Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Hello lovelies,

It's valentines day, and as a single gal I should be posting passive aggressive gifs about how life sucks and all I want to do is eat chocolate and watch Netflix. BUT Valentine's day is one of my favourite day's of the year! I love how I get to dress up and bake and make cards… a.k.a. my three favourite activities. What's not to love? Last year I went home for Valentine's day and it was super adorable to see everyone reuniting in the Montreal train station with roses in hand.

I also threw a cute party last year with red drinks (I made a drink called Kiss in Heaven, 1 part grenadine, 3 parts pure love) and desserts with my girlfriends. It was so fun! This year, I'm going to a ladies only v-day party and I'm super pumped! I'm planning on making a chocolate fudge pie with raspberry sauce and coconut whipped cream (recipe to come!). Seriously, this is becoming a "let's celebrate ladies'' holiday and I'm loving it!

If you're heading somewhere special today here's a fabulous recipe you can make for your loved ones!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients:

Red Velvet Layer:
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons milk, divided 
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon red food colouring
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar

Cheesecake Layer:
- 2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

✿ Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 18  pan with butter or spray.

✿ In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla extract, red food coloring, and white vinegar.

✿ Combine the dry and wet ingredients, until completely combined. The batter will be a really thick, almost moldable texture...but don't worry, that's what you want. Remove 3/4 cup of the batter and place it in a medium bowl. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk (into the 3/4 cup of batter you just took out). Set aside the 3/4 cup batter.

✿ Pour the remaining batter into the prepared jelly roll pan. Using a spatula, smooth out the batter to reach all the edges.

✿ Now, in your stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until combined and there are no lumps. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the red velvet layer and smooth mixture till it reaches all the edges.

✿ Drop spoonfuls of the remaining red velvet batter (that you mixed with milk) onto the top of the cheesecake layer. Drag the tip of a knife through the red velvet and the cheesecake layers to create swirls.

✿ Bake for 30 minutes, rotating half way through, or just until the center is set and it no longer jiggles. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. Use a medium sized heart cookie cutter to create the perfect Valentine's Day treat!

Enjoy!

xox