Soft Red Velvet Cookies with Frosting: A Sweet Treat to Love
There’s nothing prettier than these Red Velvet Cookies with buttercream frosting. A soft, cakey cookie that blends beautifully with the creamy frosting. Top it off with some chocolate chips, or sprinkles, to add a little something, something. This is an easy recipe, but the cookies are so decadent looking that they are the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day, a birthday gift, or special occasion.
Ingredients for Red Velvet Cookies
One of the things that I love about this red velvet cookie recipe is that it has straight-forward ingredients. Red Velvet cakes and cookies look so pretty with their red coloring, but they are basically just a chocolate dessert with a little red food coloring. I like to use gel food coloring because I think that it provides the best color, and it mixes really well. Here are the other ingredients that you need for these cookies.
Cookie Dough Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cup flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- Red food coloring
Frosting Ingredients
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Mini chocolate chips optional
Step by Step Process
Because these red velvet cookies are a fluffier, more cake-like cookie, I recommend using an electric mixer. Either a stand mixer, or hand mixer, is fine. Both allow you to cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. The results are a lot better than trying to mix by hand.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees as you prepare the dough. I like to start by getting the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside until I need it. However, you can jump right to the wet ingredients if you prefer.
Add the softened butter in a bowl with the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is creamy and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix for another minute or two.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, and blend on low to combine. Do not overmix the cookie dough once the dry ingredients have been added. The dough will look crumbly and that’s OK.
Once all of the flour has been incorporated, add about 1 teaspoon of red food coloring gel. Continue to mix until the batter has a consistent red color throughout.
Use a cookie scoop to make 1.5 tablespoon size cookie dough balls. Place the balls on a parchment lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to continue cooling. You want them to be room temperature before you frost them.
Make the Frosting
When you’re ready to frost and serve these red velvet cookies, mix together the butter and cream cheese. Once smooth and creamy, add the vanilla and then the powdered sugar. Transfer the buttercream frosting to a piping bag and top each cookie with frosting. You can decorate the cookies by adding mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, or non-pareils.
If baking is the way to someone’s heart, then these red velvet cookies are sure to please. They look so fancy and sophisticated that everyone will think that they are store bought. And only you need to know that the recipe is easy, and comes together in no time. I think these are the perfect cookie to make for Valentine’s Day.
Because the frosting has cream cheese, I like to frost the cookies only when I’m ready to serve them. That way people get to enjoy a soft cookie and frosting. Any leftovers should be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
If you make these red velvet cookies for a special occasion, or holiday dinner, pull them out of the refrigerator about 30-60 minutes before serving. That way the cookie and frosting are the perfect temperature and consistency. Serve them to your family and friends, then sit back as they ooh and ahh with delight.
Red Velvet Cookies with Buttercream Frosting
Equipment
- Electric mixer
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Baking Sheet
- Cookie Scoop
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cup flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- Red food coloring
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Mini chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar together with a mixer until light and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat some more until thoroughly mixed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until it forms a crumb mixture. Stop and add in the red food coloring. About 1 tsp red food gel was used in the pictures, but you can use less coloring if preferred.
- Mix in the red food coloring until the dough is a consistent color.
- Use a cookie scoop to make uniform 1.5 tablespoon sized cookie dough balls. Place the cookies on a baking sheet about 2” apart and bake for 10-11 minutes.
- Remove the cookies and let them cool to room temperature.
- To make the frosting, place the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until the frosting is creamy.
- Place the frosting into a piping bag and use desired tip to pipe frosting on the top of each cookie.
- Sprinkle the tops with mini chocolate chips, if desired.
Notes
Here are some more recipes to try for Valentine’s Day, or a special occasion.
Lofthouse Sugar Cookies with Frosting
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