Red Velvet Cookie Bars Recipe
Who else is as smitten with red velvet as I am?! My love for all things red velvet is why I decided to bake up a batch of these delicious Red Velvet Cookie Bars topped with M&M's® Red Velvet candies to share with my friends and family. Why not? Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I can't think of a better way to say, "I love you!"
Have you seen M&M's® Red Velvet candies yet? Oh my gosh...you need to try these! They are bursting with sweet red velvet flavor and make the perfect crunchy and colorful topping for my cookie bars! I decided that this year, I am going to give everyone I love a bit of love from my kitchen in the form of this yummy baked treat for Valentine's Day.
Who's on my list? My husband and children, of course, but I also plan on giving these to my friends and neighbors too. I don't want to get all sappy sweet on you, but there are so many people in my life that I love. They are the people that make life worth living and I want to let them all know just how much they mean to me!
I hope that they will love these cookie bars as much as I do. They are just lightly flavored with chocolate and have sort of a brownie texture to them. They are pretty easy to make too! Be careful with all that red food coloring though, it can stain everything very easily!
(Don't ask me how I know!)
I found everything I needed to make these bars and package them up for gifts at Walmart. They have a special Valentine's Day display that showcases the M&M's® Red Velvet bags as well as the M&M's® Peanut bags and the ®plain M&M's. My husband LOVES the peanut variety, and since he is my number one Valentine, I picked up a bag just for him!
I packaged up hubby's treat with some fun wrap.
But as you can see, he couldn't wait until Valentine's Day to enjoy them! :)
How will you be showing those you love how much they mean to you on Valentine's Day?
For more M&M's® Red Velvet inspiration, be sure to visit the Red Velvet Love Recipes page. Join the #RedVelvetLove Pinterest Party taking place at http://www.pinterest.com/SoFabChats/ on Saturday, January 31st at 12:00pm ET for your chance at winning a $1000 Walmart gift card!
PIN IT TO YOUR VALENTINE'S DAY BOARDS!
Red Velvet Cookie Bars
Renee's Kitchen Adventures
Red Velvet flavored cookie bars topped with rich cream cheese frosting and M&M's® Red Velvet candies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract OR 2 tsp. vanilla paste
- 1 TBS red food coloring
- For Frosting:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 6 oz. cream cheese, softened
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract OR 1 tsp. vanilla paste
- 1 cup M&M's® Red Velvet candies
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13" pan with parchment so edges hang over two of the sides (to make removing cookies from pan easier) and spray inside with cooking spray.
In large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
With an electric mixer (I used my stand mixer) cream the butter for a good 2-3 minutes. Add in the granulated sugar and cream for another 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, red food coloring and vanilla. Mix until fully incorporated.
Slowly add the flour mixture, with mixer on low speed, a little at a time until flour is well mixed with butter mixture. (should form a nice dough, not too soft)
Press dough evenly into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes for until a toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.
Cool in pan completely. While cookie bars are cooling, make the frosting.
To make the frosting, combine 1/4 cup butter, cream cheese, and pinch of salt until light and fluffy with electric mixer. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat until spreading consistency.
Frost the cookie bars either in the pan or remove from pan and frost out of the pan. Dot the cookies with M&M's® and cut into squares.
Yield: 32 cookie bars
Prep Time: 00 hrs. 15 mins.
Cook time: 00 hrs. 20 mins.
Total time: 35 mins.
Tags: cookies, red velvet, M&M's®, Valentine's Day, treat, gifts
See how these cookie bars are made...
Combine the dry ingredientsCream the butterCombine the butter and sugar until fluffyAdd egg, food coloring and vanillaWhat a beautiful red color! Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture to form doughPress into a prepared pan and bake! Combine all frosting ingredients until smooth and creamy and spread onto cooled cookie barsGrab 1 cup of M&M's® Red Velvet candiesPlace the M&M's® randomly over the frosted bars. Cut into squares and enjoy!
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