I love making homemade brownies, and have several variations published on my website. Have you seen my Brownies and Bars category? Hello, chocolate! Today I’m taking everything we love about layered mint chocolate brownies, but instead of mint frosting, let’s add a simple mint-kissed cheesecake batter. YUM. Channeling my chocolate cupcakes with mint chip frosting, we’ll also throw in a good handful of mini chocolate chips. Just like a good ol’ scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream!
These Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies Are:
Made from 2 simple batters The best of cheesecake and a batch of brownies combined—and with less work! A smooth pairing of chocolate and mint—if you love the flavors in mint chocolate cake, you’ll surely enjoy them in these brownies A texture-lover’s dream, pairing chewy, fudgy brownies with creamy cheesecake A favorite St. Patrick’s Day recipe, but equally festive for the winter season Easy to slice, stack, and transport to any gathering
You have to prepare 2 separate batters for today’s brownies, but don’t let that deter you from trying the recipe—both are simple, and take just a few minutes to prep.
Make the Brownie Batter
The brownie batter starts with my frosted brownies recipe. Out of all of my brownie recipes, I found this one works wonderfully (with a few small tweaks) for swirling. It uses a little less butter and flour than my other homemade brownies recipe, giving you an ultra-dense and fudge-like brownie—but one that isn’t too thick to swirl. For real, deep, dark chocolate flavor, use pure melted baking chocolate instead of cocoa powder. You can find baking chocolate in the baking aisle sold in 4-ounce bars. Baker’s or Ghirardelli are my top choices. You also need butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, and a little salt. Combine everything together in your mixing bowl and set aside as you prepare the cheesecake batter.
Then Prepare the Cheesecake Batter
You need just a handful of basic ingredients for the cheesecake portion of this recipe. Many of the same staples as regular cheesecake like cream cheese, sugar, and an egg yolk, plus a few extras like peppermint extract, mini chocolate chips, and optional green food coloring. Grab an electric mixer (handheld or stand mixer) for this portion. Like when making cheesecake pie and no-bake cheesecake, use full-fat brick cream cheese in the cheesecake batter. The fat content helps the cheesecake swirl set; cream cheese spread that you buy in tubs simply won’t give the same results here. Now let’s talk chocolate chips… a favorite topic of mine. 😉 While regular chocolate chips will work, I recommend using mini chocolate chips. I use them in my Amaretto cheesecake recipe and taste testers RAVE about the delightful texture contrast. Mini chips also make the swirling step easier. Plus, by using minis, you get more chocolate chips in every bite!
Success Tip: Peppermint Extract vs. Mint Extract
If you’ve made my mint chocolate cake, or really any of the mint chocolate recipes on my site, you’ll notice I use peppermint extract instead of mint extract. I find that mint extract can taste like toothpaste. Mint extract contains both peppermint and spearmint (toothpaste vibes!), while peppermint extract is just pure, strong peppermint.
How to Assemble Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies
Line an 11×7-inch baking pan with parchment paper (helps the bars lift out easily for cutting). Pour brownie batter into the pan first, reserving about 1/4 cup of batter. Dollop cheesecake batter on top of the brownie batter. Spoon the remaining 1/4 cup of brownie batter on top. Using a knife, create a swirl throughout the pan. Simply glide it around, just like you would if making cinnamon swirl quick bread. (Or take a look at the video for my white chocolate raspberry cheesecake bars, noting that I use a toothpick there because that batter is much thinner.)
And then it’s time to bake! Be sure to cool the brownies completely before slicing and serving.
More Mint Chocolate Favorites
Mint Chocolate Checkerboard Cookies Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies White Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes Mint Chocolate Swirl Bark Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Fudge
