Red Velvet Cheesecake Bars

Recipe makes a 13” x 9” pan OR 24- 2” x 2” Squares OR 48+ mini bite-size squares

BROWNIE:

2/3 cup Chocolate Chips
6 oz(1.5 sticks) Butter
1 ½ cup Sugar
2 large Eggs  
2 teaspoons Vanilla
¾  cup Andrea’s Gluten Free Superfine Flour Blend
¼ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Red Food Color 

Melt Chocolate Chips and butter in small saucepan, stirring frequently. Set aside.
In mixing bowl, mix sugar, eggs and vanilla. Gradually pour melted chocolate mixture into sugar mixture. Mix well. Mix in Flour, salt and red food color. Scrape bottom of bowl well and mix thoroughly. Remove 1/4th of brownie batter. Set aside for topping. Use damp hands to press brownie batter into a 13” x 9” pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

CHEESECAKE FILLING:

2 – 8 oz packages Cream Cheese, softened
¾ cup Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla 

Beat cream cheese in mixer until smooth and creamy. Scrape bowl often to avoid lumps of cream cheese in filling. Add sugar, mixing and scraping until well blended. 
Add eggs, 1 at a time. Add vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Remove 1/3 cup of Cheesecake Filling. Set aside. Pour remainder of filling over brownie layer. Spread evenly. Mix reserved brownie batter with reserved cheesecake filling.
Put mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a LARGE dot tip. Zig Zag the Red Velvet Brownie / Cheesecake mixture over the top of the Cheesecake Filling. Pull a sharp knife through the Zig Zag in an up and down (or back and forth) motion to decorate the top of the cheesecake. If you do not have a pastry bag, you can use a plastic bag and cut the corner off (cut small and cut more if needed) or dot the brownie / cheesecake mixture randomly over the cheesecake filling and pull sharp knife through dots to create decorative swirls.

Bake Cheesecake in preheated 350° oven for 25 – 30 minutes, or until center is firm and cheesecake is lightly golden.