Easy Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
These brownies are rich, decadent, and not as all cakey. If you like really rich brownies, you’re going to love these. They’re made with both melted chocolate and cocoa powder so they pack a definite chocolate punch. The cream cheese swirls add the perfect tanginess to cut through some of the richness of the brownies. It also helps to keep the brownies extra moist. These red velvet brownies are a perfect treat for Valentine’s Day, the Christmas season, or anytime you’re craving red velvet. They make a 9×13-inch pan and because they’re thick and rich, you can definitely stretch the yield to get 18 brownies out of a pan.
What’s in Red Velvet Brownies?
To make these red velvet cream cheese brownies, you’ll need:
Unsalted butter Bittersweet chocolate Granulated sugar Eggs Red food coloring Vanilla extract Unsweetened cocoa powder All-purpose flour Salt Cream cheese
How to Make Red Velvet Brownies
Even though this isn’t a one bowl recipe, it’s a two bowl recipe. For something that tastes to decadent, they’re actually very easy to make. Melt together butter and chopped chocolate before stirring in sugar, eggs, red food coloring, vanilla, cocoa powder, and flour. Turn this mixture out into a 9×13-inch pan. In another bowl, beat together cream cheese, egg whites, sugar, and a bit of flour. Beat for about 5 minutes, or until the cream cheese is totally smooth and mixture has fluffed up significantly in volume. Drop tablespoon-sized amounts of the cream cheese mixture over the brownies and gently using a knife to create a marbled effect. Then bake off your brownies. This is a big heavy pan of brownies and while mine took 42 minutes, if yours take longer than 45 minutes or so, don’t worry about it.Bake until they are done in your oven without regard to what the clock says.
How Much Red Food Coloring Will I Need?
I used a 1-ounce bottle McCormick Red Food Coloring. Anything less than this quantity would not have given me a sufficiently red enough shade. All brands of food coloring and personal preferences vary so use as much as needed. But don’t be surprised if you need a lot more than originally anticipated, i.e. a whole 1-ounce bottle in my case. This is not the kind of recipe where a couple drops will do it. Make sure you have an extra bottle on hand, just in case, so you get the true red velvet color effect.
How Should I Store These Brownies?
I store the red velvet cake brownies airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you’re more comfortable storing them in the fridge, do so. Note that they will be more prone to drying out.
Tips for Making Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
I find actually bringing a bit of the brownie batter up and into the cream cheese mixture, and then swirling, gives a nice visual effect so you can see the red in the white. Everyone will have a different technique and swirl however you see fit. A big tip here is to not over swirl because then you won’t have an “artsy” looking design with a swirl pattern. You will just have a uniform pink-ish design and it doesn’t look as pretty. When you get to a place you think it looks good, have the courage to just stop swirling and not do “one more little swirl,” which I can relate to.
More Red Velvet Recipes:
ALL OF MY RED VELVET DESSERTS! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! Red Velvet Chocolate-Swirled Brownie Bars – These easy bars topped with an abundance of chocolate are velvety soft and smooth! They don’t call it red velvet for nothing!
Red Velvet Poke Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — If you like red velvet, you’re going to LOVE this EASY cake!! Super soft, moist, topped with luscious cream cheese frosting and chocolate chips! Perfect for holidays and special events!!
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting {From Scratch} – Made in 1 bowl, no mixer, so easy, and the cupcakes taste like they’re from a bakery!
Red Velvet Gooey Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies – The softest, moistest, gooiest cookies ever! They’re so buttery they just melt in your mouth!
Red Velvet Muffins — They’d be so festive for holiday parties from Christmas to Valentine’s Day or anytime. Red velvet fans love it year-round and the muffins will be a hit with any red velvet lover.
