Red Velvet Cream Cheese Brownies

The title says it all. Someone posted a recipe with pictures of such a delightful treat on Facebook. Unfortunately the one posted used prepackaged red velvet cake mix which I never have on hand or usually buy so I was off on the search for one from scratch. This is very similar to the one on foodnetwork.com

• Ready In: 55 mins
• Yields: 16 brownies

Ingredients

• Red Velvet Brownie Layer

• 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter
• 1  cup sugar
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄4 cup cocoa powder
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
• 1  tablespoon  red food coloring
• 1  teaspoon vinegar
• 2  eggs
• 3⁄4 cup all-purpose flour

• Cream Cheese Layer

• 8  ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1  egg
• 1⁄8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Butter an 8 by 8-inch baking pan, and set aside.
3. Brownie layer: In a saucepan on medium heat melt the butter. Remove the butter to a large bowl and add the sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring, and vinegar, in that order, mixing between additions. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and stir it into the cocoa mix. Fold in the flour until lightly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, saving 1/4 cup of the batter for the top.
4. Cream cheese layer: Blend together the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gently spread the cream cheese layer on top of the brownie batter in the pan. Dollop the remaining brownie batter over the cream cheese layer. Using a skewer or the tip of a knife, drag the tip through the cream cheese mixture to create a swirl pattern. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before cutting.