Welcome to the first-ever recipe posted on Fitwaffle Kitchen!

It’s not the first-ever recipe I’ve created… but I thought it was only right to start with the most popular post on my FitwaffleKitchen Instagram page! And I mean, who doesn’t love red velvet brownies with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting!? If you don’t, you may want to jump to another recipe…

So, what is red velvet and what does it taste like?

Red Velvet cake is basically a mix of chocolate and vanilla cake… It’s not vanilla, but it’s also not chocolate, and of course… it’s RED! Traditionally, it’s not made with red food colouring, but we kinda need it to get that bright red colour, especially in these brownies. But please take note, you NEED to use a good, strong red food colouring. I would recommend Sugarflair Extra Red.

Now, before you ask… why the Lemon Juice/White Wine Vinegar?

In traditional red velvet cake, white vinegar is used as an acidic ingredient to react with the bicarbonate of soda to help the cake rise. It also helps to react with the beet juice to produce a redder cake. Since we’re not making a traditional red velvet cake and we’re not using bicarbonate of soda or beet juice, we can forget all of this. The lemon juice/white vinegar is just there for a slightly tangy taste. Which also means, yes, you can omit.

The cream cheese frosting!

For me, red velvet is not complete without cream cheese frosting… and a lot of it! The first time I made these I ended up making far too much, but luckily I saved the rest for another bake. That’s why the measurements for the frosting are different from the video to the recipe below (go with the written recipe measurements).

These brownies are super sweet, chewy, fudgy, and just amazing, so I hope you love them as much as I do! If you don’t have a major sweet tooth I’d probably recommend not adding the frosting, or maybe just a thin layer.

Happy baking. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Brownies

• 170 g unsalted butter melted
• 260 g granulated sugar
• 1 egg large
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar
• strong red food colouring I use Wilton or Sugarflair
• 200 g plain flour
• 10 g cocoa powder
• 100 g white chocolate chunks

Cream cheese frosting

• 60 g unsalted butter softened
• 100 g cream cheese room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 250 g icing sugar sifted

Instructions

Brownies

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C (fan) and line an 8×8″ tin with parchment paper
• Add the melted butter and granulated sugar to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until combined using an electric whisk or stand mixer
• Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, lemon juice and red food colouring to the bowl and whisk until fully combined. The mix should be bright red in colour
• Add the plain flour and cocoa powder and fold in with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just combined. The mix will turn darker in colour. You can add more food colouring here if needed, just try not to mix the flour too much as it can make the brownies tough
• Add the white chocolate chunks and fold these into the mix
• Scoop the mix into your prepared baking tray and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until they no longer wobble. They may need longer
• Allow to cool fully in the tin – about 2 hours. You can also leave them in a cool room or refrigerate overnight for fudgier brownies and a cleaner cut (recommended)

Cream cheese icing

• In a large mixing bowl, using an electric whisk, beat the softened butter until creamy, then whisk in the cream cheese and vanilla until fully combined and no lumps remain
• Gradually add in the icing sugar a third at a time, whisking until fully combined each time
• Spread the icing onto your cooled brownies
• Refrigerate for 30 mins for firming icing and a cleaner cut. Enjoy!

Notes

• Store in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days
• If your brownies are taking a long time to bake, your oven may be at the wrong temperature. I would advise buying a separate oven thermometer as all ovens are different and can vary a lot in temperature. Continue to add 5 minutes until they’re done. You can also cover with foil if the top starts to brown too much.
• Please note the measurements in the video for the cream cheese frosting are different. I’ve halved the recipe for the frosting as it made too much, but please feel free to use the video measurements if you want leftover frosting for another bake, such as my carrot cake loaf cake!

Nutrition