Easy Red Velvet Brownies

These delicious, from-scratch, fudgy, one-bowl red velvet brownies come together quickly to produce a really delicious dessert!

This easy delicious red velvet brownies recipe uses dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and white chocolate to make a truly decadent dessert!

I've been on the brownie/blondie train - and have really been wanting to add a red velvet brownie recipe to my repertoire. So I tweaked the base brownie recipe I used for my Biscoff brownies - and after a few test runs (and one dry epic failure) I produced this delicious fudgy red velvet brownies recipe!

What is Red Velvet?

Red Velvet Cake is traditionally a red-colored layer cake layered with ermine icing, originating in the United States, with a fairly rich history linked to the South and Juneteenth.

Commonly this cake is made with buttermilk, butter, cocoa, vinegar, and flour.

The original cake relied on the reaction of the buttermilk and/or vinegar with cocoa powder to make a red color. However, because we now tend to use Dutch-processed cocoa powders in baking, this reaction doesn't occur, so the red color is substituted with red food coloring.

These cakes had a soft velvety crumb - hence the name.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• This is a super easy, one-bowl brownies recipe that comes together in a few minutes and requires no special equipment.
• These fudgy brownies are perfect for any gathering or special occasion, such as Valentine's Day.
• Cut the brownies into small 2cmx2cm blocks for red velvet brownie bites - perfect for a Sundae/Ice-cream bar!
• The beautiful deep red color from the chocolate and red food coloring makes for a stunning dessert.
• White chocolate chunks are used to imitate the cream cheese frosting we know and love with a red velvet cake, and i think it's much easier than adding a cheesecake swirl. 
• The base recipe works perfectly well without the white chocolate. 

Ingredients

Here are some notes on the ingredients used in this recipe. Please see the recipe card for quantities.

Dark Chocolate - I used 62% Whittaker's dark chocolate in this brownie. This would be similar to Bittersweet chocolate. I highly recommend using chocolate you enjoy eating as it is the main chocolate flavor in this brownie.

Butter adds flavor, softness, and moisture and sometimes aids in the leavening of baked goods. I use New Zealand butter in my recipes, which has approximately 82% butterfat and can be very yellow (similar to European or Irish butter). Butter cannot be substituted with butter or margarine spreads, but it can be substituted with baking margarine.

White Granulated Sugar and Light Brown Sugar (you can use dark brown sugar) give these brownies thier sweetness. The addition of brown sugar with the white also adds some chewiness and fudginess to the brownie.

Eggs - I now use a New Zealand size 6 egg, around the same size as Australian and South African Large Eggs, but closer to a US/Europe Medium sized egg.

Plain flour (all-purpose flour/standard grade flour) refers to flour that has a protein content of approximately 9.5-12%.

Red Food coloring - I used liquid red food coloring, but you can use gel food coloring if you prefer.

Unsweetened cocoa powder adds that delicious chocolate flavor. I recommend using Dutch-processed cocoa powder for general home baking. I use Cadbury Bournville cocoa powder.

Salt is a crucial ingredient in all baked goods. I use table salt in all my recipes. One teaspoon of table salt equals 1.5 teaspoons of Morton Kosher Salt equals 2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal.

Vanilla extract enhances the flavors of the other ingredients in the recipe and is a cornerstone ingredient in baked goods and desserts containing eggs.

White Vinegar adds a bit of tang to this brownie. This is to mimic the acidity of buttermilk which would be added to a red velvet cake, and to give it that red velvet flavor. I used white wine vinegar.

White chocolate chips/chunks add another dimension of sweetness and a pretty contrast to the dark red brownie batter. This can be substituted with milk or dark chocolate chunks. I used Whittaker's white chocolate block, and just as with dark chocolate, I really think using chocolate you enjoy eating is the key to a delicious brownie.

Reduced-Sugar Variation

Brownies and blondies rely heavily on sugar for the overall texture. So I would not be tempted to change the sugar content in the base brownie itself.

However, if I were looking to decrease the sugar content - I would probably skip or even just decrease the amount of white chocolate in this brownie.

Small-Batch Red Velvet Brownies

A small batch of Red Velvet Brownies can be made by halving the recipe and baking in a regular loaf tin, as per the instructions. The recipe card has a handy "½" button by the ingredients.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F. Grease and line an 8-inch square pan with baking/parchment paper. Let the baking paper hang over the sides to easily remove the brownie once baked and cooled.

Step 2 - In a large mixing bowl, melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave or over low heat on the stove, or by using a bain-mairie method. Whisk the melted butter and chocolate together until smooth and shiny.

Step 3 - Add the white and brown sugar to the chocolate-butter mixture and beat in until mostly dissolved. This may require a bit of additional heating in the microwave or over low heat.

Step 4 - Add in the eggs. Beat on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes using an electric hand mixer. Or really whisk vigorously by hand for several minutes.

NOTE - The vigorous whisking helps the brownie develop a crackly tops.

Step 7 - Toss in the white chocolate chunks and fold through to combine.

Step 8 - Pour the red velvet brownie batter into the prepared baking pan. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then tap on the counter to help bring any bubbles to the top.

Step 9 - Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. The brownie is done when a cake tester/toothpick comes out with a few crumbs on it. Mine were done at 25 minutes. Allow the brownie to cool completely before lifting out the pan and slicing.

Expert Tips for this Recipe

• Read the recipe completely before beginning.
• Whisking the eggs or beating the eggs into the mixture is what gives the brownies their beautiful thin crackly tops.
• If you think the the white chocolate chunks will be too sweet, you can either substitute them for dark chocolate or do a 50-50 dark chocolate to white chocolate chunk mixture.

Storage and Freezing

These brownies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature, or up to a week in the fridge. This Biscoff brownie also freezes well, wrapped in plastic wrap and foil, or in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Allow to defrost in the fridge overnight before serving.

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