This easy Red Velvet Cookies recipe is made from scratch and makes the best soft and chewy red velvet cookies with cream cheese frosting sandwiched in the middle.
Want more cookie recipes? Try my Pecan Sandies, Chocolate Mint Cookies, or the best Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Why I love these cookies:
- Delicious – The chocolate flavor with hints of vanilla is absolutely divine, especially with the cream cheese frosting. They are thin enough that it’s not overwhelming when you sandwich two cookies together.
- Beautiful – Whether you are looking for a festive holiday cookie for Valentine’s Day or Christmas, or just looking to make something a little extra special, these are made to impress!
- Soft – These cookies have a perfect soft and chewy texture! Similar to the classic Homemade Oreo Cookies.
How to make Red Velvet Cookies:
Make Cookie Dough: Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar in a separate bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and red food coloring to wet ingredients and mix to combine. Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed.
Scoop and Flatten Dough: Use a tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop the dough into balls. You should be able to get 24 dough balls (for a total of 12 sandwich cookies.) Use a measuring cup or the palm of your had to gently flatten the balls slightly.
Bake: Bake cookies at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes, until edges start setting. Cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Be careful not to over-bake them, or you’ll end up with crunchy cookies. You just want the edges to be just set when you take the cookies out of the oven. They will continue to cook on the hot cookie sheet, out of the oven.
Make Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add more powdered sugar or a splash of milk, if needed, until desired consistency is reached.
Assemble Cookies: Spoon some cream cheese frosting onto the bottom of one of the cookies. I do a pretty small scoop of frosting so the cookies aren’t too rich. Add another cookie on top to make a cookie sandwich.
Cover and refrigerate the cookies until ready to eat. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Freezing Instructions: These cookies freeze really well! Place them in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
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Recipe
Red Velvet Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon liquid red food coloring
Cream Cheese Filling:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 4 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Red Velvet Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and red food coloring and mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed, just until combined.
- Scoop tablespoon size balls onto cookie sheets (should make about 24 cookies). Use a measuring cup or the palm of your hand to gently flatten the balls just slightly.
- Bake until edges start setting, about 8-10 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add more powdered sugar or a splash of milk, if needed, until desired consistency is reached.
- Once the cookies have cooled, add a small spoonful of cream cheese filling onto one cookie. Place another cookie on top and press them together to make a cookie sandwich.
- Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Cookie recipe adapted from Red Velvet Lover’s Cookbook by Deborah Harroun.
I originally shared this recipe February 2018. Updated February 2022.
So good!
This is NOT a “Red Velvet” cookie.
Chocolate batter with a ton of artificial food color does not make this a Red Velvet.
Please! Find a better name.
Red Sweetheart
Red Wafer
Red Sandwich cookie
But, this is certinally NOT *Red Velvet
*Red Velvet is more about the velvety texture of the batter and the chemical reaction of ingredients that tinge the batter “red”
Respectfully Submitted,
Pa
I respectfully disagree, but you’re welcome to your opinion (did you actually try the recipe?).
This is exactly what red velvet is…
These turned out perfect! Lauren, you are an angel. I have made a few of your recipes and they have all turned out amazing. Wish I could share pictures. These were just the perfect balance of chewy and soft. I will be sharing with my coworkers.
i think this cookies or soo good and i love your sight i have made so many thing off of here and it has got me more in to baking
Made these for Valentines Day for friends and family, got raving reviews so thought I should have one myself ( usually I can resist) oh my they are delicious. Will be making these again and again.
Thanks for your great recipes
Love theese!
love this recipe thanks
How long will the filling keep out of a fridge
Several weeks.
I really like how this recipe turned out. I didn’t end up with sandwich cookies, however. I may have made a mistake somewhere with the cream cheese filling but it came out a little thin. I ended up adding a bit more confectioner’s sugar then using it has a frosting for the cookies. The end result was richly delicious and I plan on making them again very soon.
Made these for some friends they turned out amazing and I absolutely love them what a fantastic recipe!
Can you freeze these?
Yes, they will freeze well!
Haven’t made them yet, but they do look good, but don’t like the idea of using red food color!
Can it be left out, and what would you use in the place of that?
They kinda look like oatmeal pies and I love those…..
Yes, you can leave out the red food coloring 🙂
Thanks so much for the recipe. I made them for a party and they where scrumptious!
We love traditional sandwich cooke and I thought we would give these a try for Valentines day. They were a huge hit! Thanks so much!