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Halloween Swirl Cream Cheese Brownies have a layer of rich, dark chocolate brownie topped with a layer of orange cheesecake then swirled together for a spooky treat. These are sure to be a perfect dessert treat for everyone at your Halloween party!
Halloween Brownies
It’s the second week of October so it’s appropriate that I’m sharing a Halloween recipe, right? When I pull up my Pinterest feed or step into any store, I’m already seeing all things Christmas. I feel behind and it’s not even November!
Halloween Swirl Cream Cheese Brownies
Confession Time:
To be honest, I did make these cream cheese brownies a couple months ago, but other things came up so I’m just now getting around to posting them. The problem with that is, I don’t know where I wrote down my notes for the recipe.
If I’m too prepared, I mess myself up.
Anyway, I found the recipe so you’re in luck and will have a chance to enjoy these Halloween themed cream cheese brownies for the spooky day!
Halloween Brownies Ingredients
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar.
- Flour – All purpose flour.
- Cocoa Powder – I use Hershey’s Special Dark because you want it to be really dark/black.
- Salt – Helps enhance flavor.
- Baking Powder – For rise.
- Eggs – Large eggs.
- Vegetable Oil
- Vanilla Extract – A good quality vanilla extract, even though it’s pricey!
- Cream Cheese – A brick (8oz) at room temperature.
- Orange Food Coloring – This kit lets you easily make custom colors.
Tips for making these brownies:
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper to make it easy to remove after baking
- Use a skewer instead of a spatula for more intricate swirls in your cream cheese brownies
- Use this same recipe for multiple holidays, simply change out the food coloring to match the holiday (like these Christmas Brownies)!
I like that the swirls in these cream cheese brownies have a creepy, spidery effect. You could leave out the food coloring and just make these “regular” and they’d still be really pretty.
Tools to help you make Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies
- Food Coloring Kit – this is the food coloring I use. I didn’t tell you exactly how much orange to use because it will depend on which kit you’re using. If you’re using the Wilton Color Right Performance Food Coloring Set I link here, it comes with a color formula chart that shows you exactly how many drops you need of each color to make bright colors, pastels, etc. It’s a really good kit. I have fun with it.
- 8 x 8 baking dish – love that this has a lid for easy storing.
- Brownie spatula – because you have to get them out of the pan!
FAQs
How to store them
Store leftovers covered in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Can I freeze them?
Yes, they should freeze well. I’d wrap them individually, then put them in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Can I double the recipe?
If you’d like more than the 8×8 pan, you can double the recipe and use a 9×13 pan.
Can I use a brownie mix?
Yes. If you’re in a pinch & want to use a mix instead of making the brownies from scratch, you can, just make sure you pick up a smaller pouch/box of brownie mix instead of the “family size” since this recipe is for an 8×8 pan.
Need more Halloween baking ideas? Try these:
- THIRTY Halloween Desserts – I compiled a great bunch of recipes in this list!
- Halloween Chocolate Tunnel Cake – the colors on this one are so fun!
- Brownie Bottom Halloween Cupcakes – brownie + cake = a whole lotta delicious.
- Black Cat Pudding Cups – these require no cooking and would be fun to send in as a class treat
- Jack-O-Lantern Brownie Bite – the kids will like to help decorate these.
- Best Halloween Party Food Ideas – not just baked goods, all kinds of ideas for your Halloween party.
This Halloween, have fun making our favorite Cream Cheese Brownies for a fun and spooky treat that everyone loves. This grown up dessert is a perfect treat everyone will love on the Halloween party buffet table this year!
Halloween Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies
Ingredients
For the Brownie Layer:
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup all purpose white flour
- ½ cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cream Cheese Layer:
- 8 oz cream cheese at room temp
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- orange food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 baking dish with parchment paper or foil and spray with non-stick spray. Set aside.
For the Brownie Layer
- In a medium bowl, add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.1 cup granulated white sugar, ½ cup all purpose white flour, ½ cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- In a small bowl, add the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix with a fork until well combined.2 large eggs, ⅓ cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until just combined.
- Reserve 1/4 cup of the batter for the swirls then pour the remaining batter into the prepared baking dish.
For the Cream Cheese Layer
- In a medium bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar, egg, & vanilla. Blend until smooth.8 oz cream cheese, ¼ cup granulated white sugar, 1 large egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add in the orange food coloring and stir to combine.orange food coloring
- Gently spread the cream cheese layer on top of the brownie batter.
