Cream Cheese Frosted Gingersnap Brownies

January 14, 2017

I’ve been craving for something chocolate for some time now. And when I say something chocolate, I mean something with rich chocolate frosting, filling or anything that is super rich in chocolate. I knew what I want from the start, but I keep on buying something with chocolate trying to convince myself that they could satisfy my craving… or let’s just say that’s an excuse (which is very obvious) so I can try something else before I finally admit that what I really crave is brownies.

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But still, I want something else with brownies. Think! Think! Think! Then there’s my cousin:

Cousin: Hey, aren’t you going to eat your gingersnaps? The texture might be bad now, you know. 

Me: Uh, I am gonna use that for something else (trying to sound convincing, though I really don’t know what else to do with gingersnaps-turned-soft cookies).

Cousin: What are you going to do?

Me: Something. (I want to tell my cousin to trust me, but I realized I cannot even trust my words. Ha!) 

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Then I thought of using the gingersnaps with the brownies. Maybe mix with the batter? Hmm, nope! A crust would be perfect so I wouldn’t call this “find the gingersnap brownies” And a naughty frosting would be amazing! 😀 You get the idea? Fudgy brownies with gingersnap crust and cream cheese frosting! I used a chocolate with 70% cocoa so this would not come super sweet. I also placed the brownies inside the fridge before eating them – they came out absolutely fantastic!

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I hope you’ll enjoy these delicious bars as I bring them to this week’s Fiesta Friday #154. And I will be off to fill my head with some leafy greens and pineapple for the challenge. Don’t forget that the link for FF #154 is different from the Fiesta Friday Healthy Recipe Challenge – don’t be confused adding your link to the challenge when it’s meant to be for FF # 154.

And now, for the recipe:

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Cream Cheese Frosted Gingersnap Brownies

Fudgy brownies with gingersnap crust and cream cheese frosting! Heaven in every bite!
Servings 16 bars
Author Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook

Ingredients

For the cream cheese frosting:

  • 200 g cream cheese softened
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • gingersnap crumbs optional

For the gingersnap crust:

  • 1 1/2 cup gingersnap crumbs
  • 1/4 cup butter melted

For the brownies:

  • 2 tbsp of warm water
  • 1 tsp of instant espresso powder
  • 140 g unsalted butter softened to room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 200 g 70% cocoa chocolate melted
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • ¼ tsp salt

Instructions

For the cream cheese frosting:

  1. Mix the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar. You can use less sugar then do a taste test and adjust accordingly. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

For the gingersnap crust and brownies:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 8x8 baking pan and place parchment paper or aluminum foil with hanging on the sides so it can be removed/lifted easier later on.
  2. In a bowl, combine gingersnap crumbs and melted butter. Pour it evenly on the prepared pan and gently press them to cover the bottom of the pan. Bake for 5 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes while making your brownie batter.

  3. Mix the warm water and espresso powder in a small bowl and set aside.

  4. In a large bowl and using an electric mixer or a whisk, beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla extract, and water-espresso mixture. Beat until all combined. Add the melted chocolate and mix again.

  5. Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl: cocoa powder, all-purpose flour and salt. Add this to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.

  6. Pour the batter evenly over the baked gingersnap crust and bake for about 35-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with crumbs, but not wet batter. (Check your brownies at 35 minutes of baking)
  7. Let it stay in the pan for about 20 minutes. Lift the foil/parchment paper and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
  8. Cut the brownies into bars.

  9. Frost the brownies with cream cheese and top with more gingersnap crumbs.

Recipe Notes

To make gingersnap crumbs, place them in a food processor and pulse until finely crushed.

Ovens differ from each other, so see what works on you. It takes about 15 minutes for my oven to reach 350 F (depending on how much heat it has). I used an oven with the fire from the bottom only so I always rotate the pan in the middle of baking.

These are best eaten after storing in the fridge.

I am using the UK measuring cups.

 

Have a sweet day, people! Always smile! 😉

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