Easy Cherry Cheesecake Brownie Bars

Cherry, chocolate, and cheesecake: one of the best flavor combos out there! Good thing these are super easy to make and impressive any time of the year! Feel free to swap out cherry filling with raspberry or blueberry for a fun twist! This is what you'll need for a 9 x 13 pan:

Photo bypintrest

Brownies:

• 1 cup butter melted, cooled slightly
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup cocoa (we like the special dark)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Cherry Cheesecake filling

• 1 8 oz package cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 can cherry pie filling

Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a 9×13" pan with parchment paper, then spray it with cooking spray for easy cleanup. Next, in a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar until smooth. Add in the vanilla and eggs, whisking until fully combined. Stir in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt, creating a thick batter. Spread a bit more than half of the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

For the cherry cheesecake filling, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, egg, vanilla, and sugar until smooth. Then spread it over the brownie batter. Next, spoon the cherry pie filling on top, spreading it out slightly.

Finally, drop spoonfuls of the remaining brownie batter over the cherry layer, attempting to cover most of it (it doesn't need to be perfect though). Smooth the top as much as possible.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the center appears set, keeping in mind the brownies may have a slight jiggle due to the gooey filling underneath. Cool to room temperature before cutting. For easier slicing, refrigerate the brownies for a few hours. Enjoy!

*Notes:
Feel free to swap out the cherry pie filling with another flavor. Just make sure that it's about equal thickness so that the bars set up correctly.