Green Velvet Cheesecake Swirled Shamrock Brownies

This idea and recipe are totally from The Novice Chef's Marbled Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies.  She made incredible red velvet heart brownies marbled with cheesecake.  I was so in love with hers and wanted to bake them myself.  However, with St. Patrick's Day on the horizon I decided to make green velvet brownies in a shamrock shape.  They turned out okay, but The Novice Chef's look much better.  I can say, though, that they are DELICIOUS!!  This recipe is a keeper.  AND, she used the cut-out scraps to make a milkshake.  Wow.  She's a genius!  You should definitely visit her site, she has a lot of great things going on.

Green Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

recipe and idea from The Novice Chef

Green Velvet Layer:

3 1/4 cups  flour

2 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

4 tablespoons milk, divided

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons green food coloring

2 teaspoons white vinegar

Cheesecake Layer:

2 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened

3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Grease 13x18 inch jelly roll pan (I used a cookie sheet with raised sides)
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder, set aside.

• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons of milk, vanilla extract, green food coloring,  and white vinegar.

• Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until completely combined.
• The batter will be very thick, this is the texture you want.

• Remove 3/4 of the dough and place it in a medium bowl.
• Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk into the 1/4 of dough, set aside.

• Pour remaining 3/4 of the batter into pan.  Spread batter smooth with a spatula, making sure it reaches the edges of pan.

• In stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy.
• Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth with no lumps.

• Pour cream cheese mixture on top of green velvet brownie layer and spread until smooth, again, until it reaches the edges.

• Drop spoonfuls of remaining green velvet batter on top of the cheesecake layer.

• Using a knife, drag through green velvet and cheesecake to create swirls.

• Bake for 30 minutes (or until center is set and no longer jiggly), rotating pan 1/2 way through.  
• Let cool completely before cutting shapes with a cutter.

As I said, these taste phenomenal, but they could have been a little cuter!  I have something to aspire to, which is fine because I will make these again. I think I will use a little less green food coloring next time.  I did scale it back from 1 tablespoon the red velvet called for, but I think these still turned out a little too dark.  Anyway, my husband LOVED them.  Since he is not a sweets eater, I'm always thrilled to find something to bake for him on special occasions.  

Tomorrow, I'm going to take a break from green and make something springy and colorful.   Stay tuned!