Dear autumn, I love you.

In the spirit of cooler weather, pine cones, and  leaves, commune with your oven…

I know this isn’t how I should introduce a recipe, but my dad, Ben, would hate these brownies. Specifically the goat cheese part. He tries to block out the memories, so I’m not quite sure of his whole story. From what I can gather, my grandfather bought a goat in attempt to reduce his three teenage boys’ exorbitant milk consumption during the Farm Crisis. Since then, Benny won’t go close to anything with goat.

So when my roommate Taylor told me about a recipe for goat cheese brownies, I was intrigued. A brownie that I can fearlessly leave on the kitchen counter in the presence of my dad’s sweet tooth and know it will be there when I get back? Yes.

I guess I could be selfless and substitute cream cheese…

Chevre Brownies

Serves 12

1 batch of brownies, prepared but not baked
1 large dark chocolate bar, cut into chunks
8 oz. chevre (goat cheese) or cream cheese for those goat-adverse people in your life
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp cream cheese
1 egg

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease your baking pan (I used a 9×13).  You can also cut a piece of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of the pan.  I’ll ensure your brownies don’t stick to the bottom. In a large bowl, prepare your favorite brownies–homemade or from a mix–and stir in the dark chocolate chunks.  Set the brownie mixture aside. In a separate bowl, combine the chevre, honey, flour, cream cheese and egg.  Beat the ingredients together until the mixture becomes  smooth. In the greased baking pan add half of the brownie mixture.  Spread it out so that it covers the entire bottom.

Add spoonfuls of the goat cheese mixture on top of the brownies you just spread in the pan.  Spoon the rest of the prepared brownie mix on top, as well. Using a plastic knife or a butter knife, make swirls and zig-zags throughout the spoonfuls of chevre mixture and brownie mix, creating a pretty swirled pattern. Bake the brownies in the pre-heated oven until the center is set but still quite fudgy.  (Follow the baking directions for whichever brownie mix or recipe you used–I had to bake mine for approximately 20 minutes).

When the brownies are finished, remove them from the oven and let them cool.  Once they’re completely cooled, remove from the pan and freeze–or cut and serve.