Red Velvet Brownies!
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A simple yet delicious red velvet brownie recipe with a vanilla and chocolate red velvet inspired base, with a vanilla cheesecake swirl throughout. A fun and tasty brightly coloured bake that is easy to prep and make, and is always a good crowd pleaser.
Notes from The Patisserie
So the time has come, to give you… RED. VELVET. BROWNIES. Yeah, that’s right – red velvet brownies. This is a recipe that has been requested for longer than I can remember, so I am finally giving you the ultimate dream!
Some people may be a little confused from the beginning here about how you can have red velvet in brownie form, but roll with me. It’s possible. And it’s DELICIOUS. To explain the bake… red velvet cake is basically a chocolate and vanilla cake, that is also red. Originally, they were not made using red food colouring, but these days, it’s just the easiest and most straight forward route.
Ingredient notes + tips for the best bake
The brownie mixture
- Butter – for the brownie base you can use a block unsalted butter at room temperature, or you can use a baking spread/margarine
- Sugar – I used caster sugar as I don’t want any colour in the sugar, but I still want the sweetness. Using other sugars could change the end result as you are heavily relying on the food colouring
- Vanilla – I believe this to be essential in this bake for the flavour you are after – I prefer a good quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- Food colouring – read more below
- Eggs – I use medium eggs, so I use four in this recipe – but you can swap to three large if that is what you have instead
- Cocoa – I prefer to use a strong 100% cocoa powder, even though it is deeper in colour. This is because you need to use a smaller amount for the best results, but still get the richness of the chocolate
- Flour – it’s important to use plain flour here as you do not want any raising agent – anything else will cause a cake texture
- Vinegar – this adds flavour and helps with the texture of the brownie
The cheesecake mixture
As this cheesecake is a baked mixture, it’s quite different to other cheesecake recipes on my blog. It’s a simple four ingredient mixture that has a much runnier texture than others, so don’t worry if you think it looks different.
- Cheese – it’s best to use a full-fat soft cheese (you can use supermarket own, or a brand such as Philadelphia)
- Sugar – I use caster sugar to bring in the sweetness to combat the tart flavour of the cheese
- Vanilla – a hint of vanilla does a world of wonders for a simple baked cheesecake mixture
- Egg – one egg yolk helps actually bake the cheesecake mix, allowing it to set properly in the oven.
What red food colouring should I use?
The main issues with baking red velvet cakes and other bakes, has always been using the incorrect food colouring. I will say it over and over again.. you MUST use good quality colouring. Supermarket own colours (especially ones in the UK where I am from) are not good enough quality, unfortunately.
The quantity in which you use is also quite key, as the best colours are super super strong, you don’t need a lot. A little goes a long way, and you don’t want to go over kill as all strong food colours have a weight allowed per bake (always best to read the labels)
Cocoa powder is a vital ingredient, but also the ingredient that can cause food colouring to not work with it being brown and all – combat this, by using my recommended red food colour.
Making the best red velvet brownies
The full recipe and method can be found in the recipe card below, but here are some tips to make the BEST version of these that you can.
- Creaming together the butter and sugar fully first prevents any butter lumps in the batter later on – block butter I use at room temperature to make it easier to mix, but a baking spread or margarine can be used from fridge cold
- You do not need to use a fancy stand mixer or hand mixer to make these, you can definitely make them by hand. Just make sure to not over-mix, as any cake/bake mixture can have texture issues if it is over mixed.
- Baking until there is a small wobble in the middle is best – timings can vary in any recipe as ovens wildly vary themselves. Even if you have 10 electric fan ovens set to ‘the same thing’ it may still be different so it’s finding what works for your oven.
- It’s best to let them set in the tin and then fridge to let the brownies firm up and the cheesecake set properly before slicing
FAQs
Theoretically yes, but how colours respond to the mix depends on the colour, strength of colour and what you want as an end result.
No – the bottles of liquid colouring typically found in supermarkets are NOT strong enough (see notes above)
For sure! I use vanilla as a base as I find it complements the red velvet well, but you can leave this out, or flavour it completely differently. I would recommend 1tsp of a strong flavouring
Yes, you can! Half of the recipe fits a 7″ square tin. Baking time will reduce
Red Velvet Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
Red Velvet Brownies
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 275 g caster sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp red food colouring (see blog post)
- 4 medium eggs
- 30 g cocoa powder
- 125 g plain flour
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
Cheesecake Swirl
- 250 g full-fat soft cream cheese
- 75 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg yolk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan and line a 9×9" square tin with parchment paper
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until combined
- Add in the vanilla and red food colouring and mix again
- Add in the eggs and mix together
- Add in the cocoa powder, and plain flour, and mix.
- Finally, add in the white wine vinegar and stir through
- In a separate bowl, add the full-fat soft cream cheese and mix to loosen slightly
- Add the sugar and vanilla and mix together
- Add the egg yolk, and mix through.
