Gearing up for Valentine’s Day (so glad, I was starting to get post-holiday depression), and there’s no better excuse to try a new red velvet recipe.  These brownies weren’t super sweet, so they weren’t my favorite, but both my husband and 9-year-old said these were the best treat I’ve made in a long while.  Just like red velvet cake, the chocolate flavor is a bit milder, but the consistency is fudgy and moist, which I love.  Also, in my experience these are much better the next day, which requires patience I simply don’t have.  If you’re a fan of cheesecake brownies, and you don’t like sickly sweet desserts, you’ll absolutely love these!  And they’re quite pretty, if I do say so myself.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

courtesy sweet pea’s kitchen

Yields 12 brownies (Calorie estimate: 280/brownie)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2-oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp red food coloring

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

8-oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.

In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until combined and very smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring. Add chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Add flour and salt and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.

Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.

To prepare cheesecake mixture, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until smooth. Distribute the cheesecake mixture in 8 dollops over batter in the pan. Swirl in with a knife or spatula.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set. A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned.

Let cool completely in pan on a cooling rack before lifting out the parchment paper to remove the brownies.