Red Velvet Brownies with a Cream Cheese Frosting

These red velvet brownies are a Valentines Day staple. They are literally the MOST fudgy, gooey, rich, extra chocolatey brownies you will ever eat!! This is one of my easiest recipes that will leave your loved ones wanting more.

Valentines day is coming up which has me thinking of only one thing...CHOCOLATE! And I know my husband is always craving chocolate so I though this would a perfect recipe for him. He is obsessed with them and you will soon learn why. One of the key ingredients in these red velvet brownies is the instant coffee granules. The coffee is meant to enhance that chocolate flavor, not necessarily make them taste like coffee. Since instant coffee is a concentrated form of coffee, you have to be really careful with it. Trust me a little can go a long way! The first time I made these for my husband, I put too much instant coffee in them and he said that the coffee flavor was too overpowering. He didn't like it so I had to alter the ratios and find the perfect balance. Coffee and chocolate share the same flavor profile, so when adding a hint of coffee to chocolate, you amplify and enhance those rich flavors.

How To Make The Batter

These red velvet brownies are super simple and don't take much time. First you melt the chocolate an butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave. If you use the microwave do it in slow increments so you don't burn it. Them mix together your eggs, sugar, vanilla, and food coloring, add your chocolate mixture and then add your dry ingredients! Its that simple. As you will notice this is a lot of batter! They make a really thick delicious brownie. If you prefer you can also bake these in a 9x 12 pan for thinner brownies. But who can complain about a thick HUGE brownie?

What better to top your red velvet brownies with than a cream cheese frosting. This is a simple recipe, just mix all of your ingredients together and frost away. Big Tip... I do a crumb coat frost first, because you will notice when you try to frost them all the crinkle top crumbs get in the frosting. So to do this you frost each brownie with a thin layer of frosting and then place in the fridge for about 30 minutes until the icing hardens. Then Frost a second time and they will look perfect!

What is Red Velvet

So I get this question a lot.. is red velvet just chocolate cake? And they are pretty similar. The difference is red velvet is super moist and traditionally does not have melted chocolate rather it usually only uses coco powder, as well as buttermilk and vinegar which chemically creates a slight red color... most people add food coloring to enhance that color. Now these brownies are pushing the boundaries a little on those rules. Buttermilk would make a more caky brownie and I prefer chewy brownies so Instead I added melted chocolate to still have that supper moist texture that a red velvet provides. Although I LOVE Red Velvet, I am not a big fan of eating unnatural artificial red food, so these brownies are more deep natural red huge! But you can add as much or as little red food coloring as you like.

Tips

1. If you want a brighter red color to your brownies then take out the melted chocolate.
2. make sure your chocolate and butter had cooled before adding it to your egg mixture of you will cook your eggs!
3. If you chose to bake in a 9x 12 pan do not forget to lower your cook time.
4. When frosting your brownies, do a crumb coat so they look their best. Details on this are above.
5. I recommend using a liquid food coloring and not a gel. the liquid ones are just more saturated while the gel ones are more mild in color.

More Valentines Day Dessert Ideas

Lastly, if you try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment/rating on how they turned out. I love hearing from you guys and will try my best to reply to every comment! And don't forget to tag me on Instagram!