These Red Velvet Brownies have everything you love about red velvet cake, but with the rich, fudgy texture of a brownie!
Quick Look: Red Velvet Brownies
The perfect combination of fudgy brownies and red velvet cake - topped with the best cream cheese frosting.
☆ Why make THIS version? I spent a whole week tweaking and testing this recipe to find the perfect balance of red velvet flavor and fudgy brownie texture.
SUMMARIZE AND SAVE THIS POST ON
Red velvet brownies should taste like red velvet - not just chocolate cake dyed red. I spent a full week testing this recipe because it was surprisingly difficult to keep that distinctive flavour while creating a properly fudgy brownie. Too much cocoa overwhelmed the subtle vanilla and tang, while even a small increase in flour made them cakey.
The final recipe uses a simple melted-butter method, no raising agents, and just enough cocoa to let the classic red velvet flavours and cream cheese frosting shine through. The batter is mixed entirely by hand, with plenty of visual cues below to help you get the texture just right.
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
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Key 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.
- Fats - A combination of butter and oil gives the brownies a rich flavor while keeping them super moist.
- Sugar - A mixture of granulated sugar (Caster sugar in the UK), and light brown sugar gives a deeper flavor, and the extra moisture contributes to a gooey brownie texture.
- Cocoa Powder - Use natural unsweetened cocoa powder.
- White Wine Vinegar - As there is no baking soda, the vinegar is included for flavour rather than lift. All the tang comes from this, since the recipe doesn't use buttermilk.
- Red Food Coloring - Use a gel food coloring to make sure the color comes through after baking.
See the recipe card for the full recipe.
How To Make Red Velvet Brownies
The brownie batter is mixed entirely by hand to avoid whisking in too much air, which is the key to a fudgy texture rather than a cakey crumb
Before You Begin...
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C (160° fan) and line an 8-inch square cake pan with parchment paper.
Mix Butter and Sugars
Pour the melted butter into a large mixing bowl along with the white and brown sugar and whisk together just until combined.
Wet Ingredients
Whisk in the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla, then add the oil and vinegar and whisk until glossy and smooth.
Add The 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 it and mix it until completely incorporated. Stir this mixture to the main bowl of batter and mix until combined.
This just makes sure you don't end up with any big clumps of food colouring in your batter.
Fold In 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. If you want a red velvet recipe where white chocolate plays a bigger role, try my chewy red velvet cookies with white chocolate chips.
Bake The Brownies
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 take around 25 minutes. If you insert a toothpick 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.
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.
decorating idea
For Valentine's Day, you can also cut the cooled brownies into hearts and add sprinkles - see my homemade Valentine's Day dessert ideas for more inspiration.
Troubleshooting
These red velvet brownies have been one of the most popular recipes on my blog for the past 4 years. While most people absolutely love them, I've seen some people have issues, so I wanted to address them here.
I've gone through your comments and questions to identify the most common mistakes, so you can avoid them and get perfect brownies on your first bake.
Cakey or Dry
Why it happens:
Too much flour, overmixing, or overbaking can create a cakier texture.
What to do:
Weigh the flour with a kitchen scale and fold only until the last dry streak disappears. Bake until it looks soft but no longer wet.
Raw Middle
Why it happens:
The centre likely needed longer to bake.
What to do:
Use visual cues rather than a timer to determine if the brownies are baked. Let them cool completely before judging the texture.
Taking Too Long To Bake
Why it happens:
Oven temperature too low or incorrect pan - glass and silicone pans will take longer.
What to do:
Use a metal pan. Check temperature with an oven thermometer, and resist opening the oven to check them.
Flat Brownies
Why it happens:
Too little flour, overmixing, or baking them in a pan that is too large.
What to do:
Weigh your ingredients, fold the flour in just until combined, and use an 8-inch square pan.
Something else? Have a question that isn't answered here? Let me know in the comments, and I'll get back to you asap.
The best thing you can do to ensure your brownies turn out is to use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients. Brownie texture changes massively with just small mismeasurements.
What I Learned While Testing
The test batches below show how small changes can completely alter a brownie's texture.
Each batch used the same core ingredients, with small changes to the ratios and mixing method. Adding just 30g more flour, for example, made a noticeably cakier crumb.
The results were so fascinating I actually ended up writing a whole post about what makes brownies cakey vs fudgy!
