I am a huge fan of cheesecake brownies as they combine two delicious desserts into one even more delicious dessert! These Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies combine moist fudgey brownies with creamy vanilla cheesecake. If you like brownies and you like cheesecake, you will love them! They're so easy to make too and you need relatively little equipment. The bright red is really eye catching and they would be perfect at a bake sale or for Valentine's Day!
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Ingredient Tips & Equipment Information
- Make sure your eggs are at room temperature before you start baking.
- You will need to use a professional grade gel food colouring to get the same shade of red that you can see in my photos. Brands I recommend are Pro Gel, Sugarflair and Colour Mill.
- I prefer to use Philadelphia full fat cream cheese for the cheesecake element as it gives me the best results.
- Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50).
- For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.
For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to make Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
To start, make the cheesecake filling and set it aside. For the brownie batter start by whisking the eggs and sugar together.
Then add the melted butter, vanilla, cider vinegar and red food colouring. Lastly whisk in the flour, cocoa powder and salt.
Pour the brownie batter into a lined tin, add the cheesecake mixture in blobs on top, then use a butter knife to swirl the mixture together. Bake for 30 minutes, then leave it to cool completely before slicing up.
For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.
What is the best food colouring to use?
For a strong red shade that doesn't fade after baking, I recommend using a professional grade gel food colouring such as Pro Gel, Sugarflair, or Colour Mill.
How should the brownies be stored and can they be frozen?
They should be stored in an airtight container, or covered on a plate, in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the brownies. Once they are fully cool, wrap them well in cling film or place them in a freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Can the brownies be made gluten free?
For gluten free you can replace the plain flour with a gluten free plain flour blend. Please do check the labels of everything you use if you are serving this recipe to anyone with an allergy or intolerance.
More tips for making the Red Velvet Brownies:
- Make sure to line your tin with greaseproof baking paper so the brownies come out easily
- Use a regular butter knife to make the swirls, glide it around slowly until you're happy
Troubleshooting
My number one tip for getting the best results is to read through this whole page of tips and recommendations before starting, and follow the recipe exactly. If you have any questions about this recipe, or if something went wrong and you need help, please use the comment form below and I will get back to you. You can also get in touch with me on my Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I'd love to hear from you!
Recommended equipment & ingredients
- Traybake tin
- Mixing bowls
- Cooling rack
- Kitchen scales
- Electric hand mixer
- Red food colouring
- Heart sprinkles
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More Red Velvet recipes...
Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
Ingredients
For the cheesecake
- 350 g Full fat cream cheese
- 65 g Caster sugar
- 1 Egg large
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
For the brownie batter
- 3 Eggs large
- 250 g Caster sugar
- 180 g Butter melted
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tsp Cider vinegar
- Red food colouring I use Pro Gel or Sugarflair
- 120 g Plain flour
- 20 g Cocoa powder
- A pinch of salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line a 12" x 9" traybake tin
- To make the cheesecake filling mix together the full fat cream cheese, caster sugar, egg and vanilla extract with a hand whisk or electric hand whisk until smooth
- In a bowl, whisk together the caster sugar and the eggs until frothy
- Add the melted butter, vanilla, vinegar and red food colouring, and whisk in
- Add the plain flour, salt and cocoa powder and whisk in
- Pour the brownie mixture into the traybake tin, then pour the cheesecake mixture on top in blobs
- Using a knife, swirl the mixture around a bit, then bake it for 30 minutes
- Leave it to cool completely before cutting into squares
- Store in the fridge and eat them within 3 days
Notes
- Make sure your eggs are at room temperature before you start baking.
- You will need to use a professional grade gel food colouring to get the same shade of red that you can see in my photos. Brands I recommend are Pro Gel, Sugarflair and Colour Mill.
- I prefer to use Philadelphia full fat cream cheese for the cheesecake element as it gives me the best results.
- Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50).
- For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.
- 2 Eggs, large
- 165g Caster sugar
- 120g Butter
- ¾ tsp Vanilla extract
- ¾ tsp Cider vinegar
- Red food colouring
- 80g Plain flour
- 13g Cocoa powder
- 235g Full fat cream cheese
- 1 Egg
- 45g Caster sugar
- ¾ tsp Vanilla extract
Sarah Barnes
Ooooh, they look good!!
Highly recommended San Antonio Movers information
Love-love-love! I'm making these for my 3 little people!
Keona
Just made these last night, everyone absolutely loved em. Great recipe, even better when u heat them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds after they’ve been in the fridge. (Also a qualified pastry chef if that adds to any meaning!) thanks for the recipe xx will be making them again for sure
Claire Spence
This is one of the best dessert recipes I’ve ever found. So good I had to bake it two days in a row they were eaten so quickly! And they look so impressive too!
thebakingexplorer
Wow this is such a kind comment, I'm thrilled you've enjoyed this recipe so much!!
Deb Gray
Hello can i use a 9x9 tin instead please and how long would i bake it for? Thank-you 😊
thebakingexplorer
Hi Deb, you can but the brownies will be thicker and need longer to bake. I've never made it in this size tin so I don't know how long sorry. Maybe 40-45 minutes at a guess? Let me know how it goes!
Laura carolina
Hai ..im laura from indonesia.. i made this cake.. its sooo yummy ..my kids love this red velvet brownies.. thank u for sharing recipe ❤
Becky Marsh
Thank you so much for this recipe. It's delicious however I'm sure I went wrong somewhere! My cheesecake mix totally sank to the bottom and despite a swirl ended up looking like red velvet brownies on top of cheesecake 🤦♀️. I think my 2 mixtures may have been too liquid? Totally edible and totally demolished by the family though!
thebakingexplorer
Hi Becky, firstly I'm so glad you and your family enjoyed eating the brownies! Secondly, I'm sorry that happened with your mixture. It's hard for me to say exactly what happened without being there or seeing it, but I would say that it could be that the cheesecake was not swirled around with the batter enough so the cheesecake blobs were quite large and therefore sank. Or like you say it was too liquid - I prefer to use Philadelphia cream cheese as it's much thicker than other brands. Also over mixing can make it go more liquid. I hope that helps for next time!
Marie Marie Kennedy
Hi can I ask how much food colouring goes in? And also is cider vinegar the same as apple cider vinegar ? Or is there a sub if not? Xxx
thebakingexplorer
Hi Marie, it's hard to give an exact answer because it depends on the brand of food colouring you use, they all have different strength levels. Yes cider vinegar and apple cider vinegar are very similar so you can use either. I hope you enjoy the brownies!
Rebecca Marsh
Thank you for the response. I used this cream cheese too but I think I over mixed using a hand whisk. I will definitely be trying again to get these right as the flavour is amazing 😁.
Jennifer Jackson
Made these for my family for Thanksgiving. I love baking from scratch... This recipe was super easy to follow.. and was Soo yummy
Kris
Can a 13 x 0 inch pp an be used?
thebakingexplorer
Hi Kris, assuming you mean 13x10, yes but the baking time will be less and the brownies will come out thinner.
Elena
So good! They were the perfect consistency. Made these for Valentine’s Day.