These chewy Red Velvet Cookies are delicious, beautiful, and full of white chocolate chips, which stand out against their classic, striking red color.
If you love the look and flavor of red velvet cake, you probably won't need much convincing to fall in love with this red velvet cookie recipe. They are the perfect treat for Valentine's Day or as a gorgeous gift-wrapped bag of Christmas cookies, But really, these easy red velvet cookies can (and should) be enjoyed at any time of year.
I am a big fan of red velvet desserts, one of the most popular recipes on my whole site is my Red Velvet Brownies with cream cheese frosting recipe. If you're more into classic red velvet recipes you may like my Red Velvet Cupcakes. I can tell you though that this delicious cookie recipe is quick, easy, and absolutely scrumptious. So whether it's the holiday season or you just feel like a pretty snack, give them a try!
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What are Red Velvet Cookies?
Red velvet cookies are a fun, cookie version of the classic red velvet cake! These babies are made from scratch using a hint of cocoa powder and vinegar to get that signature red velvet flavor. They also have the striking red velvet color with some white chocolate chips for contrast and extra flavor.
Red Velvet Cookies Recipe Ingredients
This red velvet cookies recipe uses simple ingredients, similar to what you would see in a classic red velvet cake.
- Butter - Use unsalted butter and make sure it is at room temperature before beginning.
- White Sugar - We'll use two types of sugar in the cookies, the first is regular white sugar, make sure you get superfine sugar (caster sugar in the UK).
- Light Brown Sugar - The other sugar in the recipe is light brown sugar, this helps to add some depth to the flavor and helps to make the texture of these cookies nice and chewy.
- Egg - Use one large egg, always free range if you can.
- Buttermilk - Even though we only use a small amount, the buttermilk contributes that delicious tangy flavor we love in red velvet cake.
- Vanilla - Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste will work well. Try to avoid vanilla essence.
- Red Food Coloring - Make sure you use gel food coloring. The liquid food coloring that you find in grocery stores will not be powerful enough to add the lovely festive red color we are looking for.
- Flour - Use all-purpose flour in these cookies for the right texture and structure.
- Cocoa Powder - Red velvet needs to have a hint of chocolate flavor so don't skip the cocoa powder! My recipe uses Dutch-processed cocoa powder, rather than natural cocoa powder. Natural will still work but the cookie will be more dense and the flavor will not be quite the same.
- White Chocolate Chips - I find the red velvet cookies work really well with white chocolate chips, both for flavor and style - but you could also make them more like regular chocolate chip cookies and use milk chocolate if you prefer.
Make sure the butter, egg, and buttermilk are all at room temperature before baking.
See recipe card for quantities and the full recipe.
Substitutions
- Buttermilk - If you don't have buttermilk, you can make a quick and easy buttermilk substitute by mixing 1 cup of regular whole milk with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and letting it sit for 5 minutes. You won't need this much in your recipe, so you can save the rest for something else.
- Brown Sugar - If you don't have or don't want to use brown sugar, you can just substitute the whole amount for white sugar.
Measuring Ingredients
For best results, I always recommend weighing your ingredients with a kitchen scale rather than a measuring cup. It's very difficult to get accurate measurements with cups which can often lead to disappointing results in baking. All my recipes provide the measurements in both cups and grams so you can choose what works best for you.
Recommended Equipment
- Stand Mixer - or hand mixer, or a wooden spoon.
- Large Bowl
- Cookie Sheet
- Cookie Scoop
How to Make Red Velvet Cookies
Cream Butter and Sugars
Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Beat the butter and both sugars together until combined. They won't 'cream' together like some other recipes, but will just come together almost like a dough. I used a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, but you could also just use a large bowl and a wooden spoon, or an electric mixer - whatever you prefer.
Add egg
Add the egg and cream together at medium speed until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Wet Ingredients
In a small bowl, mix together the wet ingredients, including the buttermilk, vanilla, and red food coloring, using a teaspoon.
This is to make it easier for the food coloring to mix into the cookie dough without getting clumps of gel color.
Once combined, pour them into the cookie dough and beat until the color is even across the mixture.
Note: You may want to start with just ¼ teaspoon of the red color and add more if needed - every brand of food coloring is different. Keep in mind that although the dough will look bright red at first, once you add the dry ingredients with the cocoa powder, it will turn into a deep red color instead.
