Attendance Brownies

I made the brownies below for one of my classes, because they had perfect attendance for two weeks straight!  But... I forgot them in my fridge, so we ate them on Thanksgiving and then I made the second recipe of brownies and my students loved them. (Both recipes found on Tasty Kitchen.)

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

• FOR THE BROWNIES:
• 6 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
• 1-½ cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Canned Pumpkin
• ⅓ cups Water
• 1-¾ cup All-purpose Flour
• 1-½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Ground Ginger
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 
  
• FOR THE CHEESECAKE SWIRL:
• 8       ounces, weightCream
• Cheese, At
• RoomTemperature
• ¼ cups Granulated Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 whole Egg
• For The Chocolate Swirl
• ½ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Shortening

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15×10 inch pan with parchment paper or spray the pan generously with cooking spray.

For the brownies: Mix together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, pumpkin, and water, and whisk well, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together; stir this into the batter. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.

For the Cheesecake Swirl: In a clean bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg and beat just until it’s mixed in.

For the Chocolate Swirl: Place the chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave safe bowl. Heat, until melted and smooth stirring every 30 seconds for a total of about 90 seconds. Or melt over low heat on the stovetop stirring continuously.

Drop alternating tablespoons of cheesecake and chocolate mixture over pumpkin batter, then drag a knife through the top to give it a swirled effect.

Bake on center rack of your preheated oven until pumpkin batter springs back when touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, and then chill for an hour or more. Cut into 16 bars.

Double Chocolate Brownies

½ cups All-purpose Flour

⅓ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

¼ teaspoons Salt

¼ teaspoons Baking Powder

1 cup Good Quality Semisweet Chocolate Chips

1 stick Butter, Melted

1 cup White Sugar

2 whole Eggs

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

½ cups Roughly Chopped Walnuts


Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder; mix in the chocolate chips. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, pour in the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla and whisk just until combined. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined; do not overmix.

Spread the batter into a lightly greased 8-inch square pan and sprinkle the top with walnuts.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into brownies comes out with a few crumbs. Let cool for about 15 minutes before cutting.