Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

These Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies taste delicious and look totally adorable and absolutely festive. This is a perfect dessert to add to your holiday menu (or bake sale, or random Tuesday afternoon!).

How do I get the crinkle look?

"Crinkle" cookies are super popular during the holidays for their festive look. And all it takes is just rolling the dough in powdered sugar, not once but twice. Be sure to go through this process two times! A single roll in powdered sugar won't coat the dough in enough sugar. When the cookies bake, the dough spreads and creates the crinkle look.

How do I make sure the dough is perfectly fudgy?

Traditionally, crinkle cookies are made with a doctored cake mix, but we prefer ours from scratch. (Our classic Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are one of our go-tos during the holidays.) To make sure these have a fudgy, almost brownie-like texture, don't over-bake them. You want them to stay soft and not dry out during baking.

How much food coloring gives them their best red color?

We go hard with this recipe with a full tablespoon of food coloring, but 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. Not all food colorings are created equal: Some professional-grade brands and gel food colorings have more pigment, so it's safe to start with about half of what the recipe calls for and work up.

If you tried making these cookies, let us know how they came out in the comments below!