Brownie Cheesecake Pie

This is the best of both worlds! Cheese cake and Brownies with a chocolate crust and fudge topping, yes please!! I promise people, you can eat good, I mean really good, I still eat low fat! Read and be amazed! Oh, I promise this won't last long at your house :)




Ok, there are three parts to this baby. Not hard to make but you do want to make this in the morning because it takes hours to cool so unless you don't mind eating dessert at midnight, make it in the morning or afternoon.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chocolate Graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted tub butter, I use yogurt based tub butter
8 oz. fat free cream cheese
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 egg whites, beaten
Pillsbury brownie mix (this is the best when you are making brownies low fat from a mix. The other mixes don't turn out, believe me I have tried :)
OR homemade brownies *Recipe at bottom

1. OK, lets put the crust together. Mix your crushed graham crackers, sugar and butter in a bowl and mix with hands until all moist. Press into a greased pie dish. Set aside. Cheesecake time :)
2. Put cream cheese in bowl and mix with hand mixer until nice and smooth. NO LUMPS! Then add the sugar, vanilla, and egg whites. Set aside. Brownie time :)
3. Mix up your brownie mix substituting egg whites for eggs and applesauce for oil. Or make the homemade brownies*.
4. Grab your pie dish with crust. Pour half your brownie mix (about 1 cup) into prepared crust. Carefully pour/drizzle your cream cheese mixture evenly over brownies. You may need to use a spoon or rubber scraper to get it out to the edges.
Pour the rest of your brownie over the top and put it into a 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes. Just check it with a toothpick. LET IT COOL! I know it will be hard, but let it cook and get nice and fudgy :)

*If you want a chocolate drizzle over top you can use chocolate sauce or make a quick ganache by melting 1 cup chocolate chips with 1/3-1/2)cup fat free half and half over low heat(depending how thin you want your sauce). Drizzle and enjoy!

* Homemade brownies (Hershey Recipe, altered by me:)
1. Mix 1/2 cup applesauce, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 3 egg whites together. Add in 1/2 flour or whole wheat pastry flour, 1/3 cup cocoa 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bake as directed for above recipe or for an 8x8 pan of brownies bake for 16-20 minutes in a greased pan at 350.