Red Velvet Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Name: Red Velvet Brownie Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 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 (or any neutral oil); 1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar; ½ tsp Red Food Coloring (gel); 90 g All-purpose Flour ((Plain Flour)); 25 g Cocoa Powder (natural); 1 tbsp Cornstarch; ¼ tsp Salt; 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

These Red Velvet Brownies have everything you love about red velvet cake, but with the rich, fudgy texture of a brownie!

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

Quick Look: Red Velvet Brownies

The perfect combination of fudgy brownies and red velvet cake - topped with the best cream cheese frosting.

Makes 16 brownies

Prep 10

Bake 25

Total 35

☆ 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.

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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

Jump to:

Quick Look: Red Velvet Brownies
Key Ingredients
How To Make Red Velvet Brownies
Troubleshooting
What I Learned While Testing
Storage
Red Velvet Brownie FAQs
Watch How To Make Them (Video)
More Classic Desserts With A Twist
Red Velvet Brownie Recipe

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.

Ingredients to make red velvet brownies - flour, butter, sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, vinegar, salt, cocoa powder and red food coloring.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Red velvet brownie with cream cheese frosting that is too dry or cakey because of too much flour.

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.

Red velvet brownie with cream cheese frosting that has been underbaked and is raw in the middle.

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.

Square pan with red velvet brownies baking in it, the. middle is still raw.

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.

Red velvet brownie with cream cheese frosting that turned out too flat due to overmixing.

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!

comparison image showing several different test batches of red velvet brownies and the effect of small changes to the recipe.

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.

stack of red velvet brownies shot from above to show the cream cheese frosting.

Red Velvet Brownie FAQs

Can I make Red Velvet Brownies without food coloring?

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.

Why doesn't this recipe contain baking soda or baking powder?

Raising agents would make a lighter, more cake-like texture. This recipe deliberately leaves them out to keep the brownies dense and fudgy.

What is the difference between red velvet and chocolate brownies?

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.