Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wanted to make something festive for Valentine’s Day, but there aren’t a ton of options out there. I could have used Valentine candy in cookies, but that wasn’t inspiring me. There were two red velvet options that looked good to me, both twists on classic cookies. In the end I decided on these red velvet chocolate chip cookies, or my husband decided that those sounded best this week!

Red velvet is everywhere these days. I think that some recipes just add a bunch of red food color to a recipe and call it a day. Red velvet should have a chocolate or cocoa element to it, but that gets forgotten sometimes. This recipe is a fairly traditional chocolate chip cookies, but it does have some cocoa powder in the dough, which makes a big difference. This recipe calls for a lot of food color; just be careful with it so that your kitchen doesn’t get stained red.

I ended up making these cookies with milk chocolate chips, as I was out of semi-sweet chips. That made the cookies a little sweeter, but it’s Valentine’s Day, right? The original recipe said that this recipe made 18 cookies, but I was able to make 40, so I guess mine were a lot smaller. My cookies weren’t as crinkly as expected but they still look great.  These don’t taste like plain chocolate chips, the milk chocolate chips add some extra sweetness, but I think it is balanced by the richness of the cocoa in the dough.

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

1-1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, room temperature.

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1-1/2 tablespoons red food coloring

1 cup chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In large mixer bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar on medium until light. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and mix on medium again to combine. Add the food coloring and stir until incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and stir on low until the flour is mixed into the dough. Add the chocolate chips and stir just to combine. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape dough into 1-1/2” balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-11 minutes, until set. If desired, press additional chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies.

Recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction