Cream Cheese Pumpkin Brownies

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil leaving overhang and spray with cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.

Brownies:

1. In a large microwave-safe bowl, add the butter, chocolate, and heat on high power to melt, about 2 minutes total. Stop to check and stir after 1 minute. Heat in 15-second increments until chocolate has melted and mixture can be stirred smooth. Allow mixture to cool momentarily before adding the eggs so they don’t scramble.
2. Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla, optional coffee, optional espresso granules (neither make brownies taste like coffee and both enhance and round out the chocolate flavor), optional salt, and whisk vigorously to combine.
3. Add the flour and stir until smooth and combined.
4. Turn half the batter out into prepared pan (I draw an imaginary line down the center of the batter with my spatula while it’s in the mixing bowl and eyeballing it, I pour half into pan); reserve remainder.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until top has just set in the center; don’t overbake because pan is going back into oven. While brownies bake, prepare the filling.

Filling:

1. In a medium bowl, add the egg, cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and whisk to combine or beat with a hand mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes on medium-high power.
2. Add the flour and stir until smooth and combined.
3. After brownies have baked for about 15 minutes, remove pan from oven and using a spatula carefully, gently, and evenly spread the filling mixture over the brownies.
4. Evenly top with reserved brownie batter, smoothing it lightly with a spatula. It’s normal for it to have thickened up some. I find it easiest to add golf ball-sized dollops of batter around the pan and then smooth them together with a spatula, taking care to do so gently as to not disturb the pumpkin layer. A little messy is okay because it’ll be covered with ganache.
5. Bake for about 24 to 25 minutes, or until center has just set and is no longer glossy. The toothpick test is unreliable because you’re going to hit gooey pumpkin so it’s better to just eyeball it.
6. Place pan on a wire rack to cook while you make the ganache.

Ganache:

1. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add the chocolate chips, cream, and heat on high power to melt, about 2 minutes total. Stop to check and stir after 1 minute. Heat in 15-second increments until chocolate has mostly melted and mixture can be whisked smooth.
2. Pour ganache over brownies (it’s okay they haven’t cooled completely), smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and pushing ganache into the corners.
3. Allow brownies to cool uncovered at room temp for about 1 hour. Cover with a sheet of foil to prevent fridge smells, and place pan in fridge for about 3 hours (overnight is best), or until sufficiently chilled for slicing.
4. Lift brownies out using foil overhang, slice, and serve. At room temp the ganache doesn’t set up much, but in the fridge it turns thicker without becoming rock solid.