Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: holiday baking recipes, red velvet cake, red velvet cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Cooling: 30 minutes

Total Time: 57 minutes

Servings:

Calories: 527kcal

Author: Kris Longwell

These Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies are the quintessential holiday sweet treat! And they come together in no time at all. They make awesome sweet gifts, too!

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Equipment

Two baking sheets with racks

Ingredients

3 oz semisweet chocolate roughly chopped
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp red food coloring
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp Kosher salt
2½ cups powdered sugar divided
8 oz cream cheese softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven.
Place the chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat on HIGH in 30-second intervals for a total of 90 seconds, stirring with a wooden spoon after each interval.
Stir in the sugar, eggs, and red food coloring until fully combined and smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Gradually mix the flour mixture into the melted chocolate mixture. The batter will very thick, and requires a little elbow grease as you mix. This process can also be done in a stand-mixer, just don't over mix the batter.
Place ½-cup of the powdered sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Use a trigger-handle ice cream scoop, or a couple of tablespoons to form a small ball of batter. Drop into the powdered sugar and turn to fully coat. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use the heel of your hand to gently flatten the ball just a bit. Dough balls should be spaced 1 inch apart from each other. You'll have enough dough to make between 24 to 30 cookies, depending on the size of your dough balls.
Bake the cookies for 11 to 12 minutes, until slightly fluffed. Remove from the oven and use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a baking rack. Cool for 20 to 30 minutes until completely cooled.
Meanwhile, place the softened cream cheese in a medium-sized bowl. Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar with the vanilla extract. Use a hand mixer to beat until smooth.
Spread about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese filling over the flat side of half of the cookies. Press the remaining half of the cookies, flat side down, into the filling of the frosted cookies. Serve at once or store in an air-tight container with a lid.

Video

Notes

The dough for these cookies is very stiff and requires a little effort in getting the flour mixture incorporated into the wet chocolate mixture. Take your time in mixing it in. If you prefer, you can use a stand mixer to bring the batter together. Just be careful to not overmix. Once the flour is completely combined in, stop mixing.

The cream cheese filling should be pretty stiff, too. If it feels too creamy, add a little more powdered sugar. The filling will be stiffer than regular cream cheese frosting. If the filling is too creamy, it will squeeze out of the sandwich cookie when bitten into.

The cookies will keep in an air-tight container for up to 10 days.

Because the cream cheese filling is dairy, we recommend keeping the cookies refrigerated when not being served. When serving to guests, remove from the fridge about an hour before serving to allow to come to room temperature.

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