These Cherry Cheesecake Brownies start with fudgy homemade brownies, topped with cheesecake and cherry pie filling. They are the BEST brownies! Includes step by step recipe video
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When I came up with these brownies, I thought I was a complete genius.
I ate a lot of cheesecake in my University days.
When we lived in the city while I attended, we had a weekly “tradition”, if you will, with friends of ours: the guys went for wings and the girls went for cheesecake.
Kind of the best tradition ever, right?!?
Now that we have kids and don’t live in the city anymore, we don’t eat nearly as much cheesecake. It’s pretty sad, but luckily there are quite a few treats that are coming out of this kitchen.
These Cherry Cheesecake Brownies are one of my favorites (and I don’t make them nearly enough!), but this No Bake Oreo Cheesecake or even this classic Easy Cheesecake Recipe will do the trick just fine!
Luckily though, my good friend and cheesecake-eating partner was out for a visit the day that I made these the first time, so I had someone to share them with. She approved, and so here we are today!
Variations on these Cherry Cheesecake Brownies:
- You can swap the cherry pie filling for any flavor of pie filling — strawberry, blueberry or mixed berry would also be great!
- For a holiday twist, color the cheesecake filling with green food coloring (don’t add any mint flavoring though, I’m not sure mint and cherry are a good idea!)
- Make individual cherry cheesecake brownies in a muffin pan or mini muffin pan — use paper liners for easy removal
Tips and Tricks for Making the Cherry Cheesecake Brownies:
- The batter will be thick, so you won’t be able to spread the top layer well. That’s okay! It will just give you a peek of what’s inside.
- I use whole wheat flour because in this recipe you really can’t tell the difference. All purpose works perfectly as well!
- You can healthify the recipe slightly by using light cream cheese (which I usually do) and reduced sugar pie filling or making your own.
Cherry Cheesecake Brownies
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
Brownies:
- 1 cup butter melted, cooled slightly
- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar 500g
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or sub all-purpose) 190g
- 1 cup cocoa 95g
- 1/2 tsp salt
Cherry Cheesecake filling
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 can cherry pie filling
Instructions
- Line a 9×13″ pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spray — this makes for easy clean up. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- BrowniesIn a large bowl, whisk together melted butter and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs and whisk until combined.
- Add flour, cocoa and salt and stir until combined. Batter will be thick.
- Spread half (or just over half) of the batter into the bottom of the pan.
- Cherry Cheesecake filling:With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, egg, vanilla and sugar until smooth.
- Spread the cream cheese mixture over the brownie batter. Top with spoonfuls of cherry pie filling and spread slightly.
- Drop spoonfuls of remaining brownie batter on top of the pie filling. You won’t be able to spread the brownie batter easily, you will just try to cover a good amount (but certainly all) of the filling with the batter. Smooth out the batter the best that you can.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes, until center appears set. Note that your brownies might still have a little jiggle to them — this is because of all of that gooey deliciousness below. I baked mine for 35 minutes in a dark non-stick pan.
- Let cool to room temperature before cutting. They will cut more easily if refrigerated for a few hours, but I couldn’t wait, so I didn’t!
Nutrition Information
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Tag @thereciperebelPost and recipe updated from February 3, 2015
Deborah L. says
First time trying this and it was a hit, now everyone wants the receipt. I absolutely loved them.
Karen says
I was wondering if you can use more than a half can of the cherry pie filling, and maybe more of the other ingredients in the cherry cheesecake filling.
Ashley Fehr says
You can, but the mixture would be very thick and it wouldn’t bake quite right. It would be too wet and too thick. If you want to use a full can, I would double the entire recipe and bake in two pans
Taylor says
How long would you bake it in the muffin tins?
Ashley Fehr says
I’ve never tried, sorry! I would start at 20 minutes and adjust as you think necessary
Valerie says
Great Recipe. Could you use silicone brownie molds for this recipe?
Ashley Fehr says
I would think that would work great!
Debra says
Do they need to be refrigerated?
Ashley Fehr says
They are best refrigerated after a few hours
Sarah Loyd says
But do they need to be refrigerated after baking? Are they okay if they sit out completely??
Ashley Fehr says
They can sit out for several hours but I would refrigerate them after them. Refrigerating will also help them to slice better.
Mildred Creasy says
If I use a box brownie mix is it just one box?
Ashley Fehr says
You will want a brownie mix to fit a 9×13″ pan
Pam says
Can a box brownie mix work with this?
Ashley Fehr says
Yes absolutely!
Lori says
A delectable dessert! The only modifications I made since I ran out of sugar, I used 1/3 cup of brown sugar when making the cream cheese mixture and after refrigerating overnight, topped with chocolate frosting from the can.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Lori!
