Red Velvet Oreo Truffle Bars

Red Velvet Oreo Truffle Bars - made September 20, 2013, brownie base from That Skinny Chick Can Bake, brownie concept from Pizzazzerie

I was inspired to make these bars by Pizzazzerie's recipe.  But I knew I didn't want to use a cake mix and I wanted to make the red velvet brownies from scratch, especially since I had a good recipe for it from That Skinny Chick Can Bake.  I had blogged about these earlier and had only linked to the recipe but when I checked the link on my blog recently, I was redirected to a new site.  I'm glad it still works and I still have access to the recipe but it freaked me out enough that I'm re-posting it on my blog in case I can't access it sometime down the road.  That would be terrible since I really like these brownies.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this whole brownie though.  The concept was different enough to dress up a regular brownie and I thought the Oreo layer would win me over.  Plus topped with melted chocolate and mini chocolate chips?  It sounded like a good idea.

Maybe because it was one of many for the bake sale but I didn't love these.  I mean, they were fine, taste-wise and all, and I'm glad I tried them out. But after 7 cookie doughs and 4 pans of brownies and bar cookies, I have to admit my taste bar was a little high that day.  A "really good" brownie on a different day might've just been "eh, they're okay" on that particular marathon baking day. Especially since this was another one that I confess I barely tasted from the sliver I cut from it.

Red Velvet Brownies

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons red food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 8 x 8 pan with nonstick foil or regular foil. Grease regular foil with cooking spray if using.
2. In a small bowl, mix cocoa powder, food coloring and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla to form a paste. Set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then add second teaspoon of vanilla. With mixer on medium, beat in cocoa paste. Add flour and salt, and mix just until combined.
4. Spread in pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool before frosting.

Oreo layer
1/2 package Oreos, finely crushed
4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1. Combine crushed Oreos and cream cheese and beat until blended smooth.  Spread over cooled brownies.

Topping
1 cup semisweet chocolate, melted
Mini chocolate chips

1. Spread melted chocolate over oreo truffle layer, smoothing into an even layer.  Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and let set.  Cut into squares when cool.