Red Velvet Cookies

I’ve never made red velvet cake before. Or anything red velvet for that matter. But when I saw a recipe for red velvet chocolate chip cookies at Sally’s Baking Addiction they looked so pretty and screamed ‘Christmas’ to me that I had to make them. These are not your regular cookies. These are ‘soft baked’ so the whole cookie is very soft like a little cake. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips inside the cookies and added white chocolate chips on top. These cookies make great gifts for this time of year. Merry Christmas everyone! And have a wonderful 2014!

Ingredients:

1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp red food coloring
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Extra white chocolate chips for after baking

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter on high speed until creamy. With the mixer on medium speed, beat in both sugars until combined. Add the egg, milk and vanilla extract and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl when necessary. Add the food coloring and beat until combined.

3. Pour the flour mixture into the wet mixture and beat on low speed until a soft dough is formed. At this point, you can add more food coloring if you’d like the dough to be more red. Mix in the chocolate chips. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Do not skip the chilling, it is a crucial step to prevent the cookies from spreading.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit (176 degrees celsius). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

5. Roll dough into small balls (about 1 & 1/2 tablespoons) and place on cookie sheet. Make sure there are not too many chocolate chips on the top of the balls. Bake for 11 minutes. Using the back of a spoon, gently press on the top of each cookie to form crinkles. Place white chocolate chips on the top of each cookie. Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack. Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 7 days. Makes approximately 18 cookies.