Red Velvet White Chocolate Swirl Brownies 

Fourth of July is just about the best holiday.  You can't beat a day when the sun is shining, you get to cookout, watch fireworks and celebrate our great country's independence.  We're on our way to our friends' house for a cookout and I took on the task of bringing a dessert and a cocktail.  My two favorite things, so I'm not complaining ;)

I scoured Pinterest for the perfect red, white and blue dessert.  I found so many great things, but I wanted to try to do something a little unique.  I found a recipe for Red Velvet Swirl Brownies that sounded so good that I had to try to make it with just a little twist.  Everyone loves red velvet cake with sweet cream cheese frosting, so the cream cheese swirl in these brownies was the perfect touch.  I thought adding white chocolate would make these even a bit more decadent.

I layered the white chocolate filling, so there were two layers of it running through the brownies.  Start with a layer of brownie batter, follow with white chocolate filling, brownie batter, white chocolate and a final layer of brownie batter.  Got that?  Five layers.  I did four layers and the white chocolate layer on the top was a little too brown and sort of ruined the red, white and blue beauty I was trying to achieve.

After all the layering, take a knife or skewer and start swirling.  Do horizontal and then vertical stripes through the batter.

I'm off to our cookout with these brownies and some homemade cinnamon ice cream!  Happy 4th of July!

Red Velvet White Chocolate Swirl Brownies
Adapted from Red Velvet Swirl Brownies

Ingredients:


For brownies
1/2 C butter, melted and cooled
1 1/4 C sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/4 C cocoa powder
1 T red food coloring
1 T white vinegar
2 eggs
3/4 C flour
1/8 t salt

For white chocolate swirl
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1/3 C powdered sugar
1 egg
1/8 t vanilla
4 oz white chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 8x8 pan with cooking spray and place a square of parchment or wax paper in the bottom of the pan.

Mix butter, sugar, salt and vanilla in a large bowl or stand mixer with paddle attachment.  In a separate bowl, mix cocoa powder, food coloring and vinegar to make a paste.  Add this to the butter and sugar mixture.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Finally, add the flour and mix a few seconds until just combined.

In a separate bowl, mix all ingredients for white chocolate swirl using a whisk attachment.  Beat until it is smooth and creamy.  Taste and adjust sweetness as necessary.  You don't want it to be too sweet because the brownie part takes care of that!

Now for the layering...spread 1/3 of brownie batter into the prepared pan.  Use 1/2 of white chocolate filling to make dollops on top of the batter.  Gently spread out the white chocolate layer and top with another layer of brownie batter.  Now spread one more layer of white chocolate and top that with the remaining 1/3 of the brownie batter.  Take the tip of a sharp knife or a long skewer (don't try to do this with a toothpick!) and make about 6 horizontal lines and then 6 vertical lines to make a swirl pattern.

Bake for 30-35 min, topping with blue sugar or sprinkles halfway through cooking time, if desired.  Cool on a wire cooling rack.  Turn out on a cutting board, peel off wax/parchment layer and slice into 12 brownies.

Enjoy celebrating Independence Day with family and friends!