Red Velvet Layer Bars Recipe

These red velvet layer bars are everything you love about classic seven layer bars, but they’re baked on top of a red velvet cookie crust. These loaded bars are extra chewy, gooey, buttery, and sweet!

Attention red velvet lovers! These red velvet seven layer bars recipe comes from my dear friend Deborah’s cookbook, Red Velvet Lover’s Cookbook. Deborah blogs at Taste and Tell and wrote this cookbook for anyone madly in love with red velvet’s flavor. Yes, it’s a book of all things red velvet! I knew sharing a recipe from this cookbook would be a hit considering how much we all love red velvet cake, red velvet cupcakes, and even red velvet chocolate chip cookies.

These red velvet seven layer bars remind me of classic magic bars (also known as seven layer bars) but incorporate red velvet. The base is a soft, cookie-like red velvet layer. On top of that? A rich, sweet, chewy, gooey, and completely overloaded smorgasbord of toppings. Go big or go home.

These Red Velvet Seven Layer Bars Are:

• Totally rich and indulgent
• Perfect for red velvet lovers—if you loved my red velvet Oreo brownies, you’ll flip for these!
• Chewy and gooey
• Coconut-y
• Easy to make
• Always a hit with a crowd
• Piled high with chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans
• A texture lover’s dream

Ingredients You Need

You’ll appreciate that this recipe doesn’t call for any crazy ingredients. You need basic pantry staples.

• Flour: All-purpose flour serves as the base of these bars.
• Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder helps add that cocoa red velvet flavor.
• Baking Powder: Baking powder helps the bars rise.
• Vanilla Extract & Salt: Both add flavor. Try using homemade vanilla extract.
• Sugar: To sweeten the base.
• Red Food Coloring: Tints the base cookie layer red for the classic red velvet appearance.
• Egg: 1 egg binds everything together.
• Chocolate Chips, White Chocolate Chips, Coconut, & Pecans: Delicious toppings for these bars.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk: When poured on top, sweetened condensed milk is the “glue” that holds the topping together. It bakes and coats the toppings so each bite is chewy ooey gooey!

A note about food coloring: The red velvet cookie layer wouldn’t be red without food coloring. I recommend gel food coloring because the color is concentrated, so you need less of it. For natural coloring, try using beet powder. If you don’t want to use food coloring, leave it out! The bars will have the same flavor and be a lovely shade of cocoa.

How to Make Red Velvet Seven Layer Bars

What size pan to use? Deborah’s recipe directs to bake the bars in a 9×13-pan, but mine was already in use so I just used an 11×7-inch pan instead. Using a smaller pan made my bars a little thicker than Deborah’s. I include both bake times in the recipe below.

Which Part is Your Favorite?

With so many flavors and textures to love, it’s hard to pick a favorite! If I *had* to choose, I think mine would be the melty chocolate paired with chewy, sweet coconut.

Deborah describes these bars as addictive—and she totally nails it with that description. As a huge fan of regular seven layer bars (and these ultimate magic cookie bars), I couldn’t stop slicing off little squares for myself. Dare I say this version of the classic dessert might be better than the original? Seriously.

By the way… while these bars are an obvious choice for Valentine’s Day desserts, they are also a festive addition to any platter of Christmas cookies!