Donna Long says
It is raw powdered chocolate or sugared cocoa powder like used for drinks. Seems a cup of Hersheys unsugared raw chocolate would be an awfully lot.
The Recipe Rebel says
Unsweetened cocoa powder (as it’s sometimes labeled) is a standard ingredient in homemade brownies.
Liz says
Can you make it with fresh cherries?
Ashley Fehr says
Yes, I think that would work great! I would just chop and add them in place of the filling
anne-marie toothill says
I altered this recipe a little bit because the husband does not like fruit. After I put the brownie mix in the pan, I put scor toffee chips on it. I then put chocolate chips in my cream cheese mixture and put that on top. Everyone loved them.
Ashley Fehr says
That’s a great idea!
Johanne Thompson says
This is truly an amazing desert!! It is now a family requested favorite!!! Thank you for sharing your recipe with thae world!!!
Ashley Fehr says
I’m glad you liked them!
Dana Gilberg says
I have made this with yellow cake in place of the brownie, and then topped the cherry filling and cheesecake with spoonfulls of sugar cookie dough. Yum. Cannot wait to try it with brownie!
Ashley Fehr says
That’s such a great idea!
Liz says
Hi Ashley, I am thinking of making this dessert soon..just needed to confirm a few points. I will be using an 8″ pan..I will need to divide the recipe Into half right ? What abt the egg? Do I need to beat it and then use half of it ? Also what would the approximate time of baking be ? Would it be more or less than your time mentioned above ?plz excuse the number of queries 😊
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Liz! You would halve the recipe, yes, or use two 8″ pans (you could also use a few muffin cups). I would use just the egg white or yolk, rather than try to split it after beating. I’m not sure on exact cook time, your best bet will be to bake for 20 minutes then keep a close eye on it for doneness.
Heather says
Would these freeze well? There’s just 2 of us, so I’d like to make 2 – 8×8 pans and save one for later if possible.
Ashley Fehr says
Yes they freeze perfectly!
Richard Scott Moore says
So first off i have to say this recipe is superb. Amazing flavor. I unfortunately made two mistakes, taking it out too early and adding chocolate chips to th top. Apart from being very messy they are absolutely amazing. Thank you for this recipe
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Richard! Allowing them to chill completely in the fridge will help them to set before slicing
Igor says
Would it work if I reduce sugar from 2 1/2 cups to 1 cup. 2 1/2 seem too much sugar? 😊
Ashley Fehr says
I guess you can try. I test my recipes thoroughly so I obviously don’t recommend removing 1.5 cups of one ingredient.
Rita says
Can use you a brownie mix from a box
Ashley Fehr says
Yep 🙂
Janet Sketchley says
So tasty! An instant favourite.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Janet!
Laura says
These look delicious and I am looking forward to making them. I’m wondering if I could make them in a smaller Springform pan and perhaps just use half of the ingredients once mixed and then the other half fill evenly in to muffin cup tins.
Ashley Fehr says
I think that should work, but I’ve never tried it!
Deborah says
Wondering if I could make these like cupcakes?
Scha says
Hi how many grams is 1 8 oz package cream cheese? Do i need to half it i am baking on 8 inch pan?
Ashley Fehr says
An 8 oz package of cream cheese is 250 grams. You will probably want to halve the whole recipe if you are baking in an 8″ pan
Scha says
Thank you. Does the melted butter needs to be warm or room temp when mixed with sugar?
Ashley Fehr says
It’s not necessary, I mix it while warm.
Brooke says
These are delicious! (I made them with strawberries instead of cherries) Just a quick question.. do the leftovers need to be refrigerated?
Ashley Fehr says
I would refrigerate them yes! They won’t last too long at room temperature because of the cream cheese and the moisture from the fruit.
Melissa says
FYI, I used a whole can of cherry pie filling and just baked an extra 10 minutes (total of 45 min.) and it worked great!
Melissa says
Oh, and I used a box brownie mix to cut down on time. 😉 Though I’m sure your brownie recipe is great! Sounds amazing!
Ashley Fehr says
That is so good to know, thanks! I’m so happy you liked them!
Yvette says
Hi there, I made this last night and it was sooo good…but I think I might have to cook it a little longer. Is the final result suppose to be like a regular brownie..and then gooey parts? I think my plan was a hit smaller. Can I point back in the oven today or is that not ok?
Ashley Fehr says
I don’t think it will work to put it back in the oven after such a long time. The pie filling does mean there are gooier parts, but the brownie should still be baked but fudgy.
ritaearnest1960@gmail.com says
I was wondering if I cld use the box brownie mix , so glad I found someone who did it to
Klsy says
any idea how I can modify the ingredient to fit a square pan?
my oven is too small for a 9×13
Ashley Fehr says
I would halve the recipe for an 8×8 or 9×9″ pan