Healthy Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

These Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies are the best dessert ever! The red velvet brownie is made with almond butter and is fudgy and rich with a classic red velvet flavor. It is topped with a smooth, creamy Greek yogurt cheesecake! The flavors pair perfectly together, and you can not believe that it is healthy! It is full of healthy fats and protein.

I don't feel like typing a whole essay for every recipe like I did in the other ones, so this is gonna be brief! I'm sure you don't want to read a whole essay either!

The Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

The cheesecake portion is made of Greek yogurt! It adds some protein and lowers the fat content of the cheesecake. Plus, it gives a nice tang and makes the cheesecake super smooth and creamy! It prevents cracks from forming on the cheesecake, eliminating the use of a water bath! Make sure to use Greek yogurt as it is a lot thicker than regular yogurt and will hold up better in the cheesecake. Regular yogurt has a really high water content, which may make the cheesecake "watery". You could use any fat percentage Greek yogurt you'd like.

Oh, and one more thing. Make sure the Greek yogurt, cream cheese, and egg are all at room temperature. This will ensure a super smooth creamy cheesecake! Cold ingredients may add lumps to the cheesecake.

The Red Velvet Brownie

This red velvet brownie starts off with almond butter instead of normal butter. You can substitute the almond butter with any nut or seed butter you'd like. Just keep in mind that nut/seed butters with stronger flavors, such as peanut butter or tahini, may overpower the red velvet flavor of the brownies. You will melt the almond butter with some chocolate. I am using semisweet chocolate so if you are using dark or milk chocolate, you may have to adjust the amount of sugar added. Now for the sugar, you could use any granulated sweetener of choice. Make sure to whisk it into the wet ingredients extremely well so it dissolves!

Now for the flour. Since this is a brownie recipe, it is very hard to mess up and pretty much any type of flour would work! Whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour, oat flour, almond flour, it will all work! Just keep in mind coconut flour is suuuuper absorbent and would completely change the texture of these brownies!

So, the flavor of these brownies is red velvet. I wanted to make sure it TASTED like red velvet and wasn't just a red colored brownie. So I added vinegar, vanilla extract, and chocolate to flavor the brownies. The vinegar provides a slight tang that is classic in red velvet cake. Vanilla extract and chocolate are self explanatory, and used in normal brownies as well.

For the red food dye, you can use any type you'd like: natural food coloring, gel food coloring, or the normal red food coloring (which is what I used). You can also adjust the amount of food dye for your own preferences. You could make it suuuuper bright red, or a more natural, mellow red.

Storage

These red velvet cheesecake brownies can be stored in the fridge for a week or frozen for up to 3 months. After freezing, you'll want to thaw it in the fridge overnight. I do not suggest leaving it at room temperature as there is a lot of dairy in the cheesecake which may go bad.

Watch this video to see how to make Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies!

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Healthy Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Prep Time: 1 Hour Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Total: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Serves: 8

Ingredients

Cheesecake

• 128 grams (½ cup) room temperature Greek yogurt

• 74 grams (2.6 oz or ½ cup + 2 tbsp) room temperature cream cheese

• 25 grams (2 tbsp) sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice)

• 25 grams (2 tbsp or ½) room temperature egg*

• 2 tsp flour

• ⅓ tsp vanilla extract

Red Velvet Brownie

• 76 grams (⅓ cup) almond butter

• 40 grams (¼ cup) chocolate chips**

• 31 grams (¼ cup) white whole wheat flour***

• 1 pinch baking powder

• 60 grams (⅓ cup) sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice)

• ¾ tsp vanilla extract

• ¼ tsp vinegar

• ¼ tsp coarse salt (or ⅙ tsp table salt)

• 1 egg*

• red food coloring

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C). Line an 8 x 4 pan with parchment paper.

2. First, to make the cheesecake batter, add the Greek yogurt and cream cheese to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add in the sugar, egg, flour, and vanilla extract and blend again until completely smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

3. For the red velvet brownie, place the almond butter and chocolate chips in a medium heat-proof bowl. Melt it in the microwave or over a bain marie. While that is cooling, add the flour and baking powder into a small bowl. Mix until no lumps are left.

4. To the chocolate mixture, add the sugar and mix vigorously so it almost dissolves. Then add in the vanilla extract, vinegar, salt, and egg, and beat until completely smooth. Add red food coloring and mix until you've reached the desired color. Add the dry ingredients and fold it in.

5. Spread the brownie batter evenly on the bottom of the pan. Pour the cheesecake batter on top. Bake at 350° F (175° C) for around 30 minutes. Take out of the oven to cool completely before refrigerating overnight. Slice into squares and enjoy!

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Notes

*The egg in the cheesecake cannot be substituted. If you were to only make the red velvet brownie, you could substitute the egg with a flax/chia egg by combing 1 tbsp ground flax/chia + 3 tbsp water.

**I used semisweet chocolate chips. If you were to use dark chocolate or milk chocolate, you can adjust the amount of sugar added to suite your preferences.

***Almost any flour can be substituted for the white whole wheat flour. For example, whole wheat flour, oat flour, almond flour, all purpose flour, etc. Just don't substitute it with coconut flour since it is a lot more absorbent than other flours.

Nutrition Info

Serving Size: 1 brownie

Calories: 196 kcal

Fat: 11.2 g

Carbohydrates: 20.3 g

Sugars: 15 g

Protein: 5.9 g

Sodium: 145 g

Fiber: 1.8 g