- Drop tablespoons of the remaining brownie batter on top and gently swirl with a knife or skewer.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until set. Remove and let cool completely before slicing.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Looks awesome
Thanks, Lisa =)
Just put these in the oven! I had a sitter hard time swirling the thick brownie batter drops into the super creamy cream cheese… There was the extra egg not accounted for in the instructions that I assumed you mix into the cream cheese mixture? Anyway hopefully they turn out! My four-year-old helped me make them and she was excited about the orange!
*super hard time. Phone typo! ????
Thanks for catching my missing egg! I fixed the instructions – it did go into the cream cheese mixture. Hope you like them! ????
Also fyi for any other readers I ended up having to bake it for about an hour to get it to set! But they were super yummy. Happy Halloween!!!
Yay thanks for reporting back! Happy Halloween =)
Oh these look simply amazing! I love the vibrant orange color, so perfect for Halloween! Thank you for your submission! I just published the post!
Thank you, Denise! & thanks for publishing them so quickly =)
Any idea if using a gluten free flour blend would work with this recipe? I’m making them for work, but I can’t eat gluten. I would love to be able to enjoy them as well!
I’m sorry, I’m really not sure. I haven’t worked with gluten free flour :/
Can I use boxed brownie mix and then just add the cream cheese/food coloring portion?
Probably but you’d need a small one, this makes an 8×8 pan, not a “family size”. I’ve never tried 🙂
This was amazing. I dyed my cheesecake red and it looks so awesome and downright sexy! Haven’t eaten any yet but sure to be a big hit at the office tomorrow!
Yay! I was thinking red would look cool! I made a batch earlier, too 🙂 thanks for reporting back ❤
I just made these today for Halloween ????.. they look amazing!! However the cream cheese layer did not taste to good?.. not a lot of flavor, more like a fluffy conscistancy. Any suggestions?
It’s a pretty standard “cheesecake” so I’m not sure. Did you swirl it with the brownie?
How long do these last in the fridge before going bad? And could you freeze them??
I would guess 3-5 days of being covered in the fridge should be fine. I haven’t tried to freeze them but I don’t see why you couldn’t.
Since they’re cream cheese, would they need to be refrigerated after baking?
Never mind I just saw a previous comment! 🙂
I’m going to add it to the recipe notes because I’ve been asked quite a few times lately =)
I used gluten free flour and I already past the time frame for the cooking time and it’s still really moist?? I don’t think there would really be a big cooking difference but apparently there is lol – any thought on this???
I have never baked with gluten free flour so I’m no help. Sorry!
I’m going to try this recipe for Halloween time this year , they look delicious can’t wait to try this recipe
I hope you love them! ????
Just made then for a halloween party! I split the cream cheese and made it green, orange and purple to match some halloween sprinkles I had. So fun!
Yay I want to see! Put a pic on my Facebook page!
In the video it looks like some sort of gel food coloring is plopped on top of the cream cheese layer and used to swirl- It’s supposed to be the remaining batter, right?
Food coloring goes in the cheesecake batter (that’s the orange part) and then the reserved portion of brownie batter is used for the swirl.
Thank you! Can’t wait to make these tonight.
You’re welcome – let me know how they turn out!
I made these tonight and they came out amazing! I never made anything cheesecake related before so I was nervous. They are delicious and I can’t wait to bring them in tomorrow for my coworkers!
Yay 🙂 Glad to hear it. Happy Halloween!
I’ve been wanting to make these for a few years now and I’m glad I finally did. These were amazing! Not only were they soo delicious (I should have made two batches), but they are soooo cute! I don’t like dark chocolate so I added black food coloring to the brownie and it was a little frustrating mixing the yellow and red food coloring to make the orange, but in the end it was so worth it.
Glad you liked them!
The food coloring kit I link to in the post has orange (& lots of other colors) so you don’t have to mix 🙂
wow I have got to try this one out, thanks for all the yummy recipes 🙂
These were so delicious and such a success! Thank you!!
Yay ♥️
Does this need to be refrigerated since it’s cheesecake ?
Yes 🙂
These are Great! But every time I make them I can’t her the swirls to happen
What are you using to make the swirls?
I’ve never used the special dark cocoa powder. Does have a ‘dark chocolate’ or bitter taste?
No, it’s not bitter. You can use regular cocoa powder if you prefer, the dark is just closer to black for the theme 🙂