Munchie Monday: Cheesecake Brownies with Problems!

Sometimes things seem like they are going really well then, all of a sudden, whammo! things go the other way.  That was the case early this morning when I decided to make the cheesecake brownies that I was going to make from a mix I purchased from my friends at The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho.  

This is the story.

Yesterday I purchased the cream cheese needed for the cheesecake part of the brownies.  This morning I got up early to make the brownies in time to take them to the office for a final festive food day before returning home to Vermont.  Because I have been engrossed in packing over the last few weeks, and much more so this week, the kitchen has gone to the dogs. In fact, it was a real hellhole when I was ready to go to work this morning.  There was one counter that was somewhat empty but clean, so that is where I chose to work. 

The oven was set pre-heating to 350 degrees F.

The brownie mix went into a large bowl.

The eggs, butter, water, and oil went into another bowl and were beaten with a fork then mixed into the brownie mix and set aside.

The cream cheese and vanilla were put into a separate bowl and beaten until light.  The sugar and egg yolks were added and I started beating them into the cream cheese when ALL OF A SUDDEN, WHAM!!  The side of the bowl blew out!  That is one problem with using cheap chintzy dollar store items.  There was one bonus with this because, as I mentioned before, the counter on which I was working started out clean!

After pulling out the two pieces of broken bowl and tossing them into the trash bin, I scooped up the quarter cup of cheesecake mixture, added it back into the bowl, and finished the combining but with a spoon this time, not the little hand mixer.  As it happens, this was the first time I had used the mixer...

Note the big hole in the bowl!  Betty Crocker rigid bowl from Dollar Tree.  BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

With the cheesecake mixture ready, I spread half the brownie mix into a greased and foiled 9 by 13 pan then put on half the cheesecake mix in five big dollops, then more brownie mix which I more or less smoothed out then the last of the cheesecake dollops.  At this point I sort of spread, sort of swirled everything together and put it in the oven.

Giving one last look at the brownie mix envelope before trashing it, I noticed I was supposed to be baking at 325 degrees F.  Whoops!  So I canceled the oven then turned it back on to the correct temperature.

The brownies baked for 35 minutes but I did not think they were done so I gave them another 10 minutes.  At that point I was still unsure so I shut of the heat and set the timer for an additional 10 minutes, finally removing them from the oven when the timer sounded.  I was ready to go back to bed for a nap!!

After almost two hours cooling, I brought them to the office, lifted the foil out of the pan, cut the brownies, returned them to the pan, and put the pan in the refrigerator.  I think they will be tasty when cold.

During the two hour hiatus I took about a fifteen minute nap break then leaped back up because I couldn't stand the kitchen mess on my mind one moment more.  I can stand a whole lot of mess, but today I discovered my limit!  So now as I sit here typing, I can say the kitchen is back up to a higher mess level. It is not clean and tidy, but so much better that when we get home tonight it won't take long to get things together, then I can do the final packing (and shipping) then have the last few days to do some actual apartment cleaning for the new missionary couple who will arrive on the 15th.