The final ratio keeps the brownies dense and fudgy, with just enough cocoa to give them their classic red velvet flavour.
Storage
Store unfrosted brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Once they have the cream cheese frosting on, though, keep them in the fridge for up to 5 days. Bring them to room temperature before serving for the softest texture.
Freezing: Unfrosted brownies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap them individually, place them in an airtight container, and thaw at room temperature before frosting. I don't recommend freezing the cream cheese frosting.
If you're making these for an event, you'll find them alongside more easy bake sale recipes for a crowd in my complete guide.
Red Velvet Brownie FAQs
Yes. The food colouring only affects their appearance, so you can leave it out without changing the texture or flavour. The brownies will naturally be brown rather than red.
Raising agents would make a lighter, more cake-like texture. This recipe deliberately leaves them out to keep the brownies dense and fudgy.
Red velvet isn't supposed to be chocolatey. It has a small amount of cocoa powder for a hint of chocolate, but it shouldn't be the hero flavor. Chocolate brownies are very chocolate-forward, whereas red velvet brownies emulate the unique, tangy flavor of red velvet cake, but with the texture of fudgy brownies.
Watch How To Make Them (Video)
Watch me make, bake, and decorate these red velvet brownies in this full video tutorial.
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More Classic Desserts With A Twist
Love a familiar dessert with an unexpected twist? Try these creative takes on classic bakes.
Show Me Your Bakes!
If you tried this recipe, I'd love to know how it turned out in the comments!
Want to share a photo? You can send me a pic or tag @bonni_bakery on Instagram - I love seeing all your creations.
Red Velvet Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
- 85 g (¾ stick) Unsalted Butter melted
- 200 g (1 cup) Granulated Sugar (Caster Sugar)
- 55 g (¼ cup) Light Brown Sugar
- 3 Large Eggs room temperature
- 1 Large Egg Yolk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) Vegetable Oil or any neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon White Wine Vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Red Food Coloring gel
- 90 g (¾ cup) All-purpose Flour (Plain Flour)
- 25 g (¼ cup) Cocoa Powder natural
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 130 g (¾ cup) White Chocolate Chips optional
- 115 g (4 oz) Cream Cheese full-fat, room temperature
- 85 g (¾ stick) Unsalted Butter room temperature
- 240-360 g (2-3 cups) Powdered Sugar (Icing Sugar) *see notes
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Equipment
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch square cake pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C (160°C fan).
- Put the white sugar and light brown sugar in a large mixing bowl, then add the melted butter and whisk together until combined.200 g (1 cup) Granulated Sugar, 55 g (¼ cup) Light Brown Sugar, 85 g (¾ stick) Unsalted Butter
- Add the eggs, egg yolk and vanilla and whisk until smooth.3 Large Eggs, 1 Large Egg Yolk, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Add the vegetable oil and vinegar to the brownie batter and whisk until it looks glossy and smooth.1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar, 80 ml (⅓ cup) Vegetable Oil
- Take a couple of tablespoons of the batter and put them into a small bowl. Add your red gel food coloring to it and mix it in until the gel is all incorporated and there are no lumps. Add this mixture into the main bowl of batter and mix until combined. This just ensures there are no clumps of unmixed gel color in your batter.½ tsp Red Food Coloring
- Sift the dry ingredients and mix them together, then fold them gently into the brownie batter in two batches, using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Be very careful not to overmix here as it can make the brownies dense or cakey.90 g (¾ cup) All-purpose Flour, 1 tbsp Cornstarch, ¼ tsp Salt, 25 g (¼ cup) Cocoa Powder
- Optional: If you like, you can add some white chocolate chips at this stage. I decided I liked the brownies better without.130 g (¾ cup) White Chocolate Chips
- Pour the brownie batter into the prepared cake pan and bake until the edges are set and pulling away from the pan. The center should still look slightly soft, but not wet. Baking time will vary depending on your oven and pan, but mine take roughly 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out with moist crumbs.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely before frosting and slicing.
- Beat the room temperature butter and cream cheese together until smooth and combined.115 g (4 oz) Cream Cheese, 85 g (¾ stick) Unsalted Butter
- Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and mix in slowly to avoid a dust cloud. You may need more or less powdered sugar depending on the thickness of your cream cheese, so add it 1 cup at a time until it is thick enough to spread. Beat for a few minutes until light and fluffy.240-360 g (2-3 cups) Powdered Sugar (Icing Sugar), 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Spread over the red velvet brownies before slicing.
