Vietnamese Coffee Swirl Brownies

As part of the 2025 NYT Cookie Week, we mentally bookmarked this brownie. Personally, I have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude to them: they’re often very one-dimensional. But the thought of a condensed milk and cream cheese swirl was irresistible.

The recipe is by Melissa Clark. There’s a half pound (225 g) of unsweetened chocolate plus a teaspoon of instant espresso, so the base flavour is unmistakable. The contrasting swirl is a mix of cream cheese, condensed milk, and ground coffee.

I used an 8” square pan, so cut my squares a bit smaller as they were taller. These are rich and intense. They somehow stayed moist even after many days in a covered container. The first batch I made a week ago was gobbled up quickly at home, and I made a new batch to share with colleageus during Hack Days. Highly recommended.