Description
With their beautiful color and chocolate flavor, these Red Velvet Brownies are a decadent twist on traditional brownies!
Ingredients
Scale
Wet Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (3 ounces/85 grams)
- 1/2 cup butter, cut into cubes (113 grams/1 stick)
- 1/4 cup oil*
- 1 cup granulated sugar (2o0 grams)
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed (133 grams)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2–3 teaspoons red gel food coloring (not liquid or powdered)*
Dry Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup gluten-free measure-for-measure flour* (90 grams)
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (80 grams)* (not dutch-processed)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt*
Instructions
- Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 metal baking pan with parchment paper. (Metal works much better than glass or ceramic!)
- Melt. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine 1/2 cup chocolate chips, the butter, and the oil. Melt in 20-30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval until chocolate is smooth and glossy.
- Whip Sugar & Eggs. In a large mixing bowl (ideally glass), combine sugar, brown sugar, and eggs. Use a hand mixer to beat the eggs 5-6 minutes on medium speed, or until doubled in volume and very light in color. When you lift the beaters out of the mixture, you should be able to see the batter drizzle down in a smooth stream and land on the surface before dissolving. Do NOT rush this step, or the sugar won’t dissolve properly and the brownies won’t have the glossy top crust we’re going for. Do the full 5-6 minutes!
- Add Chocolate Mixture to Egg Mixture and use a spatula to stir until combined.
- Mix In Vanilla & Red Dye and stir to combine. At this point, the batter should be smooth and bright red. (For VERY red brownies, use a full 3 teaspoons. For brownies like mine that are more red on top and fudgy in the center, use 2 teaspoons)
- Sift In Dry Ingredients. Use a fine mesh sieve or sifter to sift in cocoa powder, gluten-free flour, and salt. Stir until almost fully combined with just a few dry patches left.
- Fold In The Chocolate Chips. Then, use your spatula to gently fold in the remaining 2/3 cup chocolate chips and mix until *just* combined with the chocolate chips evenly distributed and no floury patches remaining.
- Transfer Brownie Batter To Pan and use an offset spatula to smooth the surface of the brownies as evenly as you can.
- Bake Brownies at 350 degrees F. for 30-35 minutes, or until the top is glossy and set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with some moist crumbs (but not glossy wet batter).
- Cool Completely Before Slicing. Remove the brownies from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack until completely cooled before slicing for best results. (You can speed this process up by chilling them in the fridge before slicing–this will also help you get neater cuts!)
- Serve & Store. Enjoy cooled brownies right away, or store in an airtight container at room temperature 2-3 days or in the freezer up to 2 months.
Notes
- Weigh & Measure Carefully. For best results, we recommend weighing the ingredients when you can, rather than using the volume measurements. You’ll get perfectly accurate results every time!
- Oil. Use a neutral-tasting oil like vegetable oil, canola oil, or avocado oil. I do not recommend coconut oil or olive oil for this recipe, as they can impact the flavor. For a dairy-free version, you can use all oil instead of a mix of oil & butter.
- Red Coloring. I only recommend high-quality red gel food coloring for these brownies. We use Ann Clarke Super Red gel food color. I don’t recommend natural dye, liquid food dye, or powdered food dye here.
- Gluten-Free Flour. We highly recommend King Arthur Flour Measure-For-Measure Gluten-Free Flour blend for these brownies for taste and texture. If you use another 1:1 flour blend, be sure it contains xanthan gum for best results. (Don’t substitute almond flour, oat flour, or coconut flour in this recipe.) For best results, weigh or measure the flour carefully!
- Cocoa Powder. We’re using natural cocoa powder (like Hershey’s or Ghirardelli), NOT Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Since the recipe isn’t leavened, you can use either variety, but we found Dutch-processed cocoa impacted both the color and flavor more than we wanted.
- Salt. If using fine table salt or fine sea salt, we recommend starting with less salt.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
