Learn how to make these soft, fudgy, and super easy red velvet crinkle cookies! They’re not-too-sweet and perfect for the holidays or Valentine’s Day. ❤️
Looking for more crinkle cookie recipes? Try my Filipino ube crinkle cookies!
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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- You won’t need any special equipment. Simply mix everything in one bowl with a spatula, scoop, roll, then bake! So easy, yet so delicious.
- The cookies are a red velvet lover’s dream. I had a few certified red velvet lovers taste test this recipe, and they all gave these cookies a stamp of approval! The cookies have an amazing touch of cocoa flavor with a bit of tang.
Love red velvet? Try out my chewy red velvet sugar cookies!
Ingredients
To make the best red velvet crinkle cookie recipe from scratch, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Melted unsalted butter makes the cookie dough easy to mix by hand, while also yielding fudgier cookies.
- I like to use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar to create the perfect balance of flavor and chew. You can use light or dark brown sugar; dark brown sugar will just give you a deeper molasses flavor.
- Cocoa powder adds a nice chocolate flavor, while the cream of tartar adds a tiny bit of tang that is iconic to red velvet!
- You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste (1:1) in this recipe.
- I added gel red food coloring, which is much more pigmented than liquid. It gave these cookies a beautiful, deep shade of red!
- For the perfect crinkled cookies, I like to roll my red velevt cookie dough balls in granulated sugar, then a double coating of powdered sugar.
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Baking Tips
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- For the perfect crinkle cookies , I suggest rolling the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar first, then doing a double coating of powdered sugar. This yielded the most consistent crinkles out of my other sugar coating tests.
- For rounder cookies, place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round! This step is totally optional and purely for plating purposes! 🙂
How to Make Delicious Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
Step 1: Mix together melted butter with sugars and cocoa powder until fully combined.
Step 2: Add in egg, vanilla, and red food coloring. Mix until smooth.
Step 3: Stir in dry ingredients until no dry spots remain. Cover and chill for 30-60 minutes, or up to 2 days.
Step 4: Use a cookie scoop (2-3 tablespoon capacity) to gather dough. Roll into granulated sugar, then powdered sugar, and place on lined baking sheet 3-4 inches apart. Repeat with remaining cookie dough balls, then roll each ball again in a second coating powdered sugar. Make sure there are no red spots peaking through. Bake cookies at 350°F/177°C for about 9-11 minutes, or until edges are set and middles seem mostly cooked through. Remove from oven and let completely cool on tray. Enjoy!
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
“WOW, these are so good!” – my 5 year old cousin 🥰
Storage
If you’d like to make these red velvet cookies ahead of time, you can freeze raw cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. Roll frozen balls in sugars right before baking, making sure to add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
- Room temperature: Store cooled red velvet crinkles in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen crinkle cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
🍪 More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
Did you try this recipe?
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Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe & Video
Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
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Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl for mixing dough
- 1 Medium cookie scoop 2-3 tablespoon capacity
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon (4.5 g) fine sea salt or table salt
- ⅛ teaspoon (0.38 g) cream of tartar optional, see notes
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (73.33 g) light or dark brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons (18 g) cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon (118 g) vanilla paste or extract
- 1 (1) egg room temperature
- gel red food coloring
For rolling:
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
For the red velvet cookie dough:
- In a large bowl, use silicone spatula to mix melted ½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, ⅓ cup light or dark brown sugar, and 3 tablespoons cocoa powder until smooth.
- Mix in 1 egg, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and gel red food coloring until smooth. Add more food coloring as needed.
- Add in all of the dry ingredients: 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, and ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar. Mix until no dry spots remain.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
Scoop & bake cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper. Add ¼ cup granulated sugar and ½ cup powdered sugar to their own bowls.
- Use cookie dough scoop to gather dough (2-3 tablespoons). Roll in granulated sugar, then powdered sugar, and place on lined baking tray, spacing cookies about 3-4 inches apart. Repeat with remaining cookie dough balls. Once the tray is full, roll each ball again in a second layer powdered sugar. Make sure there are no purple spots peaking through!
- Bake one tray at a time for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are set and centers look mostly cooked through.For the perfectly aesthetic cookie (optional!), place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round.
- Cool cookies on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
-
- Room temperature: Store cooled red velvet crinkles in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
-
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
-
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen crinkle cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
