Mary's Kitchen Diaries: Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

How many of you knew that Red Velvet was just chocolate cake with a TON of red food coloring? I tell this to people and they just can't understand then why it tastes so GOOD and different. Well people, I really can't tell you either. Anyways, I was baking for some friends and wasn't quite sure what to bake them. I decided to try this new recipe that I have been meaning to get my hands dirty with. Cheesecake? YUM. Red Velvet? Double YUM. Brownies? SOLD! So that's was why I chose to bake these little pieces of heaven.

All credits for this amazing recipe must go to Doughmesstic, who I wasn't too familiar with. But after this, I will definitely be sure to check out her blogs more often! A bit of advice, I was so in a rush to cut these brownies up that I didn't allow them to cool down all the way before hand, because of this, my slices weren't very clean and came out crumbly. I would definitely wait at least an hour before cutting up these brownies. Another side note, these were probably the best brownies I have EVER had. This will definitely be my brownie mix from now on. 10x better than the box mix! Alright on with the recipe!

Ingredients for Brownies

Ingredients (makes about 16-20 brownies):

non-stick baking spray

9 Tbsp butter

3 ounce semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp red food color powder (you can also use 3 oz of red food color)

1 tbsp warm water (if you use the liquid food coloring, you won't need this)

3/4 cup All Purpose Flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
-----Cheesecake Layer-----

1/3 cup sugar

8 oz package of reduced fat cream cheese (1/3 fat also works)

pinch salt

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray 8x8 baking pan with non-stick baking spray.
3. In the microwave, melt chocolate and butter until smooth. This should take about 30-45 seconds. Set aside.

4. In another bowl cream together eggs, vanilla, and sugar.

5. Mix together the red food color with the warm water. Add the food coloring to the wet mixture (step4).
6. Add in chocolate and butter mixture (step 3) until well combined.
7. In small bowl, sift together cocoa, salt, and flour.
8. Add mixture (step 6) to the wet ingredients (step 5). Make sure and just combine and not over mix.

9. Pour batter into sprayed baking pan.
10. Beat softened cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, pinch of salt, egg, and vanilla extract together until smooth.