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!"

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc and its advertiser.  All opinions are mine alone.  #RedVelvetLove #CollectiveBias

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 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?

Red Velvet Cookie Bars

Renee's Kitchen Adventures

Adapted from The Recipe Critic 

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

1. 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.
2. In large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. 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.
4. 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)
5. 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.
6. Cool in pan completely. While cookie bars are cooling, make the frosting.
7. 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.
8. 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

Printable Recipe 

Pin Red Velvet Cookie Bars!

See how Red Velvet Cookie Bars are made! 

Combine the dry ingredients

Cream the butter

Combine the butter and sugar until fluffy

Add egg, food coloring and vanilla

What a beautiful red color! 

Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture to form dough

Press into a prepared pan and bake! 

Combine all frosting ingredients until smooth and creamy and spread onto cooled cookie bars

Grab 1 cup of  M&M's® Red Velvet candies

Place the M&M's® randomly over the frosted bars.  Cut into squares and enjoy! 

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