Red Velvet Brownies (Recipe) !

I LOVE desert! Well, that is an understatment. I seriously adore desert. I have such a huge sweet tooth.  Here's one I made recently thats a keeper.

Red Velvet Brownies

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 oz red food coloring
2 tsp pure vanilla extract, divided
1/2 cup (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 can of frosting (I jused vanilla, but I'm sure cream cheese frosting would be good too!)

[The original recipe calls for white chocolate homemade frosting. I didn't have the time or ingredients for this so I just used plain ole' vanilla in the can. Still delish!]

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8″x8″ baking pan.

In a small bowl, slowly stir together the cocoa powder, food coloring, and 1 tsp vanilla into a thick paste until no lumps of cocoa remain. Set aside. [I would use more food coloring next time for a deeper red]
In another bowl beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then stir in the remaining 1 tsp of vanilla.
Add in the cocoa mixture, then turn the mixer to medium and beat the two mixtures together until they are one uniform color. Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix on medium-low speed, just until combined. Do not overmix. You’ll want one uniformly colored (red) batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the brownies. Allow brownies to completely cool in the pan on a baking rack, about 45-60 minutes. 

Frost brownies in the pan, cut into 12 bars, and serve, or remove the entire batch from the pan to a cutting board, cut into 12 bars, frost, and serve.