I spent the better part of middle school fantasizing about my life as a musical. An appropriately directed breeze would blow my hair attractively at all times, sassy back up dancers would materialize on command, and I’d sing a punchy duet with the cute guy across the lunchroom à la High School Musical. Our hit first single: “We go together like Swirled Cheesecake Pumpkin Brownies.” It's clunky but highly addictive.
Maybe I watched too many Disney Channel Original Movies or too many dramatic movies with a sad soundtrack that plays as the main character looks out a rainy window. Whenever I left an ad critique and returned home to start over, my reaction was to always sing the Backstreet Boys: “Oh my God, we’re back again.” When my friend tells me she wants the stereotypical romance, I break into Penatonix “Can't Sleep Love,” which might be okay if I could resist attempting to imitate every member of the a cappella group. And when I took my first bite of these Pumpkin Swirl Brownies? “At laaaaaaaaaaaast my love has come along.”
Etta James, you speak to my chocolate and pumpkin-loving soul. I wish I could give you a Cream Cheese Pumpkin Brownie to thank you.
A fudgy brownie batter swirled together with a pumpkin cheesecake batter, then baked to perfection, this dessert duo sings in beautiful harmony. It is second only to peanut butter and chocolate. But pumpkin, chocolate, and Autumn just go so well together. It’s the best of all Glee mashups, fused with a Beyoncé/Jay-Z chart-topper, smothered in every song Danny and Sandy sing together in Grease.
It's hard to justify doing anything fall related when it's 90 degrees out. A cold front came through last week and the weather decided fall had indeed arrived. So my inner White-Girl emerged from her cage where I try to keep her hidden for most of the year and decided she wanted pumpkin-spice everything. We talked it out and settled on these brownies.
