Red velvet sugar cookies are soft and chewy, made with a hint of cocoa and a crunchy sugar crust. They're easy to make from scratch for Christmas and Valentine's Day.
Why you'll love this recipe
Texture: Soft and chewy like a sugar cookie.
Flavor: Buttery, chocolate-vanilla flavor like red velvet cupcakes.
Rolled in sugar. For a crunchy sugar crust when baked.
Popular for holidays. Red velvet cookies are perfect for Christmas and Valentine's Day!
Similar to: Dutch Cocoa Cookies and Strawberry Sugar Cookies
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Unsalted butter - Butter should be room temperature to easily incorporate with the other ingredients and create a smooth, even dough. If using salted butter, omit the salt listed in the recipe.
- Sugars - We're using a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar in this recipe for optimal texture and flavor. Granulated sugar aerates the butter when creaming the two together, which helps lift your cookies as they bake. Brown sugar adds a caramelized, molasses flavor and chewy texture to your cookies.
- Eggs - Room temperature eggs incorporate seamlessly into the dough and add moisture and structure.
- Vanilla extract - Enhances the flavor of your cookies.
- Milk - I used whole milk, but any milk you have on hand works in this recipe, like skim milk, 1% milk, or almond milk.
- Gel food coloring - Gel food coloring can be substituted with liquid food coloring at a 1:2 ratio. Gel food coloring is more concentrated, so you'll need twice as much liquid food coloring to achieve the same color intensity.
- All-purpose flour - Adds structure to your cookies and balances the wet ingredients in the recipe. I haven't tested this recipe with other types of flours, so I can't say for sure how your cookies would turn out with substitutions. To avoid wasting ingredients, search for a recipe that has been developed with the type of flour you'd like to use.
- Natural cocoa powder - Just enough cocoa powder is added to darken the cookies and add a hint of chocolate flavor. I haven't tested this recipe with Dutch cocoa powder, so I can't say for sure how it would turn out.
- Leavening - You'll need baking soda for this recipe - it cannot be substituted with baking powder, the two are not interchangeable.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of your cookies without making them "salty". If using salted butter, the salt listed in the recipe can be omitted.
How to make red velvet cookies
- First, cream the wet ingredients together in a bowl until light and fluffy. I recommend using a hand mixer or stand mixer for best results.
- Add red food coloring and mix until evenly incorporated.
- Next, sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- After dough has chilled in the refrigerator, use a medium cookie scoop to portion dough into 1.5 tablespoon balls.
- Use a small bowl to roll dough in sugar before placing on your baking sheet.
- Bake and transfer to a cooling rack to allow to cool completely before storing or enjoying.
Heather's Top Tip
For accurate results every time, use a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
Tips and tricks
Use room temperature ingredients - They create a consistent, creamy, and even dough. When beaten, the eggs, sugar, and butter form an emulsion, which traps air in the dough, baking up into a soft and fluffy cookie.
To bring ingredients to room temperature quickly - Slice sticks of butter into small, ½ inch slivers. Small pieces warm up faster than a whole stick. Place eggs into a bowl and cover with very warm tap water. They'll come to room temperature in about ten minutes.
Easy way to coat dough balls in sugar - Add granulated sugar to a small bowl, add a cookie dough ball, then agitate the bowl from side to side, allowing the dough to roll around, coating it in sugar.
Use parchment paper - This helps prevent your cookies from spreading too much while baking. A greased baking pan guarantees your cookies spread more than they should. I always suggest parchment paper (or a reusable baking mat) instead.
For more tips, check out my full post: 10 tips for baking cookies.
Storage
Cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a sealed container. To help keep cookies fresh, place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed.
Baked cookies and cookie dough both freeze well, for 3 months or more when stored in optimal conditions. To thaw baked cookies, transfer to the counter top for 1 hour.
To freeze dough, I recommend portioning into balls before freezing. Store in a tightly sealed, freezer safe container or bag. Dough can be transferred directly from the freezer to cookie sheet and bake from frozen, adding about 1-2 minutes to your baking time. Frozen cookie dough will spread slightly less in the oven.
Frequently asked questions
Red velvet is a cake with a complex flavor. Not just chocolate cake or vanilla cake - it's a combination of both, but at the same time something more.
It's a blend of vanilla, chocolate, and butter, with a little tang from the addition of buttermilk and vinegar. While we're not adding buttermilk to our cookies today, you will find that familiar combination of vanilla, chocolate and butter in this recipe.
Looking for more information on the history of red velvet cake? Wikipedia: Red Velvet Cake
If you don't have food coloring on hand, or don't want to use it, feel free to omit it from the recipe. Food coloring does not affect the outcome of the recipe, but your cookies will turn out a medium brown instead of the deep red shown.
Looking for a chocolate sugar cookie recipe? Try my Dutch cocoa cookies (they're one of my favorites!).
I have not tried this recipe with alternative coloring methods, like beetroot. If you do give it a try, let us know how it turns out in the comments below!
Dry baked goods can happen for several reasons. If any of the moisture-adding ingredients have been reduced, like sugar, butter, or eggs, this can cause baked goods to turn out dry. If too much flour was added (I recommend weighing your flour or using the spoon and level method), cookies can turn out dry or cakey. Lastly, baking too long in the oven can dry out baked goods.
If your cookies aren't spreading in the oven, it sounds like too much flour was added to the dough. For most accurate results every time, use a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Red Velvet Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (213 g) brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2-3 teaspoons red gel food coloring
- 3 cups (360 g) all purpose flour, *measured properly
- ½ cup (42 g) natural cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup (65 g) granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together until fluffy, about a minute. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until mixture looks fluffy, about a minute. Add red gel food coloring and milk, stirring to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk (or sift) together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture until just combined.
- Cover bowl or wrap dough in wax paper. Chill for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours) in the refrigerator. Refrigerating helps the flavors meld and also create a firmer dough to roll into balls.
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove dough from refrigerator. Scoop dough using a medium (1.5 tablespoon) scoop or shape by hand into 1.5 inch balls.
- Add granulated sugar to a bowl and roll dough balls to cover all sides.
- Place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until cookies begin to crack on top. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- * How to measure flour properly: Use a kitchen scale to measure flour for accurate results every time. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
- Storage: Cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a sealed container. To help keep cookies fresh, place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed.
- Freezing: Cookie dough balls (and baked cookies) freeze well, up to 3 months in a sealed plastic container or freezer bag. Allow frozen balls to thaw for up to 10 minutes on the baking sheet before baking, or add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
- Red food coloring: Red food coloring can be omitted if desired. However, cookies will turn out a medium brown color instead of red as shown. Gel can be substituted with liquid food coloring at a 1:2 ratio.
- More tips: Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cookies, based on reader comments and questions!
Can liquid food coloring be used instead of gel or would that not be a wise idea? 🙂
Liquid food coloring should work in this recipe, but you may not get quite as vibrant of a red color.
OK thanks Heather! Do you think I would use less or the same amount?
Same amount would be fine Kendra.
Great recipe! I made a Valentine Charcuterie Board & these were the #1 fave!
Hi Alli, so glad to hear you enjoyed the cookies! Valentine's Day charcuterie - what a great idea 😀