Coconut Macaroon Brownies

This one is for my girl Emily, or "Work Emily" as I refer to her when I mention her to my husband, because I know quite a few Emilys.  She's leaving the office to start a new adventure in another department and I wanted to give her a sweet send off.  We share a love for all things coconut and have in-depth discussions about macaroons, so I thought it might be yummy to marry the flavors of a macaroon with a brownie.  The base of this is a brownie (I happened to use a box mix because I was short on time - you can use whatever mix you like, or make yours from scratch) topped with a layer of coconut cream cheese.  It was definitely rich, and I thought the cream cheese layer could have maybe used a little coconut extract for a boost of flavor, but all in all I thought it turned out pretty darn good!  Farewell Work Emily, lots of luck to you!  :)

COCONUT MACAROON BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS:
For brownie layer:
1 box Ghirardelli Double Chocolate brownie mix
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup oil
1 egg

For coconut layer:
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
12 oz sweetened flaked coconut, 1/4 cup reserved for topping

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl combine brownie mix, water, oil and eggs.  Stir until just combined.  Spoon into baking dish and spread evenly across the bottom.

3. In a large bowl beat cream cheese and sugar with a hand held mixer until fluffy and well combined.  Add eggs one at a time, beating between additions.  Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.  Place in large dollops as evenly as possible on top of brownie layer.  Spread carefully with a knife until coconut layer is even and covers brownie layer.  Sprinkle evenly with 1/4 cup reserved coconut flakes.

3.  Bake until coconut layer has set and top is just starting to brown, about 45 minutes.  Allow to cool before cutting into squares.