Red Velvet Cookies

Tweet

 Red velvet and Christmas are a perfect combo in my world. I mean what could be more perfect for Christmas celebration than a bright red cake topped with a luscious creamy white frosting? It's a decadent treat with colors that are tailor made for the season. I've had the recipe for these cookies dogeared in my copy of Taste of the South magazine since last year. I thought they looked like a perfect Christmas cookie. I'm so glad I finally tried this recipe. They are everything wonderful about red velvet cake, in a cookie. I think that I even like them a little better than red velvet cake. The cookies are rolled in sugar before they are baked which gives the outside just a slight crunch, that's so good. ( I'm not just saying that to sound like Giada ,it really is good, but I'm pretty sure she'd also approve of the slight crunch on the outside.)
 If you like red velvet cake these cookies will not disappoint. Plus they how perfect are they for serving at a holiday party??!

Red Velvet Cookies
Printable Recipe

For the cookies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Red gel food coloring

In a large bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer. Add egg and vanilla, beating until well blended.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time to butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Add desired amount of red gel food coloring, stirring well. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using your hands, roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll balls in remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets; flatten slightly with a spatula.
Bake until slightly soft, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks, and let cool completely. Spread cream cheese frosting on flat side of 1 cookie. Top with another cookie, flat side toward filling. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling.

Cream cheese frosting filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until creamy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, beating well. (I put green gel coloring into half of the cream cheese frosting and left half white.)

Source: Taste of the South, Dec/Jan 2011

Hohoho yeah!

In search of red velvet perfection

Tweet

Growing up in Pennsylvania in a Pennsylvania Dutch family I had never eaten or even seen, that I recall, Red Velvet cake. I'm sure it was out there, somewhere, but no where in my world. Then we moved to the South. Here in Lower Alabama Red Velvet cake is practically a staple food item. It shows up everywhere and is always greeted with delight. I remember the first time I tasted Red Velvet cake. I was about ten years old, and it was a discovery of pure delight! I loved everything about it. The cake was impressively tall, at least three layers, and moist with cream cheese icing full of pecans. And the color... vibrant Christmas red. I was instantly in love! My mother however, did not share these sentiments. We rarely, almost never, had any foods with food coloring in them, much less a cake made with a whole bottle of the stuff. Mom never made it for us, but I knew the cake would be a part of any gathering we went to, especially any church function. As an adult, I out grew of my love for the red confection and had never made the cake myself. I was recently asked to make cupcakes for a Christmas party. I wanted to make something festive and thought how cute red velvet cupcakes would be. Having never made the cake myself, I didn't have a tried and true recipe of my own. My back up plan is usually to call Mom. That was out in this case. So I searched my cookbooks and the internet. I first tried a recipe from the Joy of Cooking. It was pretty good, but not as moist as I would have liked. I thought this may be becuase I was using a cake recipe and need to use a recipe that stayed moister for cupcakes. On my second attempt, I almost made Paula Deen's recipe for but was a bit put off by the 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil. I was hoping to find a recipe using butter. I came across this recipe on recipezaar. It used butter instead of oil, so I decided to give it a try. However, I gasped in horror at the 2 ounces of red food coloring. That's two whole bottle's of red dye...Yikes!!! So instead I used 2 TBL of food coloring. It seemed like plenty to me. The batter was very red. These cupcakes were pretty good as well but not as flavorful as I would have liked. Maybe all that food coloring is the key?!
The cream cheese frosting however, was great. I made it in the food processor. It's a super quick and really good recipe from The Joy of Cooking. It's great for decorating with although it does get a bit soft and needs to be put back in the fridge to set up again. I had fun decorating the cupcakes and used them for several parties I catered during the holidays.


But I'm still searching for that red velvet cake I remember from my youth. Next time I may give Paula Deen's recipe a try, after all she's the grande dame of Southern cooking.
Cream cheese frosting recipe
Food processor method:
8 ounces cold cream cheese
6 TBL unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups confectioner's sugar
Combine in food processor and pulse just until smooth and creamy.