- Pour 90% of the brownie mixture into the prepared lined tin
- Dollop over the cream cheese mix, and then dollop over the last little bit of brownie mix
- Swirl the mixture together – and then bake in the oven for 28-35 minutes. Mine were in for 30.
- Leave to cool in the tin, and then set in the fridge for at least an hour (but preferably overnight)
Notes
- These will lsat for 3-4+ days, in the fridge.
- They can freeze for 3+ months
- I recommend using this red food colouring for this recipe
- I also recommend using this 9 square tin for this recipe.
Storage & Freezing
These red velvet brownies are delicious once they have been chilled and set in the fridge. They will last for 3-4+ days, preferably in the fridge due to the cheesecake mixture. They could last out of the fridge for a couple of hours on a cool day, but really they should be chilled.
These red velvet brownies can be cooled for 3+ months – I would personally portion the red velvet brownies first, and then freeze in a freezer safe container.
Hi Jane!
I’ve just made this recipe today. It is so straight forward to follow.
However I think I totally messed up lol! It came out more like a sponge and the cheesecake mixture didn’t have the thick layers like pictured.
Have I over swirled and over baked them?
I definitely kept them in longer as every time I checked them it seemed really wobbly in the middle? I cooked them until there was no mixture left on the knife I used to check if it was baked.
Should I have left it wobbly
Yes, you have over mixed, and over baked! The wobbly part will come from the cheesecake, and a knife check doesn’t work for brownies, unfortunately! So yes it needs to be wobbly! x
These were sooooo delicious!!! I honestly couldn’t stop eating them 🙂 Thank u for this delicious recipe!!!
Hi Jane,
I used tesco own cream cheese but after mixing all the ingredients together it was literally so runny, like gold top milk, is this correct or should it be thicker & more solid? If so what have I done wrong? Should it be philidelphia? It made the swirling very hard as it just ran all over the mixture like milk.
Thank you
Hello, it does sound a bit thin so it could have been the cream cheese or it being over mixed xx
Mine was the same and didn’t over mix 🙁
Hey, how did it bake though? it s naturally a runnier mixture xx
Exactly the same for me, I used Waitrose Full Fat. I had to pour it in it was so runny. In the oven now, goodness knows how they will turn out. So disappointed as Jane’s recipes always work
Baked cheesecake mix is always runnier – this has nothing to do with the recipe. It will still bake absolutely fine!
Hi Jane,
Really looking forward to trying this recipe. However i have my 23cm tin, and im thinking how will this make 16 servings as mentioned in your recipe. Am i right to say 23cm square tin is basically 9×9?
Thanks
Hey, yes it is the same xx
Can you do this without the cheesecake swirl?
You can, but they’ll be a bit blah without in my opinion!
Hi Jane
I have made this several times and absolutely love it, could this be done as a cake? As what I love most is the creme cheese that is swirled throughout the sponge and not just a layer of creme cheese between 2 sponges
Hi Jane what brand cocoa powder do u recommend using as I have tried making red velvet bakes before using the sugarflair extra red but it never comes out as dark red is it something to do with the cocoa powder, as I’d ljve to make these they look amazing, tia x
I use Barry cacao as I buy large bags – and its 100% so its quite a darker colour! x
Hey these look amazing I think they are going to be my valentines bake!❤️ I was just wondering if I could use white chocolate chip instead of cream cheese or would this not work? I’d like to drizzle white chocolate on top so thought it would be easier to put it inside too? Or would it taste strange
They would do – but usually I find these need the cream cheese mixture so that they are nicer! The base brownie is a bit plain/cakey so it may be the same if you just use the white chocoalate chips x
Hey, could I add red velvet baileys to this recipe and if so, would I have to add more/less of any of the other ingredients? Thank you x
You could add it to the cheesecake mixture! I haven’t tried it myself, but maybe 3-4 tbsp? X
Hey,
Made this recipe this evening followed the steps but when I’ve taken it out the brownie tin once it’s been cooling for 30 mins it’s still raw in the middle but the corners were cooked, any tips or ideas what I could do ?
I tried to put it back in the oven once I’d cut it up into slices but still a bit runny…
The corners were really nice though xxx
Unfortunately adding a cooled cake back into the oven isn’t going to work and generally should be avoided – it sounds like your oven needs to have a lower temp and bake for longer instead so its a more even bake! x
Can I use liquid food color and regular white vinegar. Unfortunately, the exact items you listed are not available in my area.
Hi Jane,
I’ve just tried making this recipe, followed every step from tour recipe and baked it for 24 minutes and it came out sponge like omelette as my partner said 🙈
Sounds over baked! It may be the oven was too hot so it made the cheesecake part go weird and over bake x
I made these a few days ago, and they are SO GOOD, I’m this close to eating the entire tray!