Max and Trystan Sandvoss use goat cheese in their brownie recipe

A recipe using artisanal goat cheese from Upstate New York.

Photograph by Harvard Magazine/JC

Photograph by Harvard Magazine/JC

Goat cheese in a brownie? It may sound like a strange combination, but our editors put this recipe to the test and found the contrast of the chocolate sweetness and goat cheese tartness, along with the smooth cheese texture against the cakeiness, to be excellent. Thanks to Max and Trystan Sandvoss—profiled in our September-October 2013 issue—we will be making these again and again. 

Brownie Batter:
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
8 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup flour, sifted

Chèvre Batter:
8 oz First Light Farm original chèvre
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Use a 9 x 13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brownie batter: Melt butter and chocolate in microwave in a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, stirring occasionally and keeping a close eye on the mixture until melted. Stir until completely smooth. Beat in, using an electric beater, the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt until well combined. Add flour and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Spread half the mixture in the baking pan.

Chèvre batter:  Beat all ingredients with electric mixer until smooth. Drop dollops of batter on top of the brownie batter, and swirl them in with knife. Add the second half of brownie batter and smooth it over chèvre mixture with a knife or spatula.

Bake until edges are slightly puffed and the center is just set, about 30 - 35 minutes. Cool.

Related topics

You might also like

For This Poet, AI Is a Writing Partner

Sasha Stiles trained a chatbot on her manuscripts. Now, her poems rewrite themselves.

A New Black Swan Musical Cranks Up the Tension

The creative team of the A.R.T.’s new show dish on adapting Darren Aronofsky’s thriller classic from screen to stage.

How to Cook with Wild Plants

From wild greens spanakopita to rose petal panna cotta, forager and chef Ellen Zachos makes one-of-a-kind meals.

Most popular

Meet Harvard’s 2026 Student Commencement Speakers

Two undergraduates and a Ph.D. candidate will address the graduating class on May 28.

Architect Rahul Mehrotra balances teaching at Harvard and practice in India

Rahul Mehrotra's architecture spans eras and cultural divides.

The Franklin Stove—A Historical Climate Change Adaptation

Historian Joyce E. Chaplin reinterprets an early era of invention, industrialization, and climate challenge

Explore More From Current Issue

Four stylized magnifying glasses arranged in a gradient background with abstract patterns.

AI Hunts For Stolen Harvard Coins

A museum curator and a computer scientist track down ancient coins taken in a legendary heist.

A colorful hummingbird hovering by vibrant flowers.

Discoveries

Short takes on cutting-edge research

Mercy Otis Warren in period attire writes at a desk by candlelight, surrounded by books.

The Woman Who Penned the Case for War

Mercy Otis Warren’s poetry and plays incited the Patriot movement.