Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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!


19 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you so much! They are delicious, too. :) Thank you for stopping by..love your name! Hope to see you again soon!

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  2. These are so cute! Love their whimsical look!

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    1. Thank you, Maria! The swirls are a lot of fun. :) Thank you for visiting Life Is Sweets...hope you'll stop by again, soon!

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  3. Your Shamrock Brownies are just awesome, they are very pretty and the recipe looks delicious! Hope you are having a great week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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    1. Miz Helen, you are always so sweet! It's always my pleasure to share with FPT...and you're getting several messages from me today saying so. ;) I appreciate each of your comments and features. Thanks for taking the time!!

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  4. Oh I love these~ I think they're the perfect shade of green!

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    1. Thanks, Mary! I think I would still make them a little lighter. I guess it's hard to be okay with something when you have a vivid idea of what you were going for, LOL. Thank you so much for stopping by Life Is Sweets! Please visit again soon!!

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  5. SUCH a wonderful idea! My kiddos would love them!

    -Heather
    @ www.made-famous-by.com

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    1. Thank you, Heather! Thanks for hosting you party each week...it's so wonderful that we can all share with and inspire eachother!! Have a great weekend. :)

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  6. Replies
    1. Awww, so sweet, Sweets!! Thanks for the compliment and for visiting Life Is Sweets. Come back soon. :)

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  7. OMG!! This looks amazing! And I bet it tastes amazing too!

    Hugs,
    Deb

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    1. They really ARE delicious, and certainly not just for St. Patrick's Day! You can make and enjoy them any time of the year. :) Thanks so much for visiting Life Is Sweets...please come by again soon!

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  8. Just a quick question. The recipe says to remove 3/4 of the dough and then add 2 Tbs of milk to it and set it aside. The next direction says to spread the remaining dough into the pan. Does this mean the remaining 1/4 dough goes in the bottom of the pan and the 3/4 dough that we set aside is what gets dolloped on the top at the end? I would have thought it would be the other way around? Any clarification you can give would be great. Thanks! - Kristen

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    1. Oh my gosh, Kristen! That was a terrible mistake on my part! I've corrected it now so it should be clear. Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention!! I hope these turn out great for you. :) Hope to see you again here soon!

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    2. Thanks so much for the quick reply! On my way to my kitchen to make them right now! - Kristen

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    3. No problem...thank you for alerting me to the error! I hope the brownies turned out great for you!! :)

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  9. I think the color is PERFECT!!! Can't wait to make them.

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