Brownie Almond Cheesecake Bars (and Homemade Sour Cream)!
This recipe for 'Brownie Almond Cheesecake Bars' was inspired by a recipe from a Kraft Foods magazine from about ten years ago. It called for a brownie mix. Since I believe I have the best homemade fudgy brownie recipe, why would I buy a brownie mix? After making so many cheesecakes, I thought by changing the cheesecake to a creamy almond base, it would be even better! Almond cheesecake and fudgy brownies, doesn't that sound good together?
Since the original recipe called for a brownie mix for a 13 x 9-inch pan, I had to make about half the original amount of cheesecake. I usually make an 8 x 8-inch pan of brownies. I have increased the size to fit a bigger pan on a couple of occasions but chose not to do that this time. An 8 x 8-inch square pan of goodness sounded perfect without being overwhelming.
For the recipe on my site, click here►Fudgy Brownie Almond Cheesecake Bars.
Their version called for four eight ounce bars of cream cheese, so in this version, we only need two. Along with vanilla extract, a little almond extract gave the almond flavoring needed.
Adding a little bit of sour cream to the cream cheese makes a really creamy cheesecake. Unfortunately, I was fresh out of sour cream! After assembling all of the ingredients, going to the grocery was not an option that sounded enticing.
Thank heaven for the internet! Googled 'how to make sour cream'. Found it on All Recipes! Click here ►http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-sour-cream/.
Can you believe it? You can actually make sour cream! Yes, but it takes twenty-four hours. But, wait! A few reviews read that these people expedited the making of the sour cream, by whipping it up with a food processor. Awesome! I had the milk, the vinegar and the cream. Another option was to use buttermilk in place of the vinegar and the milk. I had buttermilk!
One-quarter cup of buttermilk and one cup of heavy cream poured into my two cup measuring cup and I was ready to begin. Took out the old Braun handheld blender and began to whip that cream. At first I was beginning to wonder about this working. Then the cream began to thicken and thicken. Wow, it actually looked like sour cream! It wasn't quite as tangy as the sour cream we usually buy, however, it was not bad! In the recipe being created, this was perfect!
The next time I make the sour cream, I think I will try the vinegar and milk version and maybe leaving it at room temperature for twenty-four hours as they suggest in the recipe. Maybe making both versions at the same time to test which is best would be a great idea! I will need taste testers. At the very least, I know now that in an emergency I can make my own sour cream!
Back to the Brownie Almond Cheesecake Bars, they turned out delicious! One of the girls said that it might be their new favorite cheesecake recipe. Don't they look pretty?
For the recipe on my site, click here►Fudgy Brownie Almond Cheesecake Bars.
