Inside-Out Red Velvet Cookies

We’ll forever love a good stuffed dessert moment (shout out to our Nutella-stuffed cookies), and we’re obviously obsessed with all things red velvet, so it only made sense to combine the two! We’re SO happy we did, and you will be too when you taste these subtly chocolate-y, bright red cookies and their cheesecake-inspired filling. Put these out on your holiday cookie spread and just wait for the compliments to roll in.

How do I make sure to get the red color just right?
We like a bold red color for these cookies, so we used a whole tablespoon of liquid food coloring here. If you want them to have a less intense color, start with 1/2 teaspoon and then add more as you mix up the dough. If you use a gel food coloring, it will have more pigment, making for a more concentrated color even though you can use less—start with about half of what the recipe calls for and work your way up.

How do I stuff the cookies?
These cookies get stuffed with a three-ingredient filling made up of just cream cheese, (make sure it's at room temperature for easy mixing), a little powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt. Make the mixture and fridge it while you prep your dough to make it easier to work with later.

When you’re ready, take a heaping tablespoon of the cookie dough and flatten it into a pancake-like circle with your hands. If the dough is sticky, lightly dust your hands with all-purpose flour first. Use your fingers to press the cookie dough until you have a flat circle, then scoop a couple teaspoons of cream cheese filling onto the middle of the dough and fold up the edges until all the cream cheese filling is covered. Roll into a ball, then bake.

If your kitchen is warm or you’re making large batches of these, you might want to refrigerate your cookies for a few minutes before placing them into your oven. This will guarantee the filling stays put inside the cookies. Up to 10 minutes the baking time should remain the same—any longer, and you may need to add a minute or two to your oven timer.

Made these? Let us know how it went in the comments below.