Red Velvet Cookies With White Chocolate Chunks

By Erin Jeanne McDowell

Red Velvet Cookies With White Chocolate Chunks
Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Vivian Lui.
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
4(915)
Comments
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As easy to make as your favorite chocolate chip recipe, these cookies pack the fun and flavor of red velvet cake into a simple, and much faster, cookie. Super sweet and tender with a slightly fudgy center, they contain creamy white chocolate chunks that nod to the snowy frosting on the cake version. For particularly pristine cookies, reserve some of the white chocolate chunks to arrange on top of the cookie, as they tend to get tinted pink when mixed into the batter.

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Ingredients

Yield:24 cookies
  • ½cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
  • ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar
  • 1large egg
  • 1 to 1½tablespoons red food coloring, preferably gel
  • 1½teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1½cups/195 grams all-purpose flour
  • 3tablespoons cocoa powder
  • ½teaspoon baking soda
  • ½teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2tablespoons buttermilk or whole milk
  • 4ounces/115 grams white chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks (¾ cup)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)

122 calories; 6 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 69 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Move racks to the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

  2. Step 2

    In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and mix until fully incorporated, about 1 minute more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

  3. Step 3

    Add 1 tablespoon red food coloring (and up to 1½ tablespoons for really red cookies) and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

  4. Step 4

    In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt to combine. Add to the mixer and mix on low speed until fully incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the buttermilk (or milk) and mix on low speed to combine, then scrape down the sides of the bowl.

  5. Step 5

    Add about ¾ of the white chocolate and mix on low speed to combine. Scoop 2 tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 1½ inches between each piece. Use your palm to flatten the balls slightly.

  6. Step 6

    Press the remaining white chocolate chunks into the surface of each piece of dough. Bake for 12 minutes, until the cookies appear set on the outside and puffed in the center, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Cool completely on the baking sheet.

Ratings

4 out of 5
915 user ratings
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Comments

cheching

Since so many ppl complained about these cookies being cakey, I made them with 1/2 cup light brown sugar and 1/4 cup sugar, and rather than creaming (which creates air = cakey cookie), I added the sugars to melted butter instead. I also portioned 12 (not 24) cookies, keeping the same bake time. This resulted in a perfectly soft and chewy cookie. Learn from my mistake and don't use dark cocoa powder. It literally eclipsed the red. A complete waste of food colouring. Still tasted fantastic though!

susan

I used an ice cream scoop for big cookies and found that 3/4 tbl of food color was more than sufficient. Tip: if you want to avoid getting red food color everywhere, have some wax paper around to lay dirty utensils on and to press the cookie dough down.

Nicole

I went ahead and used the entirety of the 1.5 tablespoons of food coloring and the cookies turned out exactly like those of the photo. They look lovely (and taste great, too!). During the mixing process, I became concerned that these were going to be too cakey - the consistency was super wet. I added about three tablespoons of cocoa powder and they came out perfect. I live at about 5000', so I expect that some of you might add even more cocoa powder or flour.

Rachel

Even if measured twice with tablespoons, then weighting each ball of dough (40g each), the recipe only gave me 15 cookies...

churchim808

I can’t abide red velvet anything that doesn’t taste like chocolate so I added an extra Tbls of cocoa and removed a Tbls of flour. This also made a darker cookie that just needed a little bit of food coloring. I used kefir instead of buttermilk. Who keeps buttermilk on hand? Kefir provides the same tang and I always have it on hand for smoothies.

Elaine Needham

I used a plant based red food dye and wound up with maroon cookies. They were red until I added the cocoa. Tasted ok but agree that they weren’t really chocolate enough to be anything special

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