Mini-cheesecake brownie bites

I stumbled on a new-to-me cooking and baking blog a few months (it's one of the ones I recently added to the blog roll) ... and watch out, blog world: I'm hooked.

I had promised a co-worker that I would bake - I hadn't baked in a while, and I have a reputation to uphold. I wanted a recipe that would be different but easy to make with ingredients I had on hand, and I had several of Joelen's recipes to choose from. I heart this recipe further because it was super easy to modify in to a reduced fat version. The boxed brownie mix that I had - Duncan Hines - provided a way to make the brownies lower fat by using only one egg and reduced water, as well as substituting unsweetened applesauce for vegetable oil. I also used reduced fat cream cheese.

I LOVE these bites, and I was not alone in my assessment. I will make them over and over again - they're a great snack or party food, and they're a nice size for a touch of rich, chocolate-y goodness without a load of calories.

Ingredients
1 package fudge brownie mix
Ingredients for brownie mix
1 block cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare muffin pan by spraying the inside of each well with cooking spray.

Pour prepared brownie mix in each well.

In a small bowl combine the remaining ingredients.

Carefully top each brownie well with the cream cheese mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until done

Source: What's Cooking, Chicago?