Red Velvet Brownies Recipe

There's something so satisfying about eating a treat that looks as good as it tastes. Sure, any baked good probably looks appealing, but there's one variation of desserts that goes above and beyond — red velvet, of course! While you may think of cake or cupcakes when it comes to red velvet, that doesn't have to be teh case. Recipe developer Hayley MacLean offers an alternative to red velvet cakes and cupcakes — a red velvet brownie recipe! — that she describes as tasting "like a mixture of a brownie and a sugar cookie."

MacLean says these brownies are the fudgy, chewy type, but says if you want a more cake-like brownie, you can just bake them for a few extra minutes. The flavor, she tells us, is "just lightly chocolatey, with a sweet vanilla background and some rich molasses notes from the brown sugar." While the white chocolate chips are meant to mimic the cream cheese frosting typically used on red velvet cake, you can swap these out for chocolate chips if you want more of a chocolate flavor in your brownie.

The first thing you'll need to do before you bake is to take two eggs out of the fridge so they can warm up to room temperature. Melt the butter, too, then allow it to cool down a bit. Preheat the oven to the standard baking temperature of 350 F. While it is heating up, take out an 8x8-inch baking pan and lightly grease it. You can use cooking spray, a little vegetable oil, or a tiny bit of butter for this. If you prefer, you can also skip the grease and line the pan with parchment paper instead.

You can also start prepping the brownies themselves. Once the melted butter has cooled, whisk it together with the sugars (both types) and the cocoa powder. Now separate one of the eggs and add just the yolk to the butter mixture along with the entirety of the other egg. Add in the vanilla and red food coloring, then mix all of the ingredients thoroughly.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and once the oven is hot enough, stick the pan inside and bake for 28 to 30 minutes. MacLean says that when the brownies are done the edges should be set, but the middle bits will still have a bit of jiggle to them. As she explains, the brownies "will continue to cook for a bit after removal from the oven." Once you do take them out, let them cool in the pan before you slice them into bars.

MacLean recommends serving these with milk, though if you're not much of a milk drinker, the light, not-too-chocolatey flavor would also go well with a cup of coffee or tea. You may also want to make a batch for a party, like perhaps a Valentine's classroom party or something of that sort. As McLean says, these brownies' color makes them "festive and fun," just right for the holiday.