Deliciously thick and chocolatey Red Velvet Bars, topped with a tangy Cream Cheese Frosting! Like a cross between a cookie and a cake!
These Red Velvet Bars are a hybrid between a cookie, a cake and a brownie! They’re more on the cookie side, with a creamy delicious cream cheese frosting on top!
Are you ready for Christmas! I can’t believe it’s only two weeks away… I’ve bought almost all my presents but I still need to wrap them and get my festive movie watching into gear… I’ve got Nightmare Before Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life on the list for this year… you? (by the way, the Christmas sprinkles I’ve used here are from ebay here, but Home Bargains have also got some awesome ones this year).
Have you ever tried a Red Velvet dessert before? I expect you have, since they’re becoming more and more popular in the UK. Though they seem like recent upstarts, Red Velvet is actually a traditional cake from the south of the US, with a touch of cocoa powder and cream cheese frosting. I have a yummy Red Velvet Cake recipe that I love right here!
These Red Velvet Bars taste best with a pot of tea or glass of milk. The crumbly, rich Red Velvet cookie-cake goes incredibly well with the creamy cream cheese frosting…Β π
To make these Red Velvet Bars, you’ll need butter, sugar, eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla essence, flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
You’ll also need red food colouring – about a teaspoon is enough, but it needs to be concentrated gel food colouring – NOT the liquid food dye that you can get in a supermarket. The one I used is Sugarflair Red Extra, which is really concentrated and gives the vibrant red colour. Don’t be put off because it’s a few pounds – these food colours keep for years (normally 3-4 years) and you can use it to make everything Red Velvet, from cookies to brownies, or even this Rainbow Cake!
I baked my bars in a large brownie or bar tin, like this one – the batter is thick, so you could also use a bigger tray, and it won’t spread out.
- 230g caster sugar
- 250g unsalted butter
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 tsp red extra food colouring
- 40g cocoa powder
- 420g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 batch of my amazing cream cheese frosting
- Ideally, you'll want to make these bars the night before you want to serve them. That's also the best time to make the cream cheese frosting - get my amazing foolproof recipe here!
- Preheat your oven to 170 degrees and grease your tin with a little melted butter. The one I used was 15 inch by 11 inch.
- First, combine the butter (which should be very soft - give it a quick turn in the microwave if not) with the sugar and beat it together until it's soft and fluffy. Add the two eggs and mix those in, then add the vanilla and 1 tsp of red food colouring. Beat thoroughly until you can see how red the mixture is, adding a little more food colouring if you want it to be more vivid.
- Next, sift in the cocoa powder, flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder, and mix together. The mixture will be very stiff, so use a large spatula to get right to the bottom of the bowl and incorporate all the dry ingredients.
- Dollop the batter into your tray, and bake for 25 - 35 mins on the middle shelf of the oven, or until the edges are slightly browned and pulling away from the pan, and the top is crackled and firm .
- Let cool overnight if possible.
- Store in an airtight tin for up to a week (yeah right!).
Pin it for later
If you make these, tag me #kerrycooks @kerryedwards on Instagram , or post a picture on my Facebook or Twitter so I can see!
Let’s be friends! | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram |Β Google+ | Bloglovin’
It’s funny because I never used to like cream cheese but when i tasted it as a frosting, it’s amazing! i’ve never really tried anything red velvet flavoured before but these sound and look amazing, so colourful and festive too!