Ghostly Halloween Cheesecake Brownies

For this Halloween, I was inspired by photos I'd seen all over of a chocolate bark design using white chocolate to create ghosts on a dark chocolate backdrop. I wanted to try a similar design, but thought I could make it work in a cheesecake brownie - and these are the results!

The process was a fair bit more time consuming than I had expected. It turns out that cheesecake batter is significantly more difficult to maneuver than white chocolate would be - go figure... 

To make the ghosts, I first poured a base of brownie batter and started dropping small spoonfuls of cheesecake batter on top to form rounds that would be the foundation of my ghosts. After laying down several dollops, I used a skewer to start dragging the cheesecake dollops out into a more teardrop or comma-esque shape (and, in some cases, giving them little arms). Finally, I used little drops of brownie batter to make the eyes and spooky mouths! 

Cheesecake batter is denser than brownie batter, so it starts to sink a little as it settles - just something to be aware of. It's a little tricky to keep the cheesecake and brownie batters from mixing too much as you drag out the ghosts' tails, but thankfully mistakes aren't too hard to correct either - you can dip a clean skewer to remove traces of brownie batter from the cheesecake parts, for instance.

I used my favorite quick brownie recipe for the base, and separately mixed together an 8oz package of cream cheese, 1 large egg, and 1/4 cup white sugar for the cheesecake batter. (Make sure your cream cheese is fully softened! If it's cold in your home, "room temperature" may not mean properly softened - you want it to be smooth and easily spreadable all the way through. I still had more lumps in mine than I would have liked... baking with cream cheese when the weather gets colder is truly a pain.) I popped them in the oven at 350F and let them bake for about 35min total.

All in all, these were delicious and such a cute visual dessert! I would absolutely make them again for a super festive addition to any Halloween snack spread. And, of course, you can just make delicious regular cheesecake brownies by randomly swirling the cheesecake batter on top rather than trying to make ghosts out of it :) Hope you give these a try, and enjoy!