Name: Red Velvet Brownies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 85 g Unsalted Butter (melted); 200 g Granulated Sugar (Caster Sugar); 55 g Light Brown Sugar; 3 Large Eggs (room temperature); 1 Large Egg Yolk (room temperature); 1 tsp Vanilla Extract; 80 ml Vegetable Oil; 25 g Cocoa Powder (Dutch-processed); 90 g All-purpose Flour (Plain Flour); 1 tbsp Vinegar; 1 tbsp Cornstarch; ¼ tsp Salt; ½ tsp Red Food Coloring; 130 g White Chocolate Chips (optional ); 115 g Cream Cheese (full-fat, room temperature); 85 g Unsalted Butter (room temperature); 240-360 g Powdered Sugar (Icing Sugar) (*see notes); 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Red Velvet Brownies that actually taste like red velvet, without compromising on the fudgy brownie texture.

three red velvet brownies stacked on top of each other with cream cheese frosting.

Red Velvet Brownie Recipe Snapshot

What it is: The perfect combination of fudgy brownies and red velvet cake - topped with cream cheese frosting.

Why you'll love it: They have the unique flavor of red velvet, but are soft and fudgy, not cakey.

How to make it: Whisk melted butter and sugars together, then add the eggs, followed by wet, then dry ingredients. Colour the batter and bake. Top with cream cheese frosting.

Red velvet brownie from the side with cream cheese frosting on top to show perfect corner and fudgy texture.

Red Velvet Brownies should taste like red velvet - not just chocolate dyed red. The problem is, the ingredients that give that signature flavor often push the texture in the wrong direction, leaving you with something closer to cake bars than brownies.

I spent a full week testing different versions of this recipe to find the balance - getting that subtle cocoa flavour and slight tang, while keeping the rich, chewy texture a good brownie should have. Small tweaks to the ingredient ratios made a huge difference (you can see some of my test batches below).

Now I can show you how to make red velvet brownies that actually taste like red velvet, AND have the perfect chewy, fudgy bite.

Reader Review:

Oh my goodness! These are the absolute best red velvet brownies I have ever had. Sweet, chocolatey moist and dense at the same time . The chewiness is what really won me over though. My family loved these too.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Heidi

Jump to:

Red Velvet Brownie Recipe Snapshot
Why This Recipe Works
Ingredients
How To Make Red Velvet Brownies
Getting the Perfect Brownie Texture
Most Common Mistakes
Storage
Watch How To Make Them
More Brownie Recipes
Recipe

Why This Recipe Works

Balanced Fats: I used a combination of butter AND oil to make the perfect texture. Butter adds rich flavour and oil keeps them soft and moist, even after cooling. The extra egg yolk adds richness and creates a deliciously dense, chewy bite.
Cocoa Ratio: Red velvet isn't supposed to be chocolatey. Using just a small amount of cocoa powder gives that subtle chocolate note while letting the other flavors shine.
Brownie Method: Classic red velvet ingredients are combined using a melted butter method, rather than the creaming method. This limits air in the batter and is the key to a fudgy texture rather than a cakey crumb.

red velvet brownie with a bite taken out of it.

Ingredients

This red velvet brownie recipe uses simple ingredients, similar to what you'd find in red velvet cake, but tweaked for texture and homemade brownie perfection.

Unsalted Butter - We'll use both butter and oil in these brownies to balance a rich flavor and fudgy texture.

White Sugar - Granulated sugar (Caster sugar in the UK).

Light Brown Sugar - brown sugar adds depth of flavor, but the higher moisture content also contributes to that gooey brownie texture.

Eggs - We'll need whole eggs and an extra egg yolk on top for additional richness. Get some ideas for how to use extra egg white.

Vanilla - Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste for a base flavor.

Oil - I use vegetable oil, but you can use any neutral oil, like canola or sunflower oil. This helps keep the brownies gooey and moist.

Cocoa Powder - Dutch-processed cocoa powder will help make your brownies fudgy rather than cakey. It also has a milder chocolate flavor that won't overpower everything else.

Flour - Regular all-purpose flour (plain flour) is best for the structure of the brownies.

Vinegar - The ingredient most recipes skip, and the one that makes these taste like red velvet. It adds a subtle tang and reacts with the cocoa to enhance the flavor. White vinegar or apple cider vinegar both work

Cornstarch - This will help keep the brownie soft and a little chewy.

Red Food Coloring - Use a gel food coloring to make sure the color comes through after baking.

Cream Cheese - For the cream cheese frosting, use full-fat, not the spreadable kind.

Powdered Sugar - (icing sugar). You may need more or less, depending on how soft your cream cheese is.

See recipe card for the full recipe and quantities in both cups and grams (though I strongly recommend weighing your ingredients with a kitchen scale for this recipe).

