Brownie Pumpkin Cheesecake

I saw this recipe yesterday and thought it was really cute. It was easy and fun to make. My only complaint is that the brownie on bottom was a little over cooked. I worried about this since the recipe had the brownie cooking separately and then again with the cheesecake. If I made it again, I would probably under cook the brownie. I would probably also use a pastry bag to pipe the face as the plastic bag method was hard to get the control to do the face neatly. All in all a cute recipe and perfect to watch It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

Brownie Pumpkin Cheesecake
Recipe: Pillsbury Halloween

Brownie Base:
1 box dark chocolate fudge brownie mix
Water, vegetable, oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box

Filling:
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

1. Heat oven to 350F. Spray 10 inch springform pan with cooking spray. Make brownie batter as directed on box; spread in pan. Bake 28 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean.

2. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium until smooth and creamy. Beat in pumpkin until well blended. On low speed, beat in eggs 1 at a time, just until combined. Stir in vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Reserve 1/2 cup filling in small bowl. Pour remaining filling over baked brownie base.

3. Stir melted chocolate into reserved filling; place chocolate in large resealable food storage bag. Seal bag; cut off 1 corner of bag. Squeeze bag to pipe jack-o-lantern face on cheesecake.

4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool 30 minutes. Run knife around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Cool 30 minutes longer. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Cover and refrigerate any remaining cheesecake.