Red Velvet Cake Mix Brownies with Cream Cheese

I love red velvet.

It’s my all time favorite cake (only second to tres leches) and I’m pretty sure it’s because I want any excuse to eat cream cheese. I’ve made red velvet cocktails and even popcorn but never brownies—until today!

This recipe is quick and easy thanks to a good old cake mix. No need to reinvent the wheel, right? I used a red velvet cake mix, which you can find just about at every grocery store these days. But if you can’t find one, just use a chocolate cake mix and add about 2 tablespoons of red food coloring.

Watch the video below to see how easy there are to make!

Red Velvet Cake Mix Brownies with Cream Cheese

For the brownies

1 red velvet cake mix
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tbsp water

for the cream cheese topping

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and spray a 13×9 non-stick pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl beat together the red velvet cake mix, melted unsalted butter, egg and water. Spread the mixture into the prepared baking sheet.
3. In a medium bowl beat together the softened cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla. Spread the mixture on top of the brownie batter.
4. Bake for 5 minutes, remove from the oven and use a knife to gently swirl the cream cheese topping. Return the pan to the oven and continue baking until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Place on a rack to cool before serving.
5. Optional: use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut the brownies into heart shapes. Then the bonus is you get to eat all the scraps!
   

Cutting out the brownies is a breeze when using my non-stick silicone baking mat! Grab one today and have it in time for Valentine’s Day because it’s available on Amazon Prime.