Chocolate-Swirled Red Velvet Brownies — These easy red velvet brownies are topped with an abundance of chocolate and are velvety soft and smooth! They don’t call it red velvet for nothing!
Chocolate-Swirled Red Velvet Brownies
Red velvet fever has begun in advance of Valentine’s Day. It’s everywhere. Here’s my contribution.
This recipe tasted like a cross between red velvet brownies and red velvet bars. Not over-the-top chocolaty to give them true brownie status, but much fudgier, denser, and richer than your typical bar.
Classic red velvet is known to have chocolate undertones, but isn’t overly chocolaty, and these easy cocoa powder brownies hit that mark.
And they’re as far away from red velvet cake that you can get. Nothing light, fluffy, or cakey about them. They’re smooth, rich, dense, and supremely moist.
They’re an easy, no-mixer, scratch recipe that comes together in minutes. Just as easy as opening a box of red velvet cake mix, but so much better and more unique tasting.
The chocolate swirls on top help to accentuate the cocoa that’s stirred into the batter. The overall chocolate level is present, but not too dark or too intense.
They’re buttery, rich, and velvety soft and smooth. They don’t call it red velvet for nothing.
What’s in the Red Velvet Brownies?
To make these red velvet brownie bars, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Red food coloring
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to Make Red Velvet Brownies
I made them by adapting my trusty blondies base recipe. Melt 1 stick of butter, stir in an egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and then whisk in cocoa powder.
Then I added the red food coloring, and lots of it. I bought two sets of Betty Crocker gel food coloring (with red, blue, yellow, and green) in order to get two red vials needed. And lucky me, I have enough green on hand that I’m already ready for Saint Paddy’s Day projects, now and through the year 2030.
My grocery stores stopped carrying the old fashioned drops and gel is being sold, and in package sets. Get your hands on as much red food coloring as you can, gel or old-fashioned drops, because turning chocolate batter red is a big task.
After you get the batter as red as you like, stir in flour, turn it out into the pan, and drizzle with melted chocolate chips to create the swirling. I gave detailed instructions on how to make the easy swirled pattern in the recipe card below.
It’s challenging to determine when any kind of dark-colored food is done, and red and brown food is some of the hardest. I baked for 28 minutes. I recommend 28 to 30 minutes, or until the top is set and isn’t glossy. The chocolate swirls will be glossy, but not the batter.
Can I Double This Recipe?
You likely can, although I haven’t made a double batch of these red velvet brownies before. I imagine you’d simply need to double all the ingredients and bake the brownies in a 9×13-inch pan.
Can I Omit the Food Coloring?
Yes, although your red velvet brownies won’t have the same color as mine. But you’d still wind up with a batch of amazing chocolate-swirled fudge brownies!
Can I Make These Gluten-Free?
I’ve only made these red velvet brownies as instructed in the recipe card below, so I can’t say for certain if / how to make this a gluten-free recipe. If you give it a go, please let me know how the brownies turn out!
Can I Swirl a Different Type of Chocolate on Top?
I don’t see why not! I used semi-sweet chocolate because I prefer richer brownies, but you could also use white chocolate or milk chocolate.
Can I Add a Cheesecake Swirl Instead?
If you’re craving cream cheese-swirled red velvet brownies, I recommend making my Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies instead. I’ve tested that recipe multiple times and know that the cheesecake swirl works.
How to Store Red Velvet Brownies
These chocolate-swirled red velvet brownies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Note that the brownies need to cool completely before being stored in a container. If you put the brownies in Tupperware before they’ve cooled completely, condensation will form in the container and will affect the texture of the brownies.
Tips for the Best Red Velvet Brownies
A few things to note when making these easy cocoa powder brownies:
- First, be sure to wait a minute or two before adding the egg to the melted butter. If you add the egg to hot melted butter, you’ll wind up with scrambled egg.
- Second, once you add the dry ingredients to the wet, you want to mix the batter just until everything is incorporated. If you over mix the brownie batter, you’ll wind up with dense, cakey brownies.
- Lastly, these red velvet brownies remind me of the Gingerbread Molasses Chocolate Chip Bars I made before Christmas and a longer cooling period is preferred. I urge you to allow them to cool in the pan for at least a few hours, or overnight. It’ll give the chocolate a chance to set up fully and for the bars to just rest so slicing is a neater job.
You’ll be rewarded with bars that are soft in the interior, with slightly firmer and chewier edges, and you’ll just want to sink your teeth into them.
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Chocolate-Swirled Red Velvet Brownie Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 2 vials red food coloring, or as needed (I used 2 red Betty Crocker gel food coloring vials)
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- Wait momentarily before adding the egg so you don’t scramble it. Add the egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the cocoa and whisk until smooth.
- Add the red food coloring and whisk to incorporate. Keep adding until desired shade is obtained.
- Add the flour, optional salt, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula; set aside.
- In a small, microwave-safe bowl melt the chocolate chips, about 1 minute on high power. Stop to check and stir. Heat in 10-second bursts until chocolate can be stirred smooth.
- Drizzle the chocolate over the pan and swirl lightly with the tip of a table knife or a toothpick. To create the pattern shown, drizzle chocolate over batter in 5 wide, evenly spaced, parallel lines, each spanning the length of the pan. Like 5 rows of long train tracks. Rotate pan 90-degrees. With a toothpick, starting at the top of the pan, “draw” 5 evenly spaced lines through the chocolate. You’re dragging the toothpick perpendicularly through the first set of lines to create the swirling.
