Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

Soft, thick, and slightly chewy Red Velvet sugar cookies slathered in rich, velvety cream cheese frosting!

I think I’m in love….with these cookies.

Valentine’s Day, AKA super sappy love day, is almost upon us. And whether you’ve got a hot date for this weekend or are sporting the very fashionably single life like myself, you’ll definitely want to figure out a way to fit these amazing cookies into your Valentine’s plans.

I’m not quite sure when the obsession with Red Velvet began, but people seem to go crazy for it’s vibrantly rich color and subtly sweet cocoa flavor. While you’re used to seeing this classic flavor in cakes, I’m here to show you a new AND satisfyingly sweet way of enjoying this blood-red favorite.

These Red Velvet Sugar Cookies are SO much more than simple frosted sugar cookies. They’re ultra soft, wonderfully thick, perfectly moist and slightly chewy. Not the least bit cakey or crumbly.

They’ve got that delicately sweet cocoa flavor along with that classically deep, vibrant shade of red. I ended up adding a full tablespoon of red dye to get the color that I wanted. However, feel free to reduce that amount if it sounds like too much. Mind you, this recipe makes around 27 cookies, so one tablespoon equally distributed among that many cookies shouldn’t be an issue. Unless if you decide to eat the entire batch in one sitting…

Because nothing goes better with Red Velvet than cream cheese frosting, there’s definitely no shortage of it here. These heavenly red angels are generously slathered in the richest, most lusciously smooth cream cheese frosting imaginable. To provide that little extra tang to my frosting, I like to add a little greek yogurt. Not only does it add more richness and flavor, but greek yogurt is super healthy, so you don’t have to feel AS bad while you’re licking the mixing bowl clean. Just dismiss the fact that there’s only 3 Tablespoons of greek yogurt in the entire bowl of frosting…

And since everything that’s frosted MUST be accompanied by sprinkles (no exceptions), I added a few shakes of these lovely red, pink and white hearts. Perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Hey, when I said I was in love, I wasn’t kidding.

Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

Soft, thick, and slightly chewy Red Velvet sugar cookies slathered in rich, velvety cream cheese frosting!

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Prep Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 38 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 27 Cookies

Ingredients

  

For the Cookies

• 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter softened
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup granulated sugar + 3 Tablespoons divided
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon red food coloring (gel or liquid)

For the Frosting

• ½ cup unsalted butter softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 3 Tablespoons greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• Sprinkles

Instructions

 

To make the Cookies

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Add the vegetable oil, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, powdered sugar, egg, vanilla, and food coloring and mix until fully incorporated. Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until dough comes together.
• Place remaining 3 Tablespoons of sugar into a small bowl. Form dough into balls about the size of a golfball, roll in sugar, then place on lined baking sheet. Repeat process with more dough until you have 8 or so balls spaced 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a glass, flatten each dough ball to about 1/2" thickness. It's okay if the cookies form a rim on the edges.
• Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes or until tops look mostly dry around the edges, yet still glossy in the center--no browning. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 3-4 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the Cream Cheese Frosting

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter, cream cheese, yogurt, vanilla, and salt together until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, a cup at a time, until all of the sugar has been added and frosting is smooth.
• Spread buttercream onto cooled cookies and immediately add the sprinkles. Serve and enjoy!