When I’m looking to impress my guests, I turn to dessert recipes such as Nutella cake, black forest cupcakes, an elegant heart cake, Nutella cookies or these beautiful and delicious red velvet bars. Whether you’re looking for a festive Valentine’s Day recipe, or simply have a hankering for red velvet, you can’t go wrong with these red velvet brownies. They’re easy to make and perfect for practically any occasion! Best of all, they have the flavor of red velvet cake, but with a fudgy, chewy texture. If you love red velvet, be sure to also check out my red velvet waffles recipe!
Red Velvet Brownies Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need all purpose flour, cocoa powder, large eggs, butter, salt, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, white vinegar, cream cheese and red gel food coloring.
How Do You Make Red Velvet Brownies?
Preheat the oven, then coat a square baking pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Sift together the dry ingredients of flour, cocoa powder and salt into a large bowl, then whisk to combine. In a separate large mixing bowl, use a mixer to beat together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and beat again, then mix in the vinegar, food coloring and vanilla. Finally, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Reserve a few tablespoons of the batter to swirl over the top for a beautiful presentation. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. For the cheesecake layer, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and an egg into the bowl of a mixer, then beat until smooth. Dollop the cream cheese mixture onto the brownie batter, then spread it into an even layer. Add teaspoons of the reserved brownie batter on top of the cheesecake, and use a skewer to swirl the two together. Bake until the brownies are set. You can check to see if the brownies are done by inserting a toothpick into the center. The toothpick should have just a few crumbs attached. Cool the pan of brownies completely on a rack, then chill in the refrigerator. Use the parchment to lift the slab of brownies out of the pan, then cut into squares and serve.
Tips For The Perfect Dessert
Chilling the brownies and wiping the blade after each cut is the key to neat slices. Store these red velvet cheesecake brownies in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3 days. To freeze, layer the brownies between parchment paper in a sealed container for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator before serving. Gel food coloring will create the strongest red color. I use Americolor Super Red. Be careful not to swirl the batters together too much. Otherwise, the batter and cheesecake filling will mix together too much, and you will lose the pattern. You can use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer for this recipe. Both work well!
Flavor Variations
This red velvet brownie recipe is delicious as-is, but you can change up some of the ingredients to suit your taste.
Chocolate: Make these brownies more chocolatey by adding up to 2/3 cup of semisweet chocolate chips or white chocolate chips to the brownie batter. Cream Cheese Frosting: You can omit the cheesecake layer and instead make cream cheese frosting to spread on top of your brownies. Place 4 ounces of softened cream cheese and 4 tablespoons of softened butter in a bowl and cream until fluffy. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon milk. Beat for 3-4 minutes or until you have a smooth and creamy frosting.
These red velvet bars are as tasty as they are pretty. Your guests will surely love them!
