Red Velvet Cheesecake brownies

I was looking for a some what easy dessert to put together for dinner last night.  I saw these, and thought I would give them a try.  Mine didn't come out quite as swirly as the original pictures, but they were very good anyway.  These came from Sweet Pea's Kitchen Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies.

Ingredients:

1.2 cup butter
2 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp red food coloring
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter the bottom and sides of an 8 inch pan (I used Pyrex).  Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both sides.  Butter the parchment.

2.  In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave.  Stir until combined and very smooth.  Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

3.  In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring.  Add chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.  Add flour and salt and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.

4.  Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.

5.  To prepare cheesecake mixture, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until smooth.  Distribute the cheesecake mixture in 8 dollops over batter in the pan.  Swirl in with a knife or spatula.

6.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set.  A knife inserted in to the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned.

7.  Let cool completely in pan on a cooling rack before lifting out the parchment paper to remove the brownies.

I thought these were really easy to make.  I didn't have any dark chocolate, so I used unsweetened chocolate and it still tasted great.  I also didn't have any liquid red food coloring, so I just added a large blob of red gel coloring.  We couldn't wait until they cooled completely to try them.  They were so good warm.  Even though they don't look as pretty as the original recipe, they were delicious.  I will certainly make these the next time I need a dessert for my husband's work.