Today, I sent my man off to work with a double batch of these babies.

You may be saying to yourself, “But Gary… you go to such great lengths in the kitchen, and then you let MG take all those brownies to work with him?”

And I’d answer, “yes.” Because when the hubby goes to work with cheesecake brownies made from scratch, his stage (he’s an animator) becomes the focal point of the production offices.

When his stage becomes the focal point of the production offices, he’s more readily able to showcase not only his brilliant animating skills, but also his winning personality and magical blue eyes.

When he showcases his brilliant animating skills, his winning personality and magical blue eyes, co-workers say, “Wow, that Michael Granberry is something special!”

When co-workers say, ”Wow, that Michael Granberry is something special!” they’re more likely to throw promotions, raises and multi-million dollar production deals his way.

When co-workers throw promotions, raises and multi-million dollar production deals his way, he becomes a Hollywood hotshot, all his career dreams come true, and I get a swimming pool!

So yes, the brownies go to work with MG.  Just like the oatmeal truffle cookies did last week, and the yet-to-be-determined dessert will next week.

And the week after that, and the week after that, and the week after that.

And whenever Michael comes home with good news from the office, I close my eyes, smile, and say to him, “I can almost smell the chlorine already!”

Cheesecake Marbled Browines

• 1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt

For the cheesecake batter…

• 8 ounces cream cheese, well softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chunks to top the combined batter once mixed

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chopped chocolate and the butter into a pan and simmer, stirring regularly to keep it from burning.

Once melted, remove from the stove, and whisk in the eggs, vanilla, salt and sugar. Once combined, whisk in the flour and once combined again, pour into a well-greased 8″ by 8″ pan.

Over to the cheesecake batter.  Whisk together all the cheesecake ingredients until well-combined.  THE CREAM CHEESE MUST BE VERY SOFTENED or it will just stick to the whisk in giant clumps and go absolutely nowhere.  Once combined… the real fun begins!

Bring them both together.

Use a small butter knife to blend the two together and achieve the marbled look that makes these puppies so much fun to take pictures of.  Then, top them off with your chocolate chips or dark chocolate chunks.  Cook for 30-35 minutes.  I used the standard “dipping in a toothpick” method to see when they were done.  Just a tiny touch of batter coming out on the toothpick is when I pull them out to cool.