What’s red, white, and absolutely delicious? A red velvet cookie, of course! It is a baked sweet treat that is a cookie twist on an old-fashioned cake.
Stella Parks states that the “cake has its roots in the Victorian era. There was a ‘velvet cake’ with a smooth, soft crumb, as well as a ‘dense and fudgy’ chocolate cake made with egg yolks.” Parks claimed that around 1911, the two recipes converged and a “velvet cocoa cake” was born. Although some people think that it gets its color from the chemical reaction of the cocoa powder and the baking soda, this just is not so. Actually, the red coloring originally came from beets. Nowadays, the reason for the beautiful color is simple–red food coloring! So, is this really just a chocolate cake disguised as a red velvet cake? Not really, because a chocolate cake can be topped with any kind of frosting, but a red velvet cake has to be topped with a yummy cream cheese frosting.
Although this treat was originally made as a cake, the idea of red velvet has made its way into cupcakes, cookies, and even pancakes!
Adams Flavors, Foods, and Ingredients, as manufacturers of red food coloring, among other products, featured home-baking recipes for the cake, which derived its hue from their bottled dyes. It began including recipe cards for red velvet cake in its food-coloring packages sometime between the 1920s and 1950s, and also featured the recipe on tear-off displays inside grocery stores. Though Adams doesn’t have an exact date for its invention, the company says red velvet cake was heavily promoted during the 1940s and 50s and again beginning in the 1980s.
The flavors of this cake come from the buttermilk, vinegar, cocoa powder, and cream cheese frosting. Some recipes use only a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder, giving virtually no chocolate flavor. This leads some people to think that red velvet cake is just a white cake dyed red. If you want to purchase a real red velvet cake, it can be very expensive. This could be because the frosting does typically contain cream cheese, which could make the frosting pricier, or that the name is associated with luxury, thus allowing for a large markup.
Thanks to its beautiful red color, this is a festive favorite for celebrations. The dramatic shade adds a bright burst of color to the table, and biting into its creamy cream cheese icing makes for a sweet treat irresistible. Before the debut of food coloring, though, red velvet cake was likely more rust-colored, not the brilliant bright red we know today. And the velvet portion of its name referred to the light texture of the cake, not the frosting.
According to Sally’s Baking Addiction, “it is dense and soft with a moist and velvety crumb texture. However, the absolute best part about red velvet cake is the cream cheese frosting. Slathered on thick, my cream cheese frosting recipe is delicately sweet and undeniably creamy.”
Usually I choose to make this cookie from scratch, I wanted to save us all time by using a ready-made cake mix, and add a few ingredients that make it taste like it has been made from scratch. I have always been a fan of using cake mixes that, by adding other flavors to it, come out rich, buttery, and moist, so no one will ever guess you “cheated a bit.”
Oh, my how I love this cookie recipe because the red cookies look so enticing with the white cream cheese in the middle, and it is so SO easy. Don’t tell anyone you used a cake mix, and they will think you have been studiously baking all day. The addition of bourbon adds just a hint of sweet and savory. The cream cheese filling is enhanced not with cocoa powder (that is in the cake mix), but with vanilla and coconut. The result is a scrumptious cookie that will make anyone happy on Valentine’s Day. These cookies are a “must try.” Make some extra cookies and send them to your family and friends to make this holiday even more special. They do travel well too!
This recipe are courtesy of Allrecipes and will make 24 cookies for people who will feel the love on Valentine’s day!
Ingredients for Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies:
1 (18.25 ounce) box red velvet cake mix
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon bourbon
For the Icing:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup flaked coconut
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
½ cup chopped pecans
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix together cake mix, eggs, oil, and bourbon in a large bowl.
Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts.
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until the tops start to crack, about 8 minutes.
Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
In a large bowl combine cream cheese, butter, evaporated milk, vanilla, and coconut.
Add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well with each addition.
If consistency is too stiff, add more milk.
Place the chopped pecans in a bowl.
Spread a generous amount of icing on the bottom of a cookie, sandwich it with another cookie, pressing firmly so that the icing comes all the way out to the edge.
Roll the edges of the sandwich cookies in the chopped pecans.
Repeat with the remaining cookies.
You will likely have extra icing after building your sandwich cookies. Lucky you!
It will keep it for up to 2 weeks covered tightly in the refrigerator.
It’s that simple!
