Red Velvet Cookies

A few months ago I never even heard of red velvet. Friends talk about it – you even hear about it on TV shows. Everywhere are red velvet cakes, and cupcakes even at 7eleven. Then a recipe on Betty Crocker’s website caught my eye… red velvet cookies! It was a prize winning recipe for 2010. Alana and I made a batch for her girl scout cookie exchange. My thought was that they looked festive and the ingredients looked easy enough. So we made them and couldn’t believe how good they tasted! They look really good too and were great for the exchange. The problem was she needed 3 dozen for the exchange so we only had a few leftovers which were gone in no time!  So we definitely had to make them again. A week or so later we made them again this time with Chiara and Alana doing the decorating. We gave some to neighbors for the holidays. The rest were again gone in no time! So we’ll have to make another batch soon.

Here’s the recipe from Betty Crocker’s website:

1 bag sugar cookie mix (1 lb, 1.5 oz)

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 cup butter or margarine (we used margarine)

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon red food coloring

1 egg (we used egg beaters equivalent)

white cream cheese frosting

chopped nuts (we used pecans) also used red cinnamon sprinkles

Mix the sugar cookie mix with cocoa, margarine, sour cream, egg and red food coloring. I just used a wooden spoon. It seems too dry at first but as you keep working the mix absorbs all the wet ingredients and it does come out to a perfect consistency.

I then used a spoon to spoon out a lump and shaped it into a slightly flattened cookie ball. Rolled it in my palms until round then placed on ungreased cookie sheet and pressed down to slightly flatten. It  tends not to flatten out like a really soft cookie dough so I helped start it.

Bake in 375 degree F oven for about 9 minutes. Our oven runs hot so I turned it down about 25 degrees and actually baked for around 10 minutes. I had to check to make sure it did not burn on the bottom. I think it is better to take out slightly earlier so 9 minutes may have been good enough – softer is better than harder for these. We’ll have to experiment a little more.

I use 2 cookie sheets so when one is cooling the other is ready to go and popped into the oven. Once cooled I move them to a cooling rack. Cookies have to be cool enought before frosting or the frosting will melt. Spread a generous amount of frosting on top and sprinkle with nuts and sprinkles if you like. We slightly pressed the nuts in so they stay in. The frosting will harden after an hour or so then store in an air-tight container (if it lasts that long!)

We like these because of the rich flavor but it is not overly sweet. Try it – we know you’ll love ’em.