One of the things I like about summer is wearing sundresses. For the bulk of the summer, that’s all I wear. They’re cute and comfortable and I love them.
But last week, it suddenly became a bit chillier. I put on a pair of jeans.
And I couldn’t button them. And the same thing happened the next day, with a different pair of pants.
Not good.
Dave suggested I give up dessert, or at least limit it to weekends. And I was like “Wow?! Really?! It totally didn’t occur to me to consider the most indulgent part of my lifestyle as contributing to my recent weight gain! Thanks so much!” Also: <glare>
At this point, I have no plans to give up dessert, even on weekdays. I will try not to go overboard. I will reduce my dinner portions. I will be extra careful with my daily snacks. But I’m not ready to give up dessert.
I can perhaps be convinced to leave the sour cream topping off of my cheesecake brownies though. Sacrifices!
The base of these is a standard brownie. (Oh! I also left out one of the five tablespoons of butter from the brownies! Because of the pants and the not fitting! Also, I had four tablespoons easily available.) The next layer is a fairly standard cheesecake batter, although with a high ratio of eggs. Espresso is added to the cream cheese mixture.
After most of the brownie batter is spread in a pan, the cheesecake portion is poured over it, and then the remaining brownie batter is dotted over the top. The two are swirled together before baking. This was a little iffy for me, because the brownie batter was a lot thicker than the cheesecake batter. But it basically worked.
Overall, these were pretty good. No one component was overpowering. And, swirling issues aside, I thought they turned out quite attractive. And it took me five whole days to eat the entire pan, with almost no help from Dave!
Yeesh. Good thing I left the topping off, right?
Melissa chose this for Tuesdays with Dorie and has the recipe posted.
One year ago: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters
I agree…sacrifices must be made.
Leave off the topping. It will help.
I’m with you on the jeans thing. YUCK. Your brownies look great.
I was also very reluctant to give up dessert but Jason and I made the move to having dessert only on the weekends and it seems to be helping. We make frequent exceptions but the general concept seems to be working.
I don’t think I could sacrifice dessert! I’d rather eat smaller dinner portions as well, or add on to my workouts. I skipped the topping as well 🙂
Eeesh the old buttoning the pants – sucks! Those look AMAZING!
Same thing happened to me recently with the jeans… No fun… I left the topping off too…
I think holding off the sour cream topping was a good decision! It hid the beautiful swirls and it didn’t really contribute much to the flavor either. You’re brownies look beautiful!
yep…the pants don’t fit anymore…i wonder if it’s all these baking groups i’ve joined?? the brownies look great! i skipped this week’s twd due to not being a coffee person, and i thought maybe i should not have a huge batch of cheesecake brownies sitting at home
Well, I can definitely relate to the pants problem. Hence the reason I went back to Weight Watchers today. :o) I admire your unwillingness to give up dessert, though! It’s a must. Nice job on the brownies.
You’re not missing anything without the sour cream. I think it made them gross. Desserts don’t make you fat. Thinking they make you fat makes you fat. 🙂
give up dessert?! what kind of man did you marry?? i kid, i kid.
i’ve gained *counts* 8 lbs since i started baking. time to get on the treadmill. pah.
Give up desserts?? How can somebody even suggest that :O :O!!!
The brownies look great, I LOVE the first picture!!
omigosh, ME TOO!! 3 days ago to be exact, i had that very same (horrific) moment of realization. and then i had pancakes for dinner last night. um. will walk more! will not give up deserts!!
Oh no! Why is it that boys say things when really they should just smile and walk in the other room?!
These look lovely and are probably far too yummy to give up.
Lovely swirl! Boys are dumb.
god, i hear ya about the pants thing. i can’t keep up this dessert- every-night routine (and the fact that i work in a bakery also doesn’t help matters). your swirls were better than mine–nice brownies!
What timing – not sure if it’s a good or bad thing that we’re both thinking about things like this right now :/ I cut down on the butter by 20% as well, but also took temptation out of my reach – gave them to coworkers 😛 Love your swirling!
Your brownies are gorgeous!! I was going to say your swirling was perfect before I read that you had issues with it 🙂 I gave these to my neighbor to remove the temptation. I didn’t love them but I knew if they sat at my house I’d eat them all.