This recipe was developed out of boredom with plain ole brownies.  Not that there’s anything wrong with a good brownie!  I’ll never turn away from one especially if served with a dab of ice cream.  But on this particular day I needed to bake something to bring to a pot-luck get-together, and since brownies are always a popular choice, I decided to dress these up  with the addition of a cheesecake swirl using cream cheese and some raspberry jam.  They turned out to be very moist and chewy, and somewhat decadent .

RASPBERRY CREAM-CHEESE BROWNIES

Servings;   16 brownie squares

FILLING INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 0z. 1/3 -less- fat cream cheese, softened
• 2 teaspoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg

BROWNIE INGREDIENTS

• cooking spray
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3 Tablespoons raspberry preserves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray bottom only of an 8 inch square baking pan.
2. To prepare filling, place filling ingredients in a medium mixer bowl; beat at medium speed until well blended.  Set aside.
3. To prepare brownies,  combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and whisk together lightly.  Combine sugar, cocoa, melted butter, water, vanilla, and eggs, and stir well with a whisk.  Add the flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
4. Pour/spread two-thirds of batter into prepared pan.  Pour filling over batter, spreading evenly.  Carefully drop the remaining batter and preserves by spoonfuls over filling;  swirl together using the tip of a knife to marble.