Things You'll Need

Square Cake Pan - 8-inches / 20cm
Mixing bowls
Whisk
Rubber Spatula
Sieve

Reader Review:

These are delicious and easy to make and are now in my permanent recipe file. .. I like the way the recipe is written (with quantities listed under each instruction, making it easy to double-check quantities.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lore

How To Make Red Velvet Brownies

These homemade red velvet brownies are super easy to make, and you don't need any fancy equipment.

Before beginning, preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C (160° fan) and line an 8-inch square cake pan with parchment paper.

Butter + Sugars

Pour the melted butter into a large mixing bowl along with the white and brown sugar and whisk together just until combined.

melted butter, sugar and light brown sugar in a bowl to make red velvet brownies.

Wet Ingredients

Whisk in the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla, then add the oil and vinegar and whisk until glossy and smooth.

process shot of making red velvet brownies - eggs going into the batter.

Red Food Colouring

Take a couple of tablespoons of the batter and put them into a small bowl, add your red gel food coloring to this bowl and mix it in until the gel is all incorporated and there are no lumps. Add this mixture to the main bowl of batter and mix until combined.

Dry Ingredients

Sift the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt together, then gently fold them into the batter in two batches, using a rubber spatula. Be very careful not to overmix here.

Optional: If you want to add white chocolate chips, fold them in now.

red velvet brownie batter in a mixing bowl, being mixed with a rubber spatula.

Bake

Pour the brownie batter into the prepared cake pan and bake until the edges are set and pulling away from the pan, and the centre still looks soft, but not wet.

Baking time will vary depending on your oven and pan, but mine takes roughly 20-25 minutes. If you insert a cake tester in the middle, it should come out with moist crumbs. The brownies will continue to bake as they cool.

Let them cool completely before decorating and slicing.

red velvet brownies batter in a lined baking pan, ready to be baked.

Decorate and Slice

Once the brownies are completely cool, remove them from the pan and cover with cream cheese frosting.

If you want some pretty red crumbs to sprinkle on top, cut a small slice off one end of the brownies before putting the frosting on. Crumble it up with your fingers and sprinkle on top for that classic red velvet cake look.

Slice into 9 or 16 squares.

Red velvet brownies with cream cheese frosting, from above, being sliced into 16 small squares.

Getting the Perfect Brownie Texture

After testing a lot of small variations of this recipe, I was surprised by how much even tiny changes affected the final texture. Here are the key rules I found that make the biggest difference:

Use a scale:
This is especially important for brownies. Even small differences in flour can completely change the texture from fudgy to cakey. The last two brownies in this picture had a difference of just 30g of flour. Cups are not consistent or accurate - use a scale if you want perfect bakes.

Don't overmix:
Once the flour is added to the batter, fold it in gently just until there are no more dry streaks. Overmixing incorporates extra air and develops the gluten, which will make the brownies more cakey than fudgy.
Bake for texture, not time:
Baking times vary depending on your oven and bakeware, so visual cues are more reliable than exact timing. These brownies are ready when the edges are set and pulling away from the edges, but the centre still looks a little soft. They continue to bake as they cool, so don't wait for them to look fully set or they will end up overbaked.

comparison image of various recipe iterations of red velvet brownies through the recipe development process. — Each of these versions of the red velvet brownies had the exact same ingredients, but with just small tweaks to the ratios and mixing methods.

Most Common Mistakes

These red velvet brownies have been one of the most popular recipes on my blog for the past 3 years, with over 400,000 of you baking them at home. While most people absolutely love them, I've also seen a small number of inconsistent results.

I've gone through your comments and questions to identify the most common issues, so you can avoid them and get perfect brownies on your first bake.

Cakey texture or dry brownies:
Almost always caused by too much flour or overmixing the batter after the dry ingredients are added. Even a 1-2 tablespoons too much flour can significantly change the texture, which is why weighing your ingredients is so important for this recipe.
Taking a long time to bake
Bake time will vary, so it's better to use visual cues to know when the brownies are baked. They are supposed to still look soft and a bit underbaked before coming out, as they will continue to bake as they cool. If they are taking a lot longer than they should, make sure you are using a metal 8x8-inch pan (not glass or silicone) and check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer.
Dense or heavy texture:
This can be because of overmixing or mis-measured ingredients.
Wrong pan size:
This recipe was developed to be baked in an 8-inch square pan. It's fine to use a different size of pan, but you'll need to adjust the baking time accordingly.
Ingredient Swaps:
Substituting ingredients (like reducing the sugar or swapping fats) can massively affect the texture and structure of the brownies. The most common one I see is people using natural cocoa powder instead of Dutch-processed, which can make the brownies drier and denser, and can overpower the other flavours.

three red velvet brownies on a table with red velvet crumbs all around.

Storage

You can store the unfrosted red velvet brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Once they have the cream cheese frosting on, though, it's best to keep them in the fridge for up to a week.

They will go a little firmer in the fridge, so let them sit at room temp for 20-30 minutes before serving.