Cheesecake Brownies

I love sugar and so does our kitty Stretch. I’ll start by telling you a little about Stretch. Stretch came into our lives in November as a birthday gift for our two-year old daughter who loves anything kitty. Stretch is one of those kitties that makes you love her because she is so determined and so bad. If Stretch wants to do it, Stretch does it. Stretch and I are constantly at battle over two things, the birdcage and the kitchen counter. She will not stop pestering our birds; although now I think they like to see her get in trouble. It’s a little bit like Sylvester and Tweety Bird. The other thing she does that irritates me to no end is getting on our kitchen counter. She has run of the whole house. All I ask of her is that she not get on the counter. I will say that she is getting at little better about getting up on the counters, but just a little bit.

Last night I decided to make some Cheesecake Brownies out of my “I Love Sugar” cookbook because well…I love sugar. I had all the ingredients in my refrigerator so that was a bonus. You guys should make these brownies. They are so good and such a showstopper. Make them, eat a few, run a few extra miles then give the rest away.
So, I made my brownies, all under the very watchful eyes of Stretch. I was so proud of her. She never even tried to get on the counters the entire time I was in the kitchen. I thought to myself, maybe Stretch has finally figured out the rules. I do get that when I’m cooking fish she just can’t help her little kitty self. Sugar… not a kitty thing? Well as you can see, Stretch loves sugar too. My brownies are so pretty and like all good bloggers I needed pictures of them.

See her little nose in the picture?

Now, see her in time out?

Cheesecake Brownies from “I Love Sugar” cookbook
Ingredients:
¾ C butter
3 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa
1 C Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Cup All-purpose Flour

Cheesecake Mix
1 C Ricotta Cheese
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease an 11x 7inch pan.
Melt Butter in a medium saucepan, remove from the heat, and stir in the cocoa and sugar. Beat in the eggs, then add the flour and stir to mix evenly. Pour into the prepared pan.

For the Cheesecake mix, beat together the ricotta, sugar, and egg, then drop teaspoonfuls of the mixture over the chocolate mixture. Use a metal spatula to swirl the mixtures lightly together.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until just firm to the touch. Cool in the pan, then cut into bars or squares.