The blondies that will blow your mind: brown butter raspberry swirl cheesecake blondies! With tangy cheesecake and tart and sweet raspberry jam swirled into crinkly brown sugar blondies.
Brownies will always have a special place in my heart, but blondies are definitely my favorites! The buttery-brown sugar flavors, the crinkly tops, and the endless flavor possibilities make them fun to bake and even more fun to eat!
From key lime white chocolate blondies to cinnamon roll blondie bites to these raspberry swirl cheesecake blondies...there are so many delicious possibilities!
These blondies are definitely a little 'outside of the box'. A crowd-pleaser of a dessert, and pretty to look at too, they are a fun and creative baking project.
Readers love this one and I'm sure you will too!
Reasons you'll ♡ raspberry swirl cheesecake blondies
- they are deceptively simple to prepare
- they are fun and creative, and pretty to look at
- tart raspberries, tangy cream cheese, brown butter and brown sugar go perfectly well together
Start with the cream cheese layer
For the cheesecake portion of these blondies, you will need room temperature cream cheese, so be sure to set your cream cheese out for at least 2 hours before beginning this recipe. If your cream cheese isn't a room temperature, you will end up with lumpy cheesecake rather than smooth and creamy.
To make the cream cheese layer, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Set aside.
Browning the butter
Taking the time to brown the butter in this recipe adds a nutty quality and added depth of flavor to the blondies. To brown the butter, you will simply sauté the butter, cooking and stirring for several minutes until the milk solids separate as small bits, then toast and turn brown.
For step by step photos showing how to brown butter, read this post!
Mixing the blondies
After browning the butter, transfer to a large bowl and stir in the sugar. Let the mixture cool for at least 5 minutes to prevent it from cooking the egg when added.
After 5 minutes, we add in the egg, vanilla, and all purpose flour. Stir together until completely combined, then scrape ⅔ of the batter into a foil-lined 9 x 9 inch pan.
Adding the swirls
Before swirling it in, heat up the raspberry jam in the microwave for 10 seconds. This makes it easier to swirl it in.
- Add dollops of the cream cheese mixture all over the blondie base
- Add teaspoons of raspberry jam randomly on the blondie base
- Dollop the remaining blondie mixture on top
- Swirl to the best of your abilities with a butter knife (see photo below)
The blondies will not be very good looking at this point and the top of the blondies may not be very smooth, but everything comes together as they bake and they will come out looking much better!
Recipe tips
- When measuring flour, be sure to fluff up the flour, spoon it into the measuring cup, then level with a knife. You can also weigh it (weights in grams are provided for all my baking recipes)
- Many readers have asked if this recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9 x 13 inch pan. This should work, though you will need to increase the cook time and I do not know what that would be.
- I recommend baking in a metal baking dish rather than glass if possible; I've had issues with sinking blondies when baking in glass (strange, right?)
- I recommend using seedless jam in this recipe, as seeds add an unappetizing crunch to the blondies. You can swap for any jam!
- Blondies may look (slightly) soft when they come out of the oven, but as they set up in the fridge, they get nice and chewy.
Storage tips
These blondies are best served fresh but can be baked ahead and stored:
- cool completely, then store in an air tight container in the fridge
- due to the cream cheese I do not advise storing at room temperature
- refrigerate for up to 5 days
- while I haven't tried, I believe they would freeze well: wrap in plastic or parchment paper and store in a freezer bag or meal prep container for up to 3 months
More delicious desserts
Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!
Brown Butter Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Blondies
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Layer
- 4 oz cream cheese (113 g; at room temperature)
- ¼ cup sugar (52 g)
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Blondies
- ½ cup unsalted butter (57 g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar (200 g; packed)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup all purpose flour (125 g, fluffed, spooned & levelled)
Raspberry Swirl
- ¼ cup seedless raspberry jam
Instructions
Cream Cheese Layer
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally.
- Set aside.
Blondies
- Line a 9X9 inch pan with aluminum foil, and grease with spray oil.
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
- Melt the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Allow the butter to simmer gently for 5 or so minutes to brown it. Keep an eye on the butter, as it can go from golden to burned very quickly. As the butter browns, stir frequently, and you will see small brown bits coming off the bottom of the pan.
- Pour the browned butter into a large bowl and add the sugar, mixing completely. Allow it to sit 5 minutes or so to cool, before stirring in the egg and vanilla.
- Stir in the flour until completely combined.
Raspberry Swirl
- Heat the jam in the microwave for 10 seconds, then stir until smooth.
Assembly + Baking
- Spread ⅔ of the blondie batter over the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Add dollops of the cream cheese mixture randomly over the blondie base.
- Add teaspoons of the raspberry jam randomly over the blondie base.
- Spread (as best as you can) remaining blondie over the cream cheese and raspberry jam.
- Gently run a knife along the length of the pan to swirl the mixture. As you can see from my photos they won't look very pretty at this point, however they will be much prettier when they come out of the oven!
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until center is set (it shouldn't jiggle). Mine was perfect in 23 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars. If you want them chewy, place the pan into the fridge to get cold before slicing.
- Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Tips:
- I recommend baking in a metal baking dish rather than glass if possible
- Blondies may look (slightly) soft when they come out of the oven, but as they set up in the fridge, they get nice and chewy.
- cool completely, then store in an air tight container in the fridge
- due to the cream cheese I do not advise storing at room temperature
- refrigerate for up to 5 days
- while I haven’t tried, I believe they would freeze well: wrap in plastic or parchment paper and store in a freezer bag or meal prep container for up to 3 months
Nutrition Information
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Hi, I'm Annie. With a Bachelor of Science degree, a minor in nutrition and nearly 20 year of both classical training, and self-taught experience, I've spent my career proving that home cooking can be practical, delicious and inspiring. What started in 2013 as one food blog has grown into a full-time business. Today, my husband Clayton and I run five food websites that connect with millions of home cooks every month.
When I'm not in the kitchen or behind the camera, I'm using fueling my love of travel, or chasing down new ideas that keep food fun and fresh.
Hallie says
Super good and easy. I omitted the vanilla in the cream cheese layer (used Neufchatel) and instead added a little lemon powder. After reading the reviews, I opted to use an 8X8 square pan and baked for 28 minutes (they were still thin-ish). I ate a third of the pan after cooling. Easy, fast, and yummy!