- Bake for about 28 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving; however, for optimal results, cool overnight so the chocolate has a chance to fully set up fully.
Notes
- I used 2 vials of red food coloring. I had to buy two sets of gel food coloring (red, blue, green, yellow) for the two reds I needed. Use any type of food coloring you like; you’ll need a lot of it because it takes a lot to turn a chocolaty batter red.
- Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Wow. Just wow.
I usually am not a big fan of red velvet but I just made these for my sister and I have to restrain myself from eating the entire batch they were so good.
(Btw I made a double batch and baked it in a 9 by 13 inch pan for 30 minutes and they came out beautifully)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out so great for you that you had to exercise some serious willpower! And good news on the double batch in a 9×13!
I’m really looking forward to making these! I just had a question regarding how you store the bars overnight to rest? Do you leave them in the pan and cover them with foil? Or leave them in the pan without being covered?
Cover once the chocolate sets (not before or you’ll make it look messy).
Hi Avery,
These photos have surely brought out the sunshine on my day! I am just aching to bite into them!
My tiny problem is that I am vegetarian and don’t eat egg. I generally use substitutes like yogurt, flax seeds, bananas…But the texture of these little nuggets of joy seem like they are tied to precise proportions.
Could you plssssss recommend the right egg substitute for this recipe?
Love!
Vasudha
Please read over the Baking and Recipe FAQs https://www.averiecooks.com/faq for answers to the most common questions.
I need to make this in a 9×13 dish, how do I adjust the recipe? Thanks.
Haven’t personally tried but usually doubling the recipe works well going from 8×8 to 9×13. Haven’t tested it with this one firsthand though.
They look delicious!
I thought red food coloring was bitter unless you bought one specifically labeled “No Taste”. I made a cake entirely covered in red roses once= disaster! The bright red gel Wilton colors (what I have available) are all bitter! The “No Taste” is duller by comparison. Also, aren’t red dyes made with cochineal extract? I’m not the food police, but I’m starting to be more careful about some things.
https://www.ajc.com/news/lifestyles/health/campaign-to-rid-foods-of-red-dye-made-from-bugs-is/nbRDS/
I have used a hodge podge of red food coloring over the years from McCormick to storebrands to whatever is on sale and I haven’t noticed any issues with bitterness personally.
So, I didn’t see anything in the comments, but these loom really delicious and I think I’m up to the challenge of making them. I love traditional red velvet cake so even without the cream cheese frosting, I’m wondering would white chocolate work
White chocolate would definitely work; would have a totally different overall flavor b/c of the white vs. dark chocolate but it would look gorgeous!! LMK if you try!
I made these last night! Although they did come out tasty they didn’t come out like a bar. More or a cake. Not sure where I went wrong with the directions. Maybe a bit too much flour??? Anyway. I did enjoy them.
It could be the cocoa you used, or it could have been over-flouring, although over-flouring tends to make things denser, not cakier. I find that some brands of cocoa make things very airy and light and possibly even cakier. Also overbaking can do it. It’s my basic blondie recipe that I’ve literally adapted 50 times with other desserts/bars/blondies so I’m not exactly quite sure what happened with yours. Glad they tasted good still!
Those photos make me want to dive into my screen! I have guests over tomorrow night and a million chores to do as I’m also leaving on holiday soon. As a baking lover, I hated the thought of having to buy dessert …. am so glad I found this recipe (and your blog!), will give this a shot early tomorrow morning and I’ll let you know how it turns out!
These bars were one of the best things I made all 2013 (well I made them during the 2013 holiday baking season). They were seriously amazing and I hope you get a chance to try them! Please keep me posted how it goes!
The color turned out amazing – although they aren’t technically red velvet b/c red velvet flavor is buttermilk and vinegar with a mild cocoa flavor. Good call on the gel color
Glad you like them!
can I substitute it with other colors(purple)? But I tried And like it, Averie
I’m sure you could although I haven’t personally tried it.
When you pour the melted chocolate on top of the batter, isnt there a chance that it will seep through and you wont get that chocolate swirl on top?
Pour it slowly, gently, and carefully, and you’ll be fine.
So looking forward to try this recipe!!! But before that is it okay if i used BC red velvet cake mix instead of preparing one??will it give the same result??
No you will not get the same results, at all, with a boxed mix.
I just adore how swirly and pretty these are, Averie! Happy Valentine’s Day to you- I hope it’s sweet :) xoxo= K
I’m glad these are the typical cakey red velvet… I’m all about the fudgy brownies. But the color of these is GORGeous!!! Loving the chocolate swirl on top too Averie. Perfect for valentines day. Pinned these bad boys and making for my sweeties {hubbie and little 21 month old son :)}
Thanks for pinning! And just to clarify these are pretty darn fudgy and there’s zero cakiness to them!
whoops.. forgot to add the “nt” on the “are”. I met to say, glad that “aren’t” the cakey red velvet, I’m all about the fudgy which is why I love these. Your gorgeous photos mesmerized me and I miss typed!!! See what you do to me. :) hehe Thanks Averie! Have a great night!
Like so many have said before these look absolutely amazing. I especially like the picture of the nine squares. Good job there.