I wanted to love these. I really did. I mean, you all know, I love coffee. I also love cheesecake and brownies always make me swoon. To be fair, this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe–Espresso Cheesecake Brownies–tasted good. The combination of the a brownie with espresso cheesecake topped with a sweetened sour cream frosting was wonderful. They were a big hit with everyone–but me. I think the problem was that there was too much cheesecake to brownie. Because I love all the components in this dessert I want to try it again, but next time decrease the amount of cheesecake by half. Oh, and become a better swirler. My swirling could use a little help.
Thank you to Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell for hosting this week’s selection. For the recipe, visit her blog or buy the book.
*edited to add: I sprinkled espresso sugar on top of the brownies.
Pink Stripes 
Ciao ! I love your topping !! I actually forgot to mention it , but I made half cheesecake batter because I bought less cream cheese and actually liked it . But my brownie layer looked higher than yours !! Baci !
Your brownies look gorgeous!
I agree that there seemed to be more cheesecake than brownie – perhaps it should ahve been called a brownie cheesecake. However, I am a cheesecake fiend, so I loved these. Your brownies look fab – I think your swirling was perfect.
Well, they look wonderful! I love the colors…and your swirling looks great!
vraiment très réussi ! le glaçage est fantastique, c’était une très bonne recette 🙂
I agree with you, more brownie please. Yours do look great though.
Well, they sure look amazing. I made a cappuccino brownie yesterday and I was “underwhelmed” by those too. I guess they can’t all be favorites, right?
Whew, I’m so glad that I wasn’t nuts in thinking that the brownie scale was off. I think there was a good amount of cheesecake… so I would personally double the brownie dough next time. And I didn’t have instant espresso, so I had to improvise… and I’m not sharing how. It’s that embarassing 🙂
But your brownies look yummy!!
I don’t like cheesecake, but I am a huge brownie fan. They look really good though:)
I totally agree with you. Each of the components sounded fabulous, but together, I didn’t like them very much. I should have stuck with the bittersweet chocolate for the brownie, so that was my mistake. But I thought the cheesecake part was too sweet. Not a dud, but just not what I hoped it would be.
These look great. Your topping looks lovely.
Mine just got out of the oven…so we’ll see. I need to give all mine away…I hope people like them!
Happy September to you, Wendy!
Well these little bites of heaven look absolutely delicious.
Oh wow, gorgeous! Your brownies put mine to shame! They’re so perfectly square, unlike mine which are all ragged. I agree about the cheesecake – it overwhelmed the brownie layer for me too!
OoooOooo! I love this little tidbits on top… makes it look all the more complete! Very nice, Pink!
at least you wanted to love them- that gives you extra points and they look beautiful, so hey- sounds like success to me.
I can’t even believe how good these look… It’s hard to really think that they wouldn’t be amazing! The pictures are still absolutely drool worth, at least.
Darn Im so sorry you didn’t like them. They look great and I love that you added some nuts on top. My favorite part had to be the frosting..hands down!
I didn’t like them either. Your topping looks amazing, though!
Ahhh – maybe the ratio was off, and that’s probably my issue with these.
Sorry you didn’t love these, but glad everyone else did! I loved them even though I didn’t love the brownie part, so I guess this is a keeper for me. They look great!
one of the best bars i’ve seen yet! well done. i wish i could have slice of yours instead of my undercooked version. haha.
The brownies look wonderful. I thought they were just okay too. Less cheesecake may be the answer to making them better.
Dang, these look good!!! I’m a huge fan of the sour cream topping. What did you use to top the cheesecake? Those caramely bits look so so good!
I had swirling problems, too… Your bars look delicious with the sour cream topping. I’d like to try these again with a different brownie recipe, and with the sour cream topping.
I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me! You made the sour cream topping! YAY! 😉
Sorry that you did not like them, but the pictures sure look so yummie!
gorgeous–i love the sanding sugar on top. i think these need a little tinkering to be perfect…i’m not sure what i’ll do differently next time, but something…
I have had this happen with other recipes where I was just a smidge disappointed because one element overpowered another. You found an easy answer though. Cut back the cheesecake or find another recipe. Every recipe can’t please everyone, as we all have found out.
