Easter Sunday will soon be here and it's a time when we lovingly and devoutly prepare the traditional foods that we will serve on this special day. As we gather together with family and friends, we rejoice in celebration with a feast, fittingly so, for a King.

Now I'm not sure but somehow I would almost guess that this exact recipe wasn't used two thousand years ago (is that an understatement?!) but I do believe that perhaps it would be well received today, so much so that I think I'll whip up a batch myself!

The Pacific Northwest is well known for it's delicious cherries, which blend wonderfully, in this brownie recipe marbled with sweetened cream cheese and coconut. The recipe also calls for almond extract, I use pure vanilla extract because of nut allergies in my family but I also prefer it....the choice is up to your taste buds to define.

What you will need:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees
One 16 ounce can of Oregon sweet cherries
Your favorite brownie mix (just to make it a bit easier for you and that's just kind of nice sometimes)
2 large eggs
¼ cup of corn oil
4 ounces of softened cream cheese
3tablespoons of cane sugar
¾ cup of flaked coconut
1 teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract

Drain your cherries and save ¼ cup of the juice. Put your brownie mix in a large bowl, add cherry juice, 1 egg and oil. Mix well and gently stir in cherries.

Place cream cheese and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat about 3 minutes until well blended.

Add your second egg, vanilla extract and mix well, stirring in coconut.

Spray an 8x8 or 9x9 cake pan and spoon brownie mixture into bottom of pan. Spoon cream cheese mixture on top of brownie mix and swirl with a knife through brownie mixture. Bake for about 35 minutes, toothpick inserted in center should come out clean and edges of brownie will start to pull away from the pan just slightly.

Let cool a bit to set brownies, cut into squares, and enjoy this awesome brownie dessert. You can always top with ice cream or whipped topping but they really are just awesome warm and as they are.

Have a wonderful week and an awesome Easter weekend. I do hope it's filled with love, laughter and joy.

Sue