{red velvet cookies}
You read that right! (Sorry I'm a few days late. Life gets a little chaotic.) This week I recipe tested red velvet cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction on President's Day... and they were HEAVENLY. Like, they were gone within 2 days. They were so so so good I cannot write this without getting hungry. It was like little pillowy clouds of chocolate death. I have the recipe here and some of my own side notes. Enjoyyyyy!
1 and 1/2 cups + 1 Tablespoon (198g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
1/4 cup (21g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature.
3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar (or dark brown)
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature*
1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon red food coloring (liquid, gel)
1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus a few extra for after baking)
STEPS:
Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined and creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla extract, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Once mixed, add the food coloring and beat until combined. Turn the mixer off and pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Turn the mixer on low and slowly beat until a very soft dough is formed. Beat in more food coloring if you'd like the dough to be brighter red. On low speed, beat in the chocolate chips. The dough will be sticky.
Cover the dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. Chilling is mandatory.
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
Scoop 1.5 Tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball, as pictured above. Place 9 balls onto each baking sheet. Bake each batch for 10-11** minutes. The cookies may have only spread slightly, that's ok. Simply press down on the warm cookies to slightly flatten and form crinkles. Stick a few chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies. That's optional and only for looks.
Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Soooo... allow me to tell you my thoughts on this recipe.
This exact recipe made me little Miss. Popular at school (haha) and everybody, and I mean everybody, wanted one. Problem was, the recipe calls for 1.5 tbsp of dough and that makes one BIG, thick cookie. So when I made them, I had about 15 for the party that night (guest list: 13 people). Good thing there were other desserts (I made the trifle cake again)! Anyways, come Tuesday, there were 7 cookies left, and I brought them to school in my lunch. BIG MISTAKE. It was total madhouse and I did not have enough lol. Anyways, I suggest scooping only .5 tbsp of dough, 1 full at most. Thanks for reading and comment below about your final product :-)
xxx, Lex
PS>>> I always like to stick a few chocolate chips on top of the fresh-outta-the-oven cookies (for presentation purposes
😉)
* to get the egg at room temperature, you can either set it out when you put the butter out, or you can leave it in a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes.
**since I change the size of the cookies, bake them for 8-9 minutes and then check them. If they still look a little raw, give them another 60 seconds. But remember, these are supposed to be slightly chewy/cakey because they are spun off of a cake recipe.
