Marbled Blood Orange Cheesecake Brownies

When you’re craving brownies and cheesecake simultaneously  there is really only one sensible solution: cheesecake brownies. These rich and decadent squares of heaven are grain-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free. 

What you will need:

• 8×8 pan
• high speed blender

Note** You can use any brownie recipe you’d like and follow the rest of the recipe- or use the one I used. For example, I used a recipe with eggs-if vegan, you can substitute the brownie portion with an eggless recipe.

Brownies:

Flourless brownie recipe adapted from runningwithspoons

• 1/4 cup coconut oil (plus extra for greasing the pan)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup 85% cacao content dark chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup raw coconut sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 3 Tbsp arrowroot powder (can sub tapioca starch)
• 1/4 tsp pink himalayan salt

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine coconut oil and chocolate chips in a pan over low heat or in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes until coconut oil and chocolate are both melted and combined. Set this mixture aside to cool and then whisk together eggs, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined. Next, add the chocolate and coconut oil mixture to the bowl and mix until well combined. Finally, add the cacao powder, arrowroot powder or tapioca starch, and salt and combine until you have a smooth, thick, and chocolatey batter. On a parchment lined coconut oil greased 8×8 pan, add your batter and smooth out until evenly distributed. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the pan and carefully pull out the parchment paper with the brownies so that the brownies don’t continue cooking. Let the pan and brownies cool and begin the cheesecake portion.

Blood Orange Cheesecake:

• 2 cups cashews (soaked for a few hours or overnight)
• 1-4 tbsp water (add as needed)
• 2 tbsp blood orange zest
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• juice of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 a blood orange
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup honey (or liquid sweetener of your choice, could sub with maple syrup)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Garnish:

• 1 tsp cold pressed beet juice + 1 tsp blood orange juice  (optional for marble color)
• 9 slices of blood orange
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp coconut oil

Directions:

Add all of the ingredients to your high speed blender. Start with just a tablespoon of water and add more if the mixture is too dry. Blend ingredients until you have a thick and smooth mixture. Taste for any neceessary adjustments, i.e add more sweetener if you deem it necessary, add more zest if it lacks tartness etc. Finally, fetch the brownie pan that you set aside and line it with parchment paper or wax paper, I used ziplock bags because I ran out of parchment paper, this worked as well! Place the brownies (not cut) back into the pan as they had fit previously. Pour cheesecake mixture on top and spread across the brownies evenly. Now you can leave the mixture as is (it will still be delicious), or if you want to make them a little fancy, you can add a few drops of the beet juice mixture and then use a chopstick to make a marbled pattern.

For the caramelized blood orange garnish (optional), heat coconut oil in a pan and add the orange slices and the maple syrup. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until orange slices are softened and sticky. Add orange slices to the cheesecake brownies, cover, and place into the freezer for at least 3 hours. Remove from the freezer and slice into squares. Let the brownies sit out for about 10 minutes before serving.