Raspberry Ribbon Cheesecake Brownies

This morning I went to work with goodies in tow.  We were having a department lunch, and my contribution were brownies and cookies that I baked last night.  I looked through my many cookbooks, but the recipe I decided on was one I used to make often, though not at all recently -- raspberry ribbon cheesecake brownies, my own original recipe.  I take a favorite standard brownie recipe (a mix worked just fine for me) and to that add cheesecake batter, a few tablespoons of good raspberry preserves (thank you, Catherine Golden, for the gift of your prize-winning jam) and a sprinkling of chocolate chips.  These simple ingredients transform everyday brownies into an elegant dessert, one that elicited "oohs" and "ahhhs" from my co-workers, and would from yours as well, I'm sure!  They LOVE it when I bake.  The other dessert I made were "almond joy" chocolate chip cookies, though I only had walnuts, but basically, they were my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with nuts and shredded coconut, also a big hit!

Here's the brownie recipe (cookie recipe tomorrow):

Raspberry Ribbon Cheesecake Brownies
Oven - 325 degrees F

1 family-size brownie mix or recipe for 13x9 batch, mixed according to directions
4 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup raspberry preserves
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Spray bottom of 13x9 pan with vegetable spray, or grease with butter.

Mix brownie mix according to package directions, or make a batch of brownie batter for a 13x9 pan.  Spread batter in pan.

In separate mixing bowl, beat 1/2 cup (4 oz.) softened cream cheese with granulated sugar, vanilla, egg, and flour.  Drop dollops of cream cheese batter randomly over brownie batter.

In microwave-safe container, warm preserves until they are softened, about 30 seconds.  Stir with a fork to smooth them out, and then pour randomly over cheesecake dollops.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over cheesecake and preserves. 

With a knife, marble the batters together, first in one direction, and then the other.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 30 minutes, until cheesecake areas begin to brown just a little bit at the edges.  I made mine in an 11x7 pan, and needed to bake them for 40 minutes.  Just be sure to check the appearance of the cheesecake - when it just begins to brown around its edges, the brownies are done!  You do not want to overbake these and make them too dry.  The toothpick test doesn't work on these - you want moist crumbs on the toothpick, just not wet batter.  If the toothpick comes out clean, you waited a little too long.  Just a helpful  hint...