Frosted Red Velvet Cookies

[amadi]

It's my birthday, and so I'm being indulgent. This is my favorite cookie. In fact, it's a cookie based on my favorite cake. Red velvet cake, however, is complicated. Red velvet cookies on the other hand? Easy peasy.

Frosted Red Velvet Cookies

Cookies
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
½ cup cornstarch
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
3 tablespoons red food coloring

Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 ounces butter, room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Using an electric mixer in a large mixing bowl, whip the butter until it's light and fluffy.

Sift the powdered sugar, cornstarch, flour and cocoa powder together into a smaller bowl. Then sift the mixture into the whipped butter in batches, mixing by hand until incorporated. Add the food coloring and mix with electric mixer for 2-3 minutes on high speed.

Place the dough into saran wrap and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F/185°C.

Remove the dough from the freezer and scoop out small amounts, rolling into balls and pressing out into cookie shapes onto ungreased cookie sheets. These cookies will not expand during baking, so press into the exact thickness and size desired.

Bake 8-10 minutes at 375°F. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely before icing.

To make the frosting: combine all ingredients and mix well. The frosting should have a light, spreadable consistency but shouldn't be liquid, as it won't set up. If it's too thick, add milk by teaspoons until the proper consistency is achieved. Spread a very light layer onto each cooled cookie. Alternatively: spread a thick layer on the bottom of a cookie and sandwich with a second.

Comments

[stripped]

Oh these sound lovely. Does the dough get hard enough that it could be shaped into a log and cut like a refrigerator cookie into circles, rather than pressing out balls? I was thinking that might be a nice way to get uniform shapes to make sandwich cookies from, because that sounds way awesome.

I'm definitely memorying this to try out. Thank you for sharing!

[amadi]

The dough is a little too crumbly for that. What you could do is use a scoop to get a uniform size to each cookie, then press them down with the bottom of a glass instead of just fingers.

[stripped]

I can do that. I've also got cookie stamps which are great for pressing cookies.

Is the dough sticky at all? Do you find you need to dampen your fingers before pressing down, or do you think I'll need to sugar the glass/stamp? Of course, those are all questions I'll figure out as soon as I try it, too. :)

I'm really looking forward to trying this this weekend. This and tan squares. Boy is work gonna love me on Monday.

[amadi]

It depends on how humid it is. If the stamp is intricate, I'd probably powdered sugar it, just to be safe.

[stripped]

Thanks! I'll try to remember to comment back with pics after I try it! Thank you so much for sharing.

[amadi]

Sure! I hope they work out beautifully for you.

[willidan]

Happy Birthday! And thanks for the recipe. They sound yummy!

[amadi]

Thank you! And yes, they're really delicious! They're also good chocolate dipped.

[bewize]

Umm, yum!

*drools*

[spiderwoman]

Oh I'm definitely going to be giving these a try! I adore red velvet cake and red velvet cupcakes but they require so much time and effort! And these sound like they are super tasty.

[amadi]

Definitely super tasty!