Castellon's Kitchen: Red Velvet Brownies with Cookie Crumble Frosting

I sat here yesterday morning writing the blog for Ham and Cheddar Scones while, I anxiously planned what I was going to cook on my day off. (Who am I kidding...like I get a day off. It was more like a day without obligations until 2pm while the kids were at school.) I'll take it though!
So yesterday of all days, as I quietly complained (via blog post) that it hadn't been cool enough here in California for me to cook all my favorite fall comfort foods, the weather, acting as the "complainer" police dished out 93 degree heat. It was a real scorcher! The weather basically said, "Take that you complainer! You live in California!"
So you might ask, since I was feeling so anxious about cooking in hot weather...what did I cook? Or, dare I say...bake?
I baked these insanely delicious and beautiful Red Velvet Brownies with a Chocolate Cookie Crumble Frosting. Yep, I did it! The heat inspired me to light a fire for the taste buds and I don't regret a thing! 93 degrees..take that!! These are out of the park delicious! The chocolate crumble frosting being a big departure from the traditional cream cheese frosting on red velvet, but it goes together perfectly. The bright red brownie tasting almost like caramel with its moist buttery batter topped with chocolate and cookies...Yum! Enjoy!

I might add, I think I skipped fall and Thanksgiving altogether and went right into winter and on to celebrate Christmas! Hmmm...I think these might be perfect for a cookie exchange? Merry 'early' Christmas!

Red Velvet Brownies with Cookie Crumble Frosting (brownie recipe from Smells Like Home)

3 T cocoa powder, unsweetened
2 T (1 oz.) red food coloring
2 t vanilla extract, divided
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 t salt

Topping
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
10 Chocolate-filled sandwich cookies (Oreos), crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 8"x 8" pan. (Note: I opted to line my pan with parchment paper instead, after my first failed attempt to get these little buggers out of the pan. Parchment worked like a charm.)

In a small bowl add cocoa, food coloring and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix until it forms a smooth paste with no lumps. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat with a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then add the remaining vanilla extract.

Add the cocoa mixture and mix on medium until well blended. Slowly add the flour and salt and mix on medium speed, until just combined. Do not overmix. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides to ensure all flour is incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

While the brownies are cooking, place ~10 chocolate sandwich cookies into a food processor and blend until they are roughly crumbled. Set aside.

Remove brownies from the oven and sprinkle the semi-sweet chocolate chips on top of the hot brownies, place back in the oven for 2 minutes and then remove pan from oven. While still hot, smooth out the melted chips with a spoon to coat the top of the brownies. Sprinkle crumbled cookies on top of melted chocolate chips. Let cool completely on a wire rack, approximately 60 minutes.