Oh, red velvet. Of all the flavors of dessert, I feel you are the most misunderstood. And for that, I would like to formally apologize on behalf of those who do not know what they do and/or taste.
Last night I had the distinct privilege of watching Steel Magnolias (as you can see on the Info page of this blog- this movie is near and dear to my heart) with some of my best girl friends. And in honor of the armadillo cake in the movie -“Who knows what even goes into makin’ gray icin?!'” (as quoted by M’Lynn)- and the fact that my favorite football team, whose colors are also red and gray, play this evening, red velvet brownies were in order.
Red Velvet Brownies (from Southern Living)
What You Need:
- 1 (4-oz.) bittersweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 (1-oz.) bottle red liquid food coloring (All I could find was icing coloring gel, and it worked fine)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
What You Will Do:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottom and sides of a 9-inch square pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides; lightly grease foil. (Confession: I can never seem to figure this method out so I just sprayed a 9X13 pan with cooking spray).
- Microwave chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals. Whisk in sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking just until blended after each addition. (Ok, at this point, my arms were burning and I thought my wrists were going to give out. I suggest abandoning the whisk at this point. I think people who write baking recipes either have biceps of steel or no feeling in their appendages.) Gently stir in flour and next 4 ingredients. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
- Bake at 350° for 44 to 48 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs (I only baked mine for 3o minutes, and they were perfect). Cool completely on a wire rack (about 2 hours).
- Lift brownies from pan, using foil sides as handles; gently remove foil.
I iced my brownies with sparkle white icing. This also made excellent “A’s” on the bite-size mini’s for the aforementioned football team.