My family loves to make many types of festive cookies for the holidays, with about 20 different kinds. Most have become a yearly tradition and favorites among family and friends. However, we’re always on the lookout for fun new cookies, like these red velvet crinkles, to mix it up a bit. We love to have variety in our cookies around Christmas time, both for our own snacking and to send out to our family and friends on cookie trays.
A few years ago, I found this recipe and decided to try it because it looks so festive for the holidays, and because we love red velvet cake around Valentine’s day. As you can imagine, it was a huge hit! A year or two later, we decided to add white chocolate chips to add a fun texture and provide some contrast with our regular chocolate crinkles, and it’s been a staple part of our Christmas cookie list ever since.
If you’re looking for a new cookie to try during the holidays, definitely give this one a try. It’s festive and looks great on a cookie tray, paired with our Grinchy Snickerdoodles or our red and green sparkle sugar cookies. It’s also fun to let the kids help; rolling the velvet balls in the powdered “snow” sugar. These will be sure to be a special treat for a new family tradition.
Red Velvet Crinkles
Yield: 2 dozen
Prep Time: 2.5 hours
Baking time: 10-12 min
Cooling Time: 10 min
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 ⅓ cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 Tbls milk or buttermilk
1 ½ tsp vanilla bean paste (can substitute with vanilla extract)
2 tsp lemon juice
5 tsp red food coloring
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 cup white chocolate chips (optional)
1 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
1. Prepare cookie dough: In a large mixing bowl, whip butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Mix in milk, vanilla, lemon juice and food coloring.
At this point, the dough will be very runny
3. In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients (except white chocolate chips and powdered sugar) until well blended.
4. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet mixture and mix well.
5. Fold in white chocolate chips.
6. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.
7. Once the dough has chilled and is easy to handle pre-heat the oven to 350˚F. and line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Place a spoonful of dough into powdered sugar and coat well. Roll into 1″ balls and place on a baking sheet.
9. Bake 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
TIP: For a more snowy look, sprinkle additional powdered sugar on cookies using a flour sifter before transferring to wire rack.
