Irish cream liqueur is truly a gift from the gods. If you have never tasted it, please do me a favour and run to the store now and buy yourself a bottle. It's delicious on the rocks during a summer day or - my favourite - mixed into a rich hot chocolate on a cold, snowy day.
So how do you make Irish cream better? Add it to brownies, of course! This recipe is a play on your typical cream cheese brownie, made better by adding liqueur to the cream cheese mixture. The nutty, creamy, chocolate-vanilla flavour of the Irish cream blends perfectly into the mild sweetness of the cream cheese. Drooling yet?
I used a basic marbling technique to combine the cream cheese mixture with the brownie batter. Not only does this make a pretty pattern on top, but also helps to reduce over-mixing. If you are unsure how to marble, check out Tori Avey's marbling tutorial here. The only difference is that I made my batter dollops smaller. Don't worry if your first attempt is a bit wonky, these will taste delicious no matter how they look. But do make sure to share photos of your creations in the comments section, would love to see how they turn out!
Bailey's Cream Cheese Brownies
Ingredients
- CREAM CHEESE FILLING
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 tbl Irish Cream Liqueur (ie Bailey's, Duggan's, etc.)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 /4 c. sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ---
- BROWNIE BATTER
- 1/2 c. melted butter
- 1 c. sugar
- 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 c. coca powder
- 1/2 c. all purpose flour
- 1 oz finely chopped baking chocolate
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat your oven to 375F and grease a 9x9 metal baking pan.
- Step 2 First, make your cream cheese filling. In a medium sized bowl, place your softened cream cheese, egg yolk, vanilla, sugar and Irish Cream. Use a hand/stand mixer, mix until well combined and smooth. Set aside.
- Step 3 To make your brownie batter, place all of your wet ingredients into a bowl (butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla) and mix on low speed for 1-2 minutes. You want the sugar to really meld well with the other ingredients for a great end texture.
- Step 4 In a separate bowl quickly mix your coca powder, flour and salt, then add to your wet mixture. DO NOT OVERMIX! You can simply use a fork or rubber spatula to combine. Fold in your finely chopped baking chocolate.
- Step 5 Pour half of your brownie mix into your greased pan and spread evenly (this will be a thin layer).
- Step 6 Now take your cream cheese filling and spoon generous tablespoons over the brownie mix. Then, take the rest of the brownie batter and spoon into the gaps between the cream cheese mix. Your brownies should now have somewhat of a checkerboard pattern.
- Step 7 Using a butter knife, make a vertical zig-zag pattern through the batter. Remove the knife, clean, then repeat this same pattern horizontally. You should now see a marbled pattern on the top of your brownies. Be careful not to over-swirl!
- Step 8 Place brownies in the top shelf of your preheated oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350F. Cook for 25-30 minutes, or until the center is set and a toothpick comes out relatively clean (a few wet crumbles is okay!)
- Step 9 Cool completely before cutting and serving!