Elizabeth says
These turned out beautiful but the taste is not good. I did everything exactly according to the recipe. I don’t know what the problem is with these but they just don’t have much flavor and what flavor they do have isn’t great. My teen son gave them a 4 out of 10. I made them for a party tonight and I’m really disappointed about the flavor even though they look great.
Melissa says
Literally the same thing happened to me. It was like the bottom wasn't cooked and the top was a strange texture that even my sugar fene kids wouldn't touch. Mine also came out sicking sweet, (which is rare for me to say because we love sweet) I must have done something off, because all the other review sound like it was amazing.
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi Melissa,
I'm so sorry to hear that, that's so strange!
May I ask, did you measure your ingredients using cups or with a kitchen scale? The biggest problem I see with people's bakes is when they have used cups to measure - it's very hard to measure dry ingredients accurately this way and can lead to inconsistent results.
I always recommend weighing your ingredients with a scale for best results.
I hope your next batch turns out wonderfully!
Jules
Susan says
Can this be doubled and use a 9x13 pan?
Karen says
I made the brownies using King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour. They were amazing! I plan on making them again for Valentine's Day. Thanks for the wonderful recipe that was very easy to follow!
CafeChic says
This is a great Red Velvet Brownie Recipe! If you want to elevate as I did I added White Chocolate shavings to the top of the Cream Cheese Frosting. I used a White Chocolate Bar & a potato peeler to get chunky shavings of the white chocolate. I’ve also tossed some toasted chopped pecans on top of the recipe as written. Delicious either way, but this recipe is amazing❤️
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi there,
Thank you so much for your comment, I'm so glad to hear you loved the recipe! White chocolate shavings on top sounds wonderful - I may try that next time I make these!
Thanks for trying my recipe and for taking the time to let me now you liked it!
Happy baking!
Jules
Naomi Ellis says
Hello Mrs. Jules,
I absolutely loved the brownies. The way the batter came out and especially the cream cheese frosting. They were delicious and my family enjoyed them very much. I just wanted to let you know that this was my first time trying your recipe and it was awesome. Thank you so much and I hope to look for more of delicious recipes.
Than you much.
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi Naomi,
I'm so happy to hear you loved the brownies! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for taking the time to let me know you liked it!
Jules
Charity says
I’m excited to try this!!!!! I was wondering if I added some instant coffee would that enhance the chocolate flavor? Or would that be a no no?
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi Charity,
You can definitely add some instant coffee. I would dissolve it in a tiny splash of hot water first to help it incorporate into the batter, and add it in at the same time as the other wet ingredients.
Happy baking!
Jules
Trish says
I can't find the recipe.
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi Trish, the recipe is always in the recipe card at the bottom of the post, just above the comments section. There's also a 'jump to recipe' button at the very top of the page. Hope this helps! 🙂
Jules
Lore says
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.
A couple of personal preferences: 4 cups of sugar to cover a 9” square is way too sweet; I prefer a tangier cream cheese frosting and only used about 3 c of sugar. I also didn’t use the entire quantity of frosting; it was just too much for our tastes.
There are, however, a couple of important things to point out. The US measure and the metric measure for the cocoa were confusing for me. I always use metric measures when available. I measured the cocoa powder, said “no way that’s only 1/4 c”. It was actually about 1/2 c using Trader Joe’s unsweetened cocoa powder. . Is it possible that some cocoa powders weigh different amounts? The other is that in the recipe instructions, the baking time is listed as 26-30 minutes. In the long explanation prior to the recipe, however, the baking time is listed as 25-30 minutes. I always start checking at the minimum baking time, in this case, I checked at 26 mins. They should have come out of my oven at 25. One minute can make a noticeable difference.
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi Lore,
Thank you for your comment and your extremely helpful feedback!
Firstly, I love that you adjusted the amount of powdered sugar to your own taste - this is absolutely a matter of preference and I also sometimes prefer my cream cheese frosting a little less sweet.
As for the measurements of cocoa, I do use dutch-processed cocoa powder rather than unsweetened, however the weight should be the same. 25g is 4 tablespoons, which should be exactly 1/4 cup. One of the reasons I always prefer to use metric is that it's incredibly hard to be accurate with cup measurements, so depending on how much the cocoa powder is 'fluffed up' it can seem like way more or way less than it really is. If you measured using grams though you can't go wrong, and it sounds like that's what you did 🙂
Thank you for pointing out about the discrepancy in baking times, I have updated that now.
