Red Velvet Gooey Butter Bars
Posted: 10/10/2014
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Red velvet gooey butter bars are perfect for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or any occasion!
I’m really excited to tell you about my good friend Deborah Harroun’s book! You might know Deborah from her beautiful blog, Taste and Tell. Or you might remember when I featured her in my Day in the Life series.
I was thrilled to receive a review copy of her book*, Red Velvet Lover’s Cookbook. It’s filled with 50 red velvet recipes for every occasion. I am having so much fun paging through this book and I can’t wait to get started on making the recipes.
In addition to these gooey butter bars, I can’t wait to make the red velvet crepes, the red velvet “Oreos,” red velvet biscotti, shortbread bars, frozen cheesecake pie, and churros. Truth be told I want to try them all!
Deborah also covers the basics in her book — so you’ll never have to worry about perfecting that red velvet cake…she has it all figured out for you already. Included in the book are recipes for the ultimate red velvet cake, as well as cupcakes, and frosting, too. Whether you like boiled frosting, cream cheese frosting (my fave!), white chocolate cream cheese frosting or marshmallow cream cheese frosting, you’ll find the recipe in Deborah’s book.
The book touts 50 recipes but she manages to sneak in a few bonus variations on some of the recipes included. She’ll tell you how to turn her cake roll recipe into a mug cake for one (yes please!) and how to use that cheesecake and red velvet cake ice cream to whip up an awesome red velvet cake milk shake.
This is definitely a book you want to have in your cookbook library! Congrats, Deborah! Proud of you and happy to call you a friend.
About these red velvet gooey butter bars
As you see from the photo, these bars consist of two layers. The bottom layer is rich and buttery, with a hint of chocolate, and tinted with red food coloring. The second layer is almost like a sweet cheesecake. Dusted with powdered sugar, these bars are very, very good!
Serve red velvet bars for a special Valentine’s day treat. They are a festive addition to a plate of Christmas cookies, especially sprinkled with green sugar. If you like, skip the red food coloring and the cocoa powder in the bottom layer for plain gooey butter bars. Hmmm, is there such a thing as “plain” gooey butter bars?
More delicious bar recipes
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
bars
Red velvet gooey butter bars are perfect for Valentine's Day, Christmas, or any occasion!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon red liquid food coloring
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a large bowl to combine. Add 1 egg, 1/2 cup of the melted butter, buttermilk, and red food coloring. Mix to form a dough. Press into the bottom of prepared baking dish.
- Beat cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the remaining 2 eggs, vanilla, and remaining 1/2 cup melted butter. Add confectioners’ sugar and beat until the mixture is creamy. Pour over crust.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, being careful not to overbake. The center should still be a bit gooey.
- Cool completely. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, then cut into 16 bars. Store in the refrigerator.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1square, Calories: 310kcal, Carbohydrates: 60g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 51mg, Sodium: 195mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 46g
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
Oh goodness, these look amazing! I need that book!
Jess @ Sweet Menu says
These bars look just wonderful! I love red velvet. I’ll have to put this cookbook on my Christmas wish list :)
Erin+@+The+Spiffy+Cookie says
I definitely need to get my hands on that cookbook. Love these bars!
Medha+@+Whisk+&+Shout says
Butter bars?! Omg these sound sinful and amazing :)
denise says
husband would love
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
Holy yum!! These sound awesome!