I always laugh when people say “red velvet’s not a flavor.” That just means they haven’t had good red velvet! Technically, red velvet’s dominant flavor is chocolate, but all too often, it’s not chocolatey enough for me. I fixed that with these cookies by hitting them with a triple punch of chocolate—cocoa, chopped semisweet chips, and a little bit of coffee to bring out the chocolate flavor. Paired with a just-sweet-enough cream cheese filling and a drizzle of sweet white chocolate, these red velvet sandwich cookies are big on flavor, and beautiful too!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make these without the filling?
Yes! They’re quite delicious on their own. If you want a little cream cheese flavor then make a glaze with cream cheese, milk and powdered sugar, which you can drizzle on top or dip the cookies in.
Do these need to be refrigerated?
The assembled cookies should be kept in the refrigerator because of the dairy in the cream cheese frosting.
How long will they keep for?
- The unassembled cookies can be stored at room temperature in a sealed container for up to a week.
- The assembled cookies can kept in the fridge for up two days, but are best when freshly made.
- The cookie dough will keep in the freezer for up to two months. I like to roll the cookie dough balls out then freeze them on a sheet pan and finally transfer to a freezer bag.
How to Make Red Velvet Cookies
1. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder into a bowl then whisk together and set aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then mix in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the bowl then mix once more.
3. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix until almost combined. Add the coffee and food coloring and mix until distributed.
4. Scrape the bowl down one last time and then fold in the chocolate chips. Chill dough for 30 minutes of more.
5. Roll approximately 2 tablespoon-sized portions of dough into into balls and place about 2 inches apart on a parchment or silicon-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.
6. While the cookies are baking make some cream cheese frosting! Cream the room temperature butter and cream cheese together then beat in the powdered sugar. You can add milk or cream a tablespoon at a time to thin the consistency out if needed.
7. Once the cookies have cooled you can pipe the cream cheese frosting on and sandwich them together.
8. A drizzle of melted white chocolate is a nice finishing touch but these cookies are delicious without as well.
Pro Tips for making these cookies
- A spring-loaded scoop is a great tool for making these cookies. The scoop helps you get uniform balls of dough, which bake into evenly sized cookies.
- To make sure the sandwich cookies have a nice round shape, gently roll them between your hands into smooth balls before baking.
- For the prettiest drizzled cookies, drizzle the tops of the cookies with chocolate first, then pop them into the freezer to set. Spread the cream cheese filling on the cookie bottoms, then top with the drizzled top cookies.
- Feel free to add additional powdered sugar to the cream cheese filling if you want these cookies to be extra sweet.
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- For on demand cookies later you can roll the dough into balls then freeze on a baking sheet. Transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to a sealable bag and store.
IF YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE TRY THESE OUT!
If you’ve tried this Red Velvet Cookie recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Red Velvet Cookies
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter 226g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract 10mL
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240g
- ¼ cup cocoa powder 25g
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp hot brewed coffee 15mL
- 1 Tbsp liquid red food coloring 15mL
- 3/4 cup chopped semisweet chocolate chips 130g
- 12 ounces cream cheese softened, 340g
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted, 100g
- 2 Tbsp milk or heavy cream 30mL
- 1 cup white chocolate chips 150g
Instructions
- Sift the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl then whisk together and set aside.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, beat butter and sugar in a bowl until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.
- Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating on low speed until just combined.
- Add coffee and red food coloring until evenly combined. (do not overbeat).
- Fold in 1 cup chopped chocolate.
- Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
- Scoop dough using a 1 tablespoon scoop; gently roll between your hands to make smooth balls. Place dough balls on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.
- Bake at 350° until edges are firm, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Let cool on pan 10 minutes; transfer cookies to a wire rack, and let cool completely.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in milk or heavy cream, if desired.
- Spread about 1 tablespoon filling onto bottom sides of half of cookies. Top with remaining cookies, bottom-sides down.
- Microwave white chocolate in a small bowl in 30-second intervals until smooth (about 3 times).
- Spoon melted white chocolate into a ziploc plastic bag. Snip the corner off the bag, and drizzle cookies as desired. Freeze cookies for about 15 minutes to let chocolate set.
Video
Notes
-To make sure the sandwich cookies have a nice round shape, gently roll them between your hands into smooth balls before baking.
-For the prettiest drizzled cookies, drizzle the tops of the cookies with chocolate first, then pop them into the freezer to set. Spread the cream cheese filling on the cookie bottoms, then top with the drizzled top cookies.
-Feel free to add additional powdered sugar to the cream cheese filling if you want these cookies to be extra sweet.
I’ve tried this recipe twice the first time it disn work out so well for me and of course I was discouraged. The second time I decided to hold off on the red food coloring because I wanted to test this recipe before I buy any more color. The main difference that made the second time more successful, was that I weighed each cookie. 35 grams and I froze each individual one for about ten minutes. Then I baked. I am so happy that I got it right with some adjustments, I did also refrigerator for an hour prior to the freeze. Now I can try again with the food coloring!
Hello John,
Is softened butter better than melted butter in making cookies? Thanks! 🙂
Hi John,
Why in the cookie dough there is no vinegar while in the cake it is? Thanks
vinegar is for leavening and some other things the cookie doesn’t need 🙂
So perfectly chewy and mega delicious. As simple as that. Thank you John!
Made these last weekend and they were divine! 😍💯🎉 Instead of making it a sandwich cookie, I used White chocolate chips for decorating ‘em 😊
The cookies taste delicious!I’ve used a scale to measure all my ingredients but the cookies won’t harden. What am I doing wrong?
like they are cakey or liquid? Might have needed an extra few minutes in the oven.
Just made these cookies yesterday and they came PERFECT, the hint of chocolate with the res velvet was amazing.
TOTALLY LOVE THIS RECIPE AND ALL THE RECIPE YOU MADE. thank you so much John!!
Finally got around to making these. Insanely good, of course! One note: #5 says 1 cup chocolate, ingredients had 3/4, I went with 3/4 and they were perfect. John, you did it again… everything you post is gold!
Can this frosting be used for cakes?
it can, also have a cream cheese frosting recipe you can check out.