Chocolate-Swirled Red Velvet Brownies
Red velvet fever has begun in advance of Valentine’s Day. It’s everywhere. Here’s my contribution. This recipe tasted like a cross between red velvet brownies and red velvet bars. Not over-the-top chocolaty to give them true brownie status, but much fudgier, denser, and richer than your typical bar. Classic red velvet is known to have chocolate undertones, but isn’t overly chocolaty, and these easy cocoa powder brownies hit that mark. And they’re as far away from red velvet cake that you can get. Nothing light, fluffy, or cakey about them. They’re smooth, rich, dense, and supremely moist.
They’re an easy, no-mixer, scratch recipe that comes together in minutes. Just as easy as opening a box of red velvet cake mix, but so much better and more unique tasting. The chocolate swirls on top help to accentuate the cocoa that’s stirred into the batter. The overall chocolate level is present, but not too dark or too intense. They’re buttery, rich, and velvety soft and smooth. They don’t call it red velvet for nothing.
What’s in the Red Velvet Brownies?
To make these red velvet brownie bars, you’ll need:
Unsalted butter Egg Light brown sugar Vanilla extract Unsweetened cocoa powder Red food coloring All-purpose flour Salt Semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to Make Red Velvet Brownies
I made them by adapting my trusty blondies base recipe. Melt 1 stick of butter, stir in an egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and then whisk in cocoa powder. Then I added the red food coloring, and lots of it. I bought two sets of Betty Crocker gel food coloring (with red, blue, yellow, and green) in order to get two red vials needed. And lucky me, I have enough green on hand that I’m already ready for Saint Paddy’s Day projects, now and through the year 2030. My grocery stores stopped carrying the old fashioned drops and gel is being sold, and in package sets. Get your hands on as much red food coloring as you can, gel or old-fashioned drops, because turning chocolate batter red is a big task. After you get the batter as red as you like, stir in flour, turn it out into the pan, and drizzle with melted chocolate chips to create the swirling. I gave detailed instructions on how to make the easy swirled pattern in the recipe card below. It’s challenging to determine when any kind of dark-colored food is done, and red and brown food is some of the hardest. I baked for 28 minutes. I recommend 28 to 30 minutes, or until the top is set and isn’t glossy. The chocolate swirls will be glossy, but not the batter.
Can I Double This Recipe?
You likely can, although I haven’t made a double batch of these red velvet brownies before. I imagine you’d simply need to double all the ingredients and bake the brownies in a 9×13-inch pan.
Can I Omit the Food Coloring?
Yes, although your red velvet brownies won’t have the same color as mine. But you’d still wind up with a batch of amazing chocolate-swirled fudge brownies!
Can I Make These Gluten-Free?
I’ve only made these red velvet brownies as instructed in the recipe card below, so I can’t say for certain if / how to make this a gluten-free recipe. If you give it a go, please let me know how the brownies turn out!
Can I Swirl a Different Type of Chocolate on Top?
I don’t see why not! I used semi-sweet chocolate because I prefer richer brownies, but you could also use white chocolate or milk chocolate.
Can I Add a Cheesecake Swirl Instead?
If you’re craving cream cheese-swirled red velvet brownies, I recommend making my Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies instead. I’ve tested that recipe multiple times and know that the cheesecake swirl works.
How to Store Red Velvet Brownies
These chocolate-swirled red velvet brownies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Note that the brownies need to cool completely before being stored in a container. If you put the brownies in Tupperware before they’ve cooled completely, condensation will form in the container and will affect the texture of the brownies.
Tips for the Best Red Velvet Brownies
A few things to note when making these easy cocoa powder brownies:
First, be sure to wait a minute or two before adding the egg to the melted butter. If you add the egg to hot melted butter, you’ll wind up with scrambled egg. Second, once you add the dry ingredients to the wet, you want to mix the batter just until everything is incorporated. If you over mix the brownie batter, you’ll wind up with dense, cakey brownies. Lastly, these red velvet brownies remind me of the Gingerbread Molasses Chocolate Chip Bars I made before Christmas and a longer cooling period is preferred. I urge you to allow them to cool in the pan for at least a few hours, or overnight. It’ll give the chocolate a chance to set up fully and for the bars to just rest so slicing is a neater job.
You’ll be rewarded with bars that are soft in the interior, with slightly firmer and chewier edges, and you’ll just want to sink your teeth into them.
More Valentine’s Day Dessert Recipes:
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting — Extremely popular with readers and so many positive comments about these easy, no-mixer cupcakes. Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!
Easy Chocolate Pots de Creme – No-bake, no-cook, and made in a blender in 5 minutes!! The PERFECT dessert! Rich, decadent, a chocolate lover’s dream, perfect for special occasions, and guaranteed to impress!!
Red Velvet Poke Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — The cake is fast, easy, and it’s a poke cake so it’s automatically super soft and moist.
Soft Frosted Valentine’s Heart Cookies — These easy cookies are soft, chewy, dense, made in one bowl, and you don’t have to roll them out.
Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies — These chocolate chip red velvet cookies have a secret ingredient — cake mix! These cookies are super ooey gooey and ultra rich!
Valentine’s Day Vanilla Pudding Sugar Cookie Bars – A sugar cookie crust topped with creamy vanilla pudding, whipped topping, and sprinkles!! A luscious and EASY Valentine’s Day dessert that will put everyone in festive spirits!!
The Best and Easiest Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes — One bowl, no mixer, so easy! The warm, gooey, fudgy chocolate lava cake center is heavenly! Better than any restaurant versions! Best chocolate cake EVER!!
Valentine’s Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars – Sugar cookie bars are so much FASTER AND EASIER than making sugar cookies!! The sprinkles and tangy cream cheese frosting help to make the bars a PERFECT Valentine’s Day treat!!
