuts.
Spread half of batter in pan. Spread filling over batter. Carefully spread remaining batter over filling. Gently swirl through batters with knife for marbled design.
Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour. FOr brownies, cut into 8 rows by 6 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

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Reviews

We love these brownies! This is the second year in a row I've made them. I use 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in place of the nuts, since I can't have them. I also like to add a little cherry extract to the cream cheese mixture. This year I also had to use half Splenda in the brownies since I didn't have quite enough sugar. They still turned out great, so I might try all Splenda next time.

Seedbeads
Everyone loved these! I made them a day in advance for schedule reasons and I'm glad that I did -- the texture was better the second day. I cut the recipe in half (put half a beaten egg in the filling and 2 and a half eggs in the brownie part), substituted almond extract for the vanilla, omitted the nuts, decreased the flour slightly (for a fudgier brownie) and sprinkled coconut on top. I also had a little bit of trouble getting things layered right, so it was more like a brownie with a chocolate-cherry layer on top. Thanks for posting!

bekbek

Tweaks

We love these brownies! This is the second year in a row I've made them. I use 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in place of the nuts, since I can't have them. I also like to add a little cherry extract to the cream cheese mixture. This year I also had to use half Splenda in the brownies since I didn't have quite enough sugar. They still turned out great, so I might try all Splenda next time.

Seedbeads
Everyone loved these! I made them a day in advance for schedule reasons and I'm glad that I did -- the texture was better the second day. I cut the recipe in half (put half a beaten egg in the filling and 2 and a half eggs in the brownie part), substituted almond extract for the vanilla, omitted the nuts, decreased the flour slightly (for a fudgier brownie) and sprinkled coconut on top. I also had a little bit of trouble getting things layered right, so it was more like a brownie with a chocolate-cherry layer on top. Thanks for posting!

bekbek