Preheat your oven to 350°F with a rack positioned in the center. Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper, ensuring a couple of inches of overhang on two sides for easy removal. Grease the foil or parchment well.

Combine the granulated sugar and hot melted butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir briefly, then let the mixture rest undisturbed for 5 minutes so the heat dissolves some of the sugar, which helps create a shiny crackly crust. After 5 minutes, whisk vigorously for 30 seconds.

Whisk in the eggs, water, and vanilla extract with the butter and sugar mixture for about 30 seconds until combined. Remove the whisk after tapping off excess batter.

Sprinkle the cocoa powder, flour, and kosher salt over the wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the mixture until glossy and combined.

Reserve about one third of the brownie batter for swirls. Stir the chocolate chips into the remaining batter. Pour this mixture evenly into the prepared pan and spread smooth.

Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, flour, egg white, and vanilla extract, beating until thoroughly combined but not overbeaten. Scrape the bowl as needed.

Using two spoons, alternately drop dollops of the cream cheese mixture and the reserved brownie batter over the chocolate batter in the pan. Use a sharp knife to gently swirl the two mixtures together with figure-eight or back-and-forth motions to create a marbled effect, taking care not to swirl too deep.

Bake in the preheated oven for 32-37 minutes. The brownies should be mostly set but still have a slight jiggle in the cream cheese areas. A toothpick inserted should come out with moist fudgy crumbs but no raw batter. If the cream cheese swirls begin to darken excessively, loosely cover the pan with foil for the last 5 minutes of baking.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool entirely; this may take several hours. The foil or parchment overhang will help lift the brownies out of the pan for easy cutting and serving.