These red velvet marbled cheesecake brownies are perfect for your valentine! Make them for Valentine’s Day or any other day of the year!
This month’s What’s Baking challenge is being hosted by my friend Kim of Just Baked. Kim chose a fun theme for us this month – red velvet. This was perfect since I have wanted to make red velvet desserts but just haven’t gotten around to it yet (read: I have been lazy). Now I finally had a legit reason to make something red velvet. I was contemplating making Kelly’s baked red velvet donuts with cream cheese glaze, but my husband vetoed the idea (Kelly, I am still going to make these soon). Instead, he asked me to make a cheesecake.
I like cheesecake and all, but it’s hard to share. I can bring it into the office but it takes up a lot of room in the community refrigerator. It’s hard to bring to the rink without getting smushed, so I wanted to make something more portable. I remembered that I had bookmarked these red velvet marbled cheesecake brownies from The Novice Chef a long time ago and knew that it was finally time to make them.
Mine didn’t turn out nearly as red and pretty as the original, but they still tasted good. The bars weren’t too sweet, and I purposely added less red dye so it wouldn’t get my hands too stained. The cheesecake flavor is a bit more subtle than I prefer, but these are still some great bars that you can make for Valentine’s Day (or any other day).
Red velvet marbled cheesecake brownies
Ingredients
Red velvet layer
- 3 and 1/4 cups flour
- 2 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 Tablespoons milk of choice divided
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon red food coloring
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
Cheesecake layer
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease or line a 13"x18" jelly roll pan (if you don't have a jelly roll pan, make sure you bake this in a pan with high sides). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, 2 TBSP of the milk, vanilla, red food coloring and vinegar.
- Pour the egg mixture into the large bowl with the dry ingredients. The batter will be smooth and appear like play-doh. Transfer 3/4 cup of the batter to a small bowl and set aside. Distribute the remaining batter into your prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth out the surface and ensure that the corners of the pan get filled as well.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, mix the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and continue mixing until there are no more lumps.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture directly on top of the brownie layer in the pan. Smooth the top with a spatula.
- Add the remaining 2 TBSP of milk to the bowl with the reserved batter. Mix well until smooth. Drop spoonfuls of batter on top of the cream cheese layer and swirl it in with the tip of a knife.
- Bake the pan in your preheated oven for 15 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for an additional 15 minutes. When the brownies are done, the batter should not jiggle when shaken.
- Allow the brownies to cool completely before cutting and serving.