Dry Ingredients
In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients, including the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Mix together briefly to make sure everything is well dispersed. Pour the flour mixture into the cookie dough and mix on low speed until a dough forms and there are no more lumps of flour.
White Chocolate Chips
Scrape down the sides of the bowl again to make sure everything is well incorporated, then add the white chocolate chips and mix them through the red velvet cookie dough evenly.
Scoop Cookie Dough
Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop medium cookie dough balls onto the prepared cookie sheet. My scoop makes balls the size of about 2-3 tablespoons of dough. Make sure the cookies are well spaced out, as they will spread in the oven.
There is no need to chill the dough first or to flatten the balls of cookie dough; they will magically form into the perfect cookie shape as they bake.
Bake Cookies
Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes. They will still feel slightly soft on top, but they will set up more as they cool. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet on the worktop for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Once the cookies are cooled, you can decorate by just melting some white chocolate and drizzling it on top of the cooled cookies -this step is totally optional, though!
Cookie Scoot Tip
These red velvet cookies spread quite evenly and come out of the oven pretty round, but if you want to make sure they are absolutely perfect, take a circle cookie cutter that is just slightly larger than your cookies and use it to 'scoot' around the edges of the hot cookies in a circular motion as soon as they come out of the oven. Then you will have absolutely picture-perfect round cookies!
Red Velvet Cookies Recipe Variations
- Other Chocolate - If you aren't a fan of white chocolate, you could use milk or dark chocolate chips instead, or just skip the chocolate chips entirely.
- Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies - To make these cookies extra special, try sandwiching two of the cookies together with a delicious cream cheese filling.
- Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies - If stuffed cookies are your thing, try using this red velvet cookie dough with the filling and method in my Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies for a delicious cream cheese center.
Serving Suggestions for Red Velvet Cookies
These cookies are delicious just as they are, but adding a few extra touches can really take them up a notch. I like to drizzle them with melted white chocolate (both for the taste and the decoration), or cover them in my cream cheese glaze or my vanilla icing for a sweet and silky touch. For something quick and cosy, these cookies are great served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
How To Store White Chocolate Red Velvet Cookies
Store your baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They will be good like this for 5 days.
You can make cookie dough ahead of time and freeze it in pre-scooped balls to bake later. Just add 1-2 minutes to the baking time when baking from frozen. You can keep the cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Cookie Recipes
If you love these red velvet cookies, you might also enjoy some of these delicious recipes:
Recipe
Red Velvet Cookies Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 stick Unsalted Butter 114g (room temperature)
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar 100g
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar 110g
- 1 Large Egg (room temperature)
- 2 tablespoon Buttermilk 30ml (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Red Gel Food Color
- 1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour 180g
- ¼ cup Cocoa Powder 25g (Dutch-processed)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup White Chocolate Chips 165g
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter and both sugars together until combined.1 stick Unsalted Butter, ½ cup Granulated Sugar, ½ cup Light Brown Sugar
- Add the egg and beat until smooth.1 Large Egg
- In a small bowl, mix together the buttermilk, vanilla, and red food coloring until well combined. Pour into the cookie dough and mix until combined.2 tablespoon Buttermilk, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, ½ teaspoon Red Gel Food Color
- In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients and mix together. Add to the cookie dough and mix until a dough forms and there are no lumps of flour.1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour, ¼ cup Cocoa Powder, 1 teaspoon Baking Powder, ¼ teaspoon Salt
- Add the chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed.1 cup White Chocolate Chips
- Using a medium cookie scoop, or a tablespoon, roll balls of cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet. Make sure they are well spaced out to allow room for spreading.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, then remove from the oven and let them sit on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes before attempting to move them to a cooling rack.
- Optional: Once cooled, drizzle a little melted white chocolate on top for decoration.
Notes
It really helps and I love hearing all your feedback!
Laura Gilmer Norman
These are very good, but mine did not spread as much as the ones in the photo & they’re not as red as I like. Next time I will add a little more red gel coloring & scoop bigger amounts. Overall, I like them very much.
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Laura,
I'm so glad you liked the red velvet cookies! Sorry to hear they weren't quite how you hoped. May I ask if you measured your ingredients with cups or a kitchen scale? The reason I ask is that using cups often leads people to add a bit too much flour by accident, which would prevent the cookies from spreading properly and would make them a little more dense.
Jules