Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

Chewy and dense Red Velvet Sugar Cookies with a sweet chocolate heart in the middle. This is a small batch recipe, creating six cookies total. Red velvet sugar cookies are good to make any time of the year, but especially around Valentine’s Day!

I made sure that these cookies have melted butter for all my fellow impatient bakers who can’t wait around for the butter to soften. This is also great for anyone who needs a dessert at the last minute! These Red Velvet Sugar Cookies have a chocolate heart in the centre that is placed immediately after the cookies bake. I recommend eating them at this moment, it’s pretty glorious. A warm cookie with a soft inside, crispy outside, and ooey gooey melted chocolate all around. I’m drooling.

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What is Red Velvet?

Red velvet is simply a dessert with cocoa powder and a touch of red food colouring! When I first found this out years ago, I was in shock haha. I thought it was something way more complicated!

There’s just something about red velvet that changes the way you enjoy the desserts. I stayed away from food colouring growing up, but once I started baking I just had to start using it! Especially for festive recipes like this Valentine’s Day one.

Key Ingredients

Full recipe and ingredients are in the recipe card below. Feel free to scroll through this section to view what ingredients we’re using!

• White sugar: Mainly used for sweetening. The bond between sugar and water locks in moisture so the cake remains nice and soft. 
• Butter: Melted butter creates denser, chewier cookies. This is exactly what we’re going for in this recipe
• Egg yolk: Provides extra richness. Having an egg yolk at room temperature maximizes baking results and helps mix into the batter better.
• Vanilla: A simple vanilla extract is used for this. There’s a difference between vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste so be careful!
• All purpose flour: Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, spoon gently into a measuring cup. Scrap any excess off, and make sure the top of the cup of flour is flat before adding it into the bowl.
• Cocoa powder: Good quality cocoa powder is important. Unsweetened cocoa powder is the best for baking, and it helps balance the sugars out. The cocoa powder I use has been my holy grail for recipes since day one. It’s affordable and high quality, and I recommend it to all.
• Baking soda: A leavening agent that is used to help the donuts rise in the oven. Do not substitute for baking powder; these are two different things.
• Red food colouring: I recommend a gel food colouring. It packs so much more colour in a smaller amount! This one is my favourite!
• Chocolate hearts: Any brand works, or even chocolate chips! I like these ones for baking.

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Video Recipe for Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

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Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1: Into a bowl, add melted butter, egg yolk, vanilla, and red food colouring and whisk until well combined. This is my favourite red food colouring

Step 2: Add in white sugar and continue whisking.

Step 3: Add in all the dry ingredients; flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, and baking soda. Fold until a thick cookie batter forms.

Step 4: Using a cookie scooper, form 6 even balls and roll into granulated sugar.

Step 5: Place onto your cookie tray and bake at 350°F for 9-10 minutes.

Step 6: Immediately after removing from the oven, place a chocolate heart on top.

Step 7: Enjoy!

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