
Yields:
18 serving(s)
Prep Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 10 mins
Cal/Serv:
159
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.
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Ingredients
For cream cheese filling
- 6 oz.
cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup
plus 2 tbsp. powdered sugar
Pinch Kosher salt
For cookie dough
- 1 1/4 cups
all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup
unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp.
baking powder
- 1/2 tsp.
Kosher salt
- 1/2 cup
(1 stick) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup
granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup
packed brown sugar
- 1
large egg
- 1 Tbsp.
red food coloring
- 1/4 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
Directions
- Step 1Preheat oven to 350° and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Step 2 Make cream cheese filling: In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and salt. Mix until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until slightly firm, about 25 minutes.
- Step 3 Make cookie dough: While filling is being chilled, in a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, food coloring, and vanilla until incorporated. Add flour mixture to dough, mixing until just combined.
- Step 4Make cookies: Scoop heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough, rolling into balls until you have 13 even-sized portions. Using palms and fingertips, flatten each into a 3 ½” circle that is about 1/4” thick.
- Step 5 Place about 2 teaspoons of cream cheese filling in the center of each round, keeping the edges clean. Bring the edges of the dough around the filling and pinch the edges together to seal. Gently roll the filled dough into a ball. Space cookies about 3" apart on prepared baking sheet.
- Step 6 Bake cookies 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.
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