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Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies with Kahlúa Peppermint Mocha

These dense fudgy brownies with minty cheesecake swirled into them are a perfect balance of chocolate, mint and rich cheesecake. If you like your brownies super minty, consider adding an additional 1/2 teaspoon to the cheesecake batter but I prefer to have a more subtle mint so it doesn’t overpower the brownie. The secret to the balance of deep flavors is using the limited edition Kahlúa Peppermint Mocha in the brownie part. I used a little bit of food coloring in the cheesecake to get the red and green swirls but if you are food coloring adverse, skip that part as it’s purely decorative. If you can’t find the limited edition Kahlúa Peppermint Mocha, just use regular Kahlúa and add a 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract to the brownie mix instead. Note that the cheesecake batter calls for cream cheese at room temperature. If you use cold cream cheese the batter will be lumpy so plan accordingly or place the still foil wrapped cream cheese in warm water for a few minutes to help bring it up to room temperature.

By eatthelove · From Open Recipes · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Peppermint and vanilla work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 459 recipes mention both. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓

The recipe

25 brownies
Prep15 min
Cook30 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment, leaving overhang on the sides.

  2. Melt the butter and dark chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

  3. Beat the cream cheese and 1/4 cup white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg yolk, 1 tablespoon flour and peppermint extract. Divide in half and tint one portion green and the other red.

  4. Whisk the 1 cup white sugar and dark brown sugar into the cooled chocolate. Beat in the 2 large eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.

  5. Dissolve the instant coffee in the Kahlúa Peppermint Mocha and stir it into the batter.

  6. Whisk the 3/4 cup flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and kosher salt together. Fold into the batter until just combined.

  7. Spread the brownie batter in the prepared pan. Dollop the green and red cheesecake mixture over the top and swirl gently with a knife.

  8. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top looks set and a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. The cheesecake layer should reach 160°F (71°C) in the center.

  9. Cool completely in the pan, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Lift out using the parchment and cut into 25 squares, dipping the knife in hot water between cuts.

By eatthelove. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Peppermint + vanillatop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together459 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together10,018 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Cream cheese + buttertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Cream cheese + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,934 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs