Red Velvet Brownies with Cheesecake Swirl and Giveaway Winner!!!

And the Giveaway winner is . . .

Congratulations Natalie!!! You have won a $75 gift certificate to CSN Stores! Please email me at mtmbakesblog AT gmail.com to claim your prize. Thank you to CSN Stores for sponsoring this giveaway!

Now I must tell you about these brownies. I made them the night before having our good friends Jenny and Jeff, and their baby Andrew, over for dinner (you may remember them from the Monkey Cookies!) I had these in the oven for about 10 minutes when our power went out!! I was really annoyed thinking they were probably ruined. Not knowing how long it would be before power was restored, I moved the brownies to the very cold garage. After about an hour, the power came back and I put the brownies back in the oven until done. I have no idea how this affected them, but they did turn out very tall! These were really good brownies, definitely more cake-like than fudgey, but I can't say whether that's due to how I baked them. I loved the cheesecake swirl on top. These are definitely festive and would be perfect for Valentine's Day!

After deciding to make these brownies, I saw a similar recipe for Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies on Baking Bites that looks fantastic as well!

Red Velvet Brownies with Cheesecake Swirl

Ingredients:

For the brownies:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring (I used about 1/2 container of Wilton icing gel)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon white vinegar

For the cream cheese swirl:
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 large egg yolk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

1. Line a 9 x 9-inch square baking dish with two pieces of aluminum foil, folding ends over the edges. Spray with cooking spray.

2. Combine the chocolate and butter in a large, microwave safe bowl. Cook 30 seconds at a time until melted, stirring well after each time. Whisk in the sugar.

3. One at a time, add the eggs, whisking well between each addition. Stir in the flour, food coloring, baking powder, salt, buttermilk, vanilla, and vinegar. Combine well, then pour into the prepared baking dish.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg yolk. Drop spoonfuls over the brownie batter, then use a table knife to swirl into the batter.

5. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Source: Adapted from Pink Parsley