I recently tried Red Velvet Brownies for the first time and was floored! They’re soft and chewy, with a hint of chocolate inside. Even my husband who is not a red velvet fan loves these brownies. If you’re looking for a festive Valentine’s Day dessert, here it is!
As an added bonus, these are one-bowl brownies – no mixer required.
Red Velvet Brownie Brownies
I adapted this recipe from a recipe in the amazing book, Even Better Brownies (affiliate link) by Mike Johnson. The only changes I made to this recipe were adding some chocolate chips and cutting the frosting in half. Reducing the frosting ratio was a controversial topic in my house – haha, but this is where we settled.
Start by melting some butter and bittersweet chocolate over very low heat, stirring constantly. You don’t want this mixture to boil or the chocolate can seize.
Remove the melted mixture from the heat and whisk in sugar, red food coloring, and a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar for that signature tang in the red velvet brownies.
Next whisk in eggs followed by dry ingredients.
Whisk just until combined and then add some semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter. Red velvet is good, but it’s even better with chocolate chips inside!
Pour the mixture into a prepared 8 x 8” pan.
Bake just until set, and the edges look similar to this.
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
This frosting is really straight forward. Just mix some softened cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and a little vanilla bean paste together until smooth and creamy.
This is my favorite brand of vanilla bean paste (affiliate link). Sure, there are more expensive brands out there, but this is the one I use for day to day baking. If you only have vanilla extract on hand, that works great too in this frosting.
Frost the cooled brownies and enjoy!! I think you’re going to love this dessert!
Red Velvet Brownies with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from the book Even Better Brownies by Mike Johnson (affiliate link)
Brownies:
1/2 cup salted butter
2 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Frosting:
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, or pure vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt
Directions
Brownies
1) Preheat oven to 350 F and line an 8 x 8” baking pan with foil and spray with cooking oil.
2) In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over very low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add granulated and brown sugar. Mix thoroughly and add red food coloring, vanilla extract, vinegar, and eggs. Whisk thoroughly. Lastly add the salt, baking powder, and flour. Whisk until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and pour into the prepared 8 x 8” pan.
3) Bake 33-40 minutes, until cooked through and edges are set.
4) Let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, and kosher salt. At first this mixture will seem dry and crumbly, but as you keep mixing it will come together in a smooth and creamy frosting!
Store at room temperature up to 3 days. Enjoy!!
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