A delicious holiday delicacy, these buttery snowflake spritz cookies are flavored with orange zest and cinnamon and are enhanced with an egg yolk. They are great at freezing.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 cupcakes |
Ingredients
- 1 (18.4 ounce) package brownie mix (such as Pillsbury®)
- ⅔ cup oil
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup water
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- Make the brownie batter: Mix brownie mix, oil, eggs, and water together in a bowl until well combined.
- Make the cheesecake batter: Mix cream cheese, sugar, butter, flour, and vanilla together in a separate bowl.
- Spoon brownie batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 1/2 full. Top with cheesecake batter, then spoon brownie batter over top. Reserve any remaining brownie batter for another use.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownie part comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
- Not all the brownie batter will be used in the cupcakes. The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of brownie batter. The actual amount of brownies consumed will vary.
- The directions given for the brownie batter are according to a Pillsbury mix. If using a different brand, follow the directions on the box.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 435 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 43 g |
| Cholesterol | 59 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 218 mg |
| Sugars | 9 g |
| Fat | 29 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Reading the reviews, I adjusted the recipe’s cheesecake to omit the flour and add 1 egg to the cheesecake mixture. I added 1 cup of chocolate chips to the brownie batter to ensure the desired brownie consistency. I lined the tins with cupcake paper liners, added half brownie and half cheesecake, swirling then together until it had a desired marble effect. The outcome couldn’t have been better in my opinion. The cheesecake consistency was spot on, the brownie was perfectly cooked. It was a match made in heaven. We will absolutely be making this again with the changes I suggested.
Very yummy! I followed the baking directions on the brownie box and as someone suggested I added an egg to the cheesecake mixture. One thing I would do differently is not to use the paper liners. A lot of the brownie stuck to it. Next time I am going to just spray the muffin tin well. Oh- I also drizzled some caramel (store bought) and chocolate glaze over each cupcake. It gave them a more finished look. Again very tasty!
DELISH!! I made these with a brownie mix that came with a small package of chocolate syrup. Hot out of the oven they tasted like the chocolate melting cake that is served on cruise ships!
This recipe is DIVINE! I can’t say enough good things about it! Easy to make, beautiful, and delicious! An instant hit in my household. Adding it to my usual repertoire!
So decadent!
I will absolutely make this recipe again. These went so fast, and everyone said it was a winner.
I made it with a fudge brownie mix. I added 2 eggs to the cheese portion because so many reviews said it didn’t have a cheesecake taste. I made 1 dozen, using all of both batters. The group I made them for said they were amazing. I will make them again!
One of my co-workers made it for my birthday (we always put in our birthday request) and to be honest it was okay. Flavor wise not what I was expecting. Cream cheese I could not taste.
Made recipe according to directions. Too much batter for 12 cupcakes. They were also not done after 20 minutes. I ended up throwing 10 out. Will not make these again.
I made this recipe as written, however, I used Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownie mix and after filling the batter into the cups had none left for the top. I placed a good fluffy dollop of cheesecake batter on top of each brownie set the timer for 25 minutes and placed them in the oven. After 25 minutes I checked them with my cake tester and the brownies were still raw. After checking my oven for temperature and trying to figure out why they were not cooking, my granddaughter Olivia, who is 13 years old, figured it out. The directions on the brownie box said to cook brownies for 50 minutes! So please check the cooking time on your brownie mix. I also added an egg to the cheesecake batter and it whipped up nice and fluffy. They were really good! Took one star off for not explaining different cooking times!
These came out excellent. Don’t expect cheesecake when you bite into cream cheese, you’ll be disappointed. If you want a true cheesecake it’s going to take more than just sweetening cream cheese. (or you can buy premade cheesecake filling in the store) These are fine as-is, and very tasty!
I made it exactly as directed and everyone went crazy for it.
Good recipe! I added one egg to the cheesecake batter to thin it out.
I was really disappointed with how these turned out. the texture of the cheesecake filling was odd compared to the brownie, and in turn was a bit off putting. I think if you swirled the cheesecake filling into the brownie batter it’d be more successful. they were easy to make, just nothing special. and while edible, not something I’d prefer or make again.
I made this for my school cooking project and my whole family loved it! Looking forward to making it again.
These were sinfully delicious!!! Mine looked more brown on top than the ones in the picture since I layered the cream cheese between the brownie mix as directed in the recipe. Definitely does not need any icing.
one word: amazing! i will definitely make these again but double my batch to 24 cupcakes. made these for a bake sale and they sold in less than an hour. super delish! i used the mocha brownie pilsbury kind 18.75oz or something like that. it had this amazing coffee/cheesecake flavor to it. so good!
Really easy and yummy! My family loves cheesecake brownies prepared this way, and have been asking for this almost weekly, since discovering this recipe (thank you for sharing). Last time I made this, I forgot the butter; however, it made no difference to the taste or texture, so I’ll continue to “forget” it the next time I make this again (next week!).
This recipe was great. I should’ve doubled it! We just used our homemade brownie recipe and it worked out well. I will definitely make these again!
Loved this very simple and easy, I looked up another recipe For a chocolate ganache put that on top of it and It made it 100 times better my whole family love it