Red Velvet Brownies

Fall in love with these delicious Red Velvet Brownies drizzled with cream cheese icing! Each bite offers flavours of rich chocolate and sweet vanilla, baked into a dense and fudgy brownie texture. These Red Velvet Brownies would make a delightful Valentine’s Day recipe, but would also be perfect as a festive Christmas bake.

Ingredients for making these Red Velvet Brownies

To make this recipe, you will need:

• Unsalted butter (melted): Melted butter gives the brownies a rich and buttery flavour and results in a softer, fudgier texture.
• Dark chocolate (melted): Using good-quality dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids will result in a rich, chocolatey flavour without tasting too bitter.
• White caster sugar: The white caster sugar adds sweetness and gives the brownies a slightly crisp, shiny, crackly top.
• Eggs (room temperature): The eggs add richness, moisture, and structure to the brownies.
• Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract adds a sweet and aromatic note that complements the rich chocolate flavours.
• White wine vinegar: White wine vinegar adds a subtle tangy flavour to the brownies and vinegar’s acidity disrupts the gluten development in the flour, contributing to the creation of a tender and moist texture.
• Self-raising flour: Just the right amount of flour helps bind the fats together without drying out the brownies. The added raising agent in self-raising flour will give the brownies a little rise to create a thicker brownie.
• Cocoa powder: The cocoa powder enhances the overall chocolatey-ness of these red velvet brownies and gives the brownies structure.
• Red food colouring: For these red velvet brownies, you must use either a gel or oil-based red food colouring. I highly recommend using Sugarflair Red Extra.

How to know when the Red Velvet Brownies are done baking

As these red velvet brownies cool down, they will continue to cook through. So, if you want to bake ultra-fudgy and moist brownies, remove the brownies from the oven while they are slightly underbaked. Here’s what to look for when the brownies are ready:

• The top of the brownies will be set and glossy
• Visible cracks around the outside edge
• The middle should wobble if you give the baking tin a shake

Now here’s the tough part… you must allow these red velvet brownies to cool down completely before slicing. Leave them in the baking tin for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature, or place in the fridge for 2 hours. Then slice for the ultimate fudgy brownie texture!

Quick Recipe Success Tips

• Use a 20cm square tin: It’s important to use the same-sized baking tin to get the best results from this recipe. The ingredient quantities and baking time are only accurate if you use a 20cm square tin.
• For the brownie mixture, use a gel or oil-based food colouring: This concentrated type of food colouring will transform the brownie mixture into a vibrant red hue. I highly recommend using Sugarflair Red Extra.
• When making the icing, use cold cream cheese: In the UK, cream cheese tends to have excess moisture, making it prone to becoming runny when mixed. Starting with cold cream cheese should result in a thick and pipeable icing. Mix the ingredients slowly and only until just combined.
• Allow the brownies to cool completely: During the cooling time, the brownies will continue cooking, firm up and turn extra fudgy. This step will test your willpower but I promise it will be worth the wait!

Red Velvet Brownies

Fall in love with these delicious Red Velvet Brownies drizzled with cream cheese icing! Each bite offers flavours of rich chocolate and sweet vanilla baked into a dense and fudgy brownie texture. These Red Velvet Brownies would make a delightful Valentine's Day recipe, but would also be perfect as a festive Christmas bake.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 22 minutes mins

Cooling time 3 hours hrs

Total Time 3 hours hrs 52 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Baking

Servings 12

Ingredients

  

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Red velvet brownies

• 150 g Unsalted butter
• 100 g 70% dark chocolate
• 220 g White caster sugar
• 2 Large Eggs room temperature
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 tsp White wine vinegar
• 130 g Self-raising flour
• 20 g Cocoa powder
• 1-2 tsp Red food colouring (gel or oil-based) I used Sugarflair Red Extra

Cream cheese icing

• 40 g Full-fat cream cheese keep in the fridge
• 50 g Icing sugar

Instructions

 

To make the red velvet brownies:

• Preheat the oven to 160°C fan / 180°C conventional. Line a 20cm square baking tin with baking paper.
• In a glass bowl, combine the dark chocolate and butter. Microwave for 60-90 seconds until melted. Stir to combine and set aside.
  100 g 70% dark chocolate, 150 g Unsalted butter
• In a separate bowl, whisk the caster sugar and eggs for a couple of minutes until light in colour, thick and foamy.
  2 Large Eggs, 220 g White caster sugar
• Add the vanilla extract, white wine vinegar, melted chocolate and red food colouring. Mix everything together until the mixture is smooth and bright red. At this stage, you can keep adding food colouring, ½ a teaspoon at a time, until you reach the desired colour.
  2 tsp Vanilla extract, 1 tsp White wine vinegar, 1-2 tsp Red food colouring (gel or oil-based)
• Sift in the flour and cocoa powder, then fold together until the brownie mixture is just combined.
  130 g Self-raising flour, 20 g Cocoa powder
• Spoon into the prepared baking tin and spread out evenly. Bake for 22-25 minutes until the brownies are set on top, showing cracks around the outside edge, and have a slight wobble in the centre.
• Leave to cool completely for at least 4 hours or overnight for best results (this will allow the brownies to set and turn fudgy). You can speed up the cooling time by refrigerating the brownies for 2 hours instead.

To make the cream cheese icing:

• In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese and icing sugar together until smooth and combined. Be careful not to overmix as the icing can become runny very quickly. If it does, just pop it in the fridge to firm up.
• Remove the cooled brownies from the baking tin and drizzle the cream cheese icing on top. Slice and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Store your Red Velvet Brownes in a cake tin, in the fridge, for up to 3 days. 

Keyword cream cheese icing, Red Velvet Brownies

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