Red Velvet Cream Cheese Brownies

Red Velvet Layer:
1 C butter, melted
2 C sugar
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
4 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
1/2 t salt
1 t red food coloring gel
1/2 C semi sweet chocolate chips


Cream Cheese Layer:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla


BROWNIE LAYER

1. Place 1 cup melted butter, 2 cups sugar and 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa into your stand mixer, or large mixing bowl. Mix it until well combined, about 2 minutes.


2. Crack one egg and add it to the batter. Mix until the egg is incorporated. Repeat with the three remaining eggs, mixing them into the batter one single solitary egg at a time.


3. Add two teaspoons vanilla to the batter and mix it in.


4. Put 1 1/2 C flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a small bowl and fluff it around with a fork to combine the two. Add these dry ingredients to your batter and mix until they are well combined.


5. Add 1 teaspoon red food coloring gel to the batter and mix until the batter in nice and red. This gel can be purchased in the cake decorating section of Walmart or at any craft store. If you only have regular red food coloring, my thoughts are...this recipe would still work, however you may have to add up to 1 Tablespoon of food coloring which may taint the flavor of the brownies a bit.

6. Toss in 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips and mix until combined.

7. Line a 9x13 pan with wax paper, parchment paper or tin foil and spray it with cooking spray. This will help you lift the brownies out of the pan when they have cooled and are ready to cut.

8. Spread the batter out evenly in the pan.


CREAM CHEESE LAYER
1. Place 1 (8 ounce) package softened cream cheese into your stand mixer or medium sized mixing bowl. Beat it until nice and smooth.

2. Add 1/2 C sugar, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix until all ingredients are well combined.

3. Drop the cream cheese mixture onto the beautiful red velvet layer in spoon fulls.


4. Drag a knife through both layers...creating a marble effect. You may have to pull a bit of the red layer up onto the white layer to get the look you want.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the beautiful brownies cool on a wire rack, then lift them out of the pan, cut and serve.


Enjoy!