Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Hearing the words red velvet and cheesecake in one recipe had me a little nervous. Never in my life have I tried making red velvet anything, but after reading through the recipe a few times, it became quite clear that these brownies were a lot simpler than the name made them seem.

One ingredient at a time, stir in the sugar, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring, and vinegar. So I would dump the sugar into the butter, mix it well, then add the vanilla and mix, etc. for each ingredient to make the brownie layer.

I used the liquid food coloring that comes in the little box and it was just under 1 full tablespoon. I do think the shade of red turned out quite well for these red velvet brownies, however the next time I make this recipe, I will be giving some food coloring gel a try to see if they brighten up the red a little more. And if you are wondering about that vinegar, don’t worry, you will not taste it after the brownies have baked! It’s there to help make the red a little more vibrant!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies Recipe



Ingredients
Brownie Batter

• 2 eggs
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring (liquid or gel)
• ¾ teaspoon white vinegar
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour

Cheesecake Filling

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Beat the two eggs together in small bowl, set aside.
3. Melt butter.
4. In large bowl, mix butter with sugar, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring, and vinegar.
5. Whisk in the eggs.
6. Fold in flour, combine well but do not over-mix.
7. Spray 8"x8" baking pan with nonstick spray. Pour batter into pan, leaving a little extra in bowl.
8. Combine the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla in bowl using hand mixer on medium speed.
9. Mix for about 1 minute until smooth.
10. Spoon dollops of the cheesecake filling on top of the brownie batter in the pan.
11. Pour extra brownie batter over top of both layers.
12. Using a butter knife, start at the top of the pan and go through the batter and cheesecake filling from side to side across the pan. Once you have gone from side to side all the way down, change directions and go up and down.
13. Bake for 28-30 minutes. They are done when a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.
14. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Recipe Adapted : Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies @ onelittleproject