Totally Awesome Brownies

This is my ALL-TIME favorite brownie recipe!! These are sinfully delicious!! I was devastated when I thought I had lost this recipe! I've been going through my old recipes and entering them into the computer. I will then back them up onto a thumb drive. This way I can purge all my old cookbooks and recipes that take up too much space! Also, my middle son (the one that recently graduated from culinary school) wants me to scrapbook a recipe book for him for his birthday, so that was part of my inspiration to go through the old recipes.

Totally Awesome Brownies
These are made in three parts: Brownie, Cream Cheese mix, and Frosting.
Cream Cheese mixture:
8 oz cream cheese
2 eggs
½ cup butter
2 TBSP flour
½ cup sugar
¾ tsp vanilla extract

Soften cream cheese and butter, and cream together with sugar. Add eggs, flour, and vanilla and mix well. Set aside.
Brownie Batter:
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 ¼ tsp vanilla extract
2 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 cups flour
2 ½ cups sugar
1 ¼ tsp salt
5 eggs

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt chocolates and butter. Stir in sugar and mix well. Beat eggs and add to chocolate mixture, blending well. Add vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt. Removed from heat, and mix in flour. Batter will be stiff, almost like dough. In a greased (bottom only) 13 x 9” pan, spread half of the brownie batter. Spread the cream cheese mixture in a layer on top of the brownie batter. Drop remaining half of brownie batter by spoonfuls on top of the cream cheese. Marbleize all three layers with a table knife, mixing according to your taste (less mixing creates more contrast between chocolate and cream cheese). Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes.
Frosting:
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
¼ tsp salt
1 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1/3 cup milk
3 TBSP Crisco shortening
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups confectioner’s sugar

While brownies cool, melt in a small saucepan the chocolates and the Crisco. Remove from heat. Add the salt, milk, and vanilla extract. With an electric mixer, blend in the confectioner’s sugar. Continue to beat until the frosting cools and becomes glossy. (You can submerge the bottom of the pan in a bowl with ice water while beating the icing to minimize the time needed to cool). Frost brownies IMMEDIATELY -- before they cool. This is VERY IMPORTANT! It keeps the brownies chewy and moist without being undercooked. Remember that these are twice as thick as other brownies. Cut at least 48.