I am a red velvet lover. I love anything red velvet. I also happen to love seven layer bars. I adore them. So when I came across a recipe at Sally’s Baking Addiction for seven layer bars made with a red velvet base I decided I must try it immediately because seriously – why hadn’t I thought of the idea myself? Because earlier in the day I had made a funfetti layer cake I decided to throw some sprinkles into the recipe to give the bars a bit of a funfetti twist.
ingredients.
- 1 ½ c. all-purpose flour (scooped in with a spoon and then leveled off)
- 1 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ c. butter, softened to room temperature
- ¾ c. granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 T. liquid red food coloring
- 1 ½ c. sweetened shredded coconut
- ½ c. bittersweet chocolate chips
- ½ c. milk chocolate chips
- ½ c. white chocolate chips
- 1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 c. chopped pecans
- ½ c. sprinkles, plus more for the topping
directions.
- Set your oven rack to the center position and preheat oven to 350F degrees or 325F for a convection oven. Line the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy.
- Add the granulated sugar and beat on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color.
- Beat in egg and vanilla on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the food coloring until combined.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. The red velvet dough will be quite thick and sticky.
- Using your fingers, spread dough in an even layer into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle some flour over the top as you’re doing this. It will help with the stickiness. Once the dough has been evenly distributed, top with sprinkles. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the oven on.
- Sprinkle the coconut over the cookie layer, followed by the chocolate chips, then the white chocolate chips. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake until set, about 20 to 25 minutes. Top with more sprinkles to make it look pretty. Cool on a rack for at least 2 hours before cutting into squares.
I read some of the comments under Sally’s recipe prior to making these bars and one of the comments (which described the bars as awful) made me pause long enough to reconsider making the recipe. The person who left the comment said the dough was so sticky it ripped her aluminum foil.
You see? That’s why I always say to use parchment paper. At any rate, I decided to forge ahead with bars and add a bit more flour to the recipe to make the dough less sticky. If it helped at all I’m really not sure. The dough was still sticky. So when I was trying to pat out the dough into the pan I sprinkled some flour on top the dough. It was a genius idea. Smooth sailing for me and no issues with ripped parchment paper.
So I was a little disappointed with the end result. It was good. I mean how can anything red velvet be bad? I just wasn’t pleased with how thin the base of the bar was. I would recommend doubling the base ingredients to be honest. My bars ended up being half base and half topping. The topping sort of overtakes the entire bar and to me red velvet is always the star of the show. Or rather it should be.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 