Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9×9 baking dish well with cooking spray, oil or butter.
Finely chop cherries and strain, pressing liquid out of the cherries. In a medium bowl, soften the cream cheese in the microwave. Add granulated sugar, powdered sugar, chopped cherries, cherry juice, egg and almond extract to the cream cheese then stir to combine well; set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine brownie mix, egg, water, oil and chocolate chips then stir with a spatula until combined well; batter will be thick.
Pour half the mixture into prepared pan. Evenly spread the cheesecake layer over the top. It works best to work slowly and pour batter where needed. Next, use a spatula and drop small dollop of brownie batter over cheesecake layer. It’s thick batter and won’t spread much on top of the cheesecake so work in small dollop batches. Run a butter knife through the top brownie layer to create design.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 75-80 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover with dish with foil after 45 minutes of baking then continue to back. Allow to cool for at least 90 minutes before frosting and cutting.
Nutritional information is only an estimate and it’s accuracy is not guaranteed to be exact.