I really appreciate you trying my recipe and I'm so glad you loved the brownies!
Happy baking 🙂
Jules
Maddy says
This is a lovely recipe, but I messed it up somehow. The white chocolate chips sank to the bottom into a gelatinous mess and the top half was a very strange texture and didn't have much flavor. I had to throw it out. The icing turned out well.
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi Maddy,
Oh I'm so sorry to hear your brownies didn't turn out. I'm afraid I'm not sure what could have caused what you described, it sounds very strange. Did you substitute any of the ingredients?
Jules
Heather says
These were amazing! They are actually better the next day as the cream cheese frosting I guess sort of seeps into the brownies making them more fudgie. Definitely don't over mix the batter. That's very important for them to come out dense and not cakey. Way easier than making a red velvet layer cake. They didn't last any time at all any of the three times I've made them now. I highly recommend them if you're a fan of red velvet cake and brownies. This was a perfect combination and it makes plenty of frosting. I like extra!
Jules Grasekamp says
Thanks Heather! I'm so glad to hear you love the brownies!
I agree, it's crucial not to over mix the batter or incorporate too much air.
Thank you for trying my recipe and for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed it!
Jules
Eden says
If you double the recipe can you put the batter in a 9x13 pan?
Judy Nicole says
Hi, I'm Judy Nicole and I started making red velvet brownies since 2020 and they are really good. Thanks!
Marilyn says
Is the flour self rising or AP?
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi Marilyn,
It’s all-purpose flour.
Hope you love the brownies!
Jules
Teresa says
Can you use gluten free flour?
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi Teresa, I haven't tested these with gluten free flour but I can't see any reason why they wouldn't turn out just fine. It's a very small amount of flour anyway so shouldn't impact the recipe too much. If you do try it, I'd love to know how they turn out. Happy baking!
Lewis Dickson says
Where have these been all my life!
Kristin says
This recipe is perfect. Thank you for the ease of use. I was able to double the recipe and also scroll through the instructions and readily find the exact ingredients I was working with every step of the way. Very well-written. I'm trying your shortbread caramel chocolate bars next. They seem reminiscent of Twix candy bars,which are my favorite!
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi Kristin,
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm so happy to hear you love the recipe! I've spent a lot of time perfecting the process for writing these so it's really nice to hear it's appreciated! The caramel shortbread bars are an older recipe so the post isn't quite as in depth as my more recent ones - if you have any questions in the process just let me know. I hope you love them!
Laurie Dupree says
Yes, huge kudos for putting ingredient measurements with each step ~ SOOOO helpful. They are in the oven as we speak ~ finally having our Family Christmas celebration and they are on the dessert menu! Can't wait to try! (Wish I had made a double batch!!)
Lulu says
Scumptious! Thanks for such a beautifully written recipe. Didn’t know that about the vinegar ….
Lisa Brunscon says
Hello Lulu. The vinegar is used to make the batter turn the rich-red color; when mixed with the cocoa powder.
Maribel Gonzalez says
Me parece fabulosa esta receta..la voy hacer y te comento...gracias muy amable desde Venezuela
Jules Grasekamp says
muchas gracias!
Mary says
Made these for a group. It's only August, but we were launching the beginning of practices for our Community Choir Christmas Concert in December. We wanted to keep everything Christmas themed and these brownies fit right in with their beautiful red color and the creamy white icing. I added some seasonal sprinkles on top to give them an even more festive. These chewy brownies were definitely worth making and were a big hit!
Jules Grasekamp says
I'm so glad to hear this Mary! Thank you for trying my recipe, and for taking the time to. let me know you enjoyed the brownies! 🙂
Jennifer Bobo says
Just made these for my sister's work party. I snagged a tiny piece to taste while theyre cooling enough to frost and they are awesome!! Also, i absolutely love that the ingredients and measurements are under each step. That was super helpful while baking!!
Jules Grasekamp says
Hi Jennifer,
So glad to hear you loved the brownies! Thank you for taking the time to let me know!
Also happy that you like the recipe layout - I always find it so annoying having to scroll back and forth between the ingredients and instructions!
Thank you 🙂
Jules
walkinthepark says
Brilliant! Never thought we'd be using our phones in the kitchen, but this