My swirling and marbling on these brownies was a total flop. It’s nice that we can cover up mistakes with something equally delicious, like sweetened sour cream or, in my case, hot fudge!
Perfect, perfect, perfect looking brownies. I love the layers, they’re gorgeous.
These look nice with the topping! I have to admit, I only did a little swirling…as I was dropping the brownies blobs on top, I let the brownie batter drizzle…much easier. 🙂
Too much cheesecake to brownie? Are you MAD, woman?!?!? JOKING. To each his own. I love this cheesecake.
And thanks for the welcome back. I remember how happy creating in the kitchen makes me…no matter how high the temp!
oh, i couldn’t swirl mine to save my life. sounds like they were gobbled up, although i agree that these were more cheesecake than brownie.
In reading through the comments it looks like you put sanding sugar on top? Is that right? Looks cool. Can you taste it much? I like what you did even if you were a little disappointed in the taste.
I am the world’s worst swirler! I feel your pain! I am sorry you didn’t like these! I made these in a muffin pan, so luckily, there was actually a 50/50 brownie/cheesecake ratio… after reading some comments, I guess it was a good thing! Yours look gorgeous, though. Gorgeous presentation, as always!
All the colors on yours look so terrific! And at least you had the potential for swirling…mine all sank to the bottom and stayed there. Lovely job you did on these!
I love the touch of espresso sugar on this!!! Im sorry this didnt win you over, I love it but it seems that use TWD bakers either love or dont.. Great pics though! 😀
It’s hard when reality doesn’t meet up with your expectations of what a dessert should taste like.
I agree, more brownies would be good. I almost feel like the brownie got too compacted or something.
Anyway, they sure look pretty.
I’ll take some of that espresso sugar, thank you very much. I’m hoping to put the sour cream topping on the remaining half and compare tastes. It seems to me that the cheesecake layer is missing something. It tastes a little flat. And, the brownie batter was way too thick to swirl.
Yours look scrumptious!
YUM! Everyone’s brownies are looking so delicious but the espresso sugar on top really makes yours stand out!
I’m glad someone else was with me on these! Yours look great though!
I like the idea of espresso sugar! I also found the swirling a bit difficult.
I enjoyed these but have to agree – they are more cheesecake than brownie. yours look delicious
I agree with you they are more cheesecake than brownies. I’m sorry you didn’t like them, they still look gorgeous! I really love your presentation with the espresso sugar on top!
Your photo sure makes them look fab! I didn’t love them either. So on my second batch, pb flavored, I did only do half the cheesecake. Still didn’t like the brownie, it was just too dry (although yours looks a lot fudgier), but it wasn’t until I used the KH brownies with the cheesecake that I thought they were pretty darn good, especially a day later.
Do try again sometime with less cheesecake!
But great photos as always!
Hm, everyone has had mixed feelings about this one. Some loved the whole thing, some just the brownie, some the cheesecake, and still some the sour cream but only one person so far as raved about the whole thing. Can’t wait to see your tweaks.
~ingrid
Wendy~ no way you could disappoint your tasting crew. Agreed that in theory this was a winner, cuz I loved all the elements as well. Good strong coffee, yum! However, its hard for me not to love just an awesomely dark oooey gooey chocolate brownie with walnuts, or w/o. Yours, however look beautiful and I’m glad you liked them, sort of.
AmyRuth
I think they look fabulous! I haven’t made mine yet but will take your suggestion and cut back on the cheesecake because brownies are, after all, the star of any dessert they show up in.
My swirling could have used a little help as well 🙂
Ah….I bet your swirling was just fine! I skipped the sour cream layer ‘cuz I was feeling lazy. Yours does look really pretty, though.
I loved the high cheesecake to brownie ratio 🙂 yours are so cute!!
Wow, these look fab! They might be the prettiest cheesecake brownies I’ve seen this week. I LOVE the espresso sugar on top.
That sugar on top makes these perfect!!!
I agree there was a bigger cheesecake to brownie ratio, I was more a fan of the cheesecake part than the brownie though. They look really nice though, the brownie bottom looks like a nice crust & espresso sugar – yum!
Your layers look gorgeous – no swirls needed. I’m loving the espresso sugar on top, too!