These red velvet sugar cookies are soft, chewy, and the dough comes together within minutes! With the perfect hint of chocolate flavor, they take plain sugar cookies to the next level.
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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, then bake!
- 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 the cookies a stamp of approval! The cookies have an amazing touch of cocoa flavor with a bit of tang.
- It’s versatile. Since this is a basic cookie dough, you could zhuzh it up however you like. For example, you could add half a cup of chocolate chips, M&Ms, crushed Oreos, etc.!
Looking for more easy cookie recipes? Try out my funfetti cookies or plain sugar cookies!
Ingredients
To make chewy red velvet cookies from scratch, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Melted unsalted butter makes the cookie dough really easy to mix by hand.
- 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 butterscotch flavor.
- Adding in both baking powder and baking soda gives us the exact texture and rise we’re aiming for!
- Cocoa powder adds a nice chocolate flavor, while the cream of tartar adds a tiny bit of tang that is iconic to red velvet!
- I added gel red food coloring, which is much more pigmented than liquid. It gave these cookies a beautiful, deep shade of red!
- You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste (1:1) in this recipe.
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Baking Tip
- 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 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 Chewy Red Velvet Sugar Cookies
Step 1: Mix together melted butter with cocoa powder, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fully combined.
Step 2: Add in egg, vanilla, and red food coloring until smooth.
Step 3: Stir in dry ingredients until no dry spots remain. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
Step 4: Use a cookie scoop (2-3 tablespoon capacity) to gather dough. Roll in sugar and place on lined baking sheet. Place cookies 3-4 inches apart, and bake at 350°F/177°C for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are set and middles look mostly cooked through.
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
Red Velvet Sugar Cookie FAQs
Traditional red velvet recipes have a bit of tang to them due to the buttermilk. Instead of adding buttermilk to this recipe, I added a pinch of cream of tartar! If you’d like to omit the cream of tartar, you totally can. 🙂
Sure! Feel free to add half a cup of whatever mix-in you like when adding the dries. You can add M&Ms, chocolate chips/chunks, crushed pretzels, etc.
They can last at room temperature in an airtight container for up 5 days. See my storage instructions for more information.
Storage
If you’d like to make these red velvet sugar cookies ahead of time, you can freeze raw cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. Roll frozen balls in sugar right before baking, making sure to add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
- Room temperature: Store cooled cookies 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. You can also freeze cookie dough balls for up to a year and bake as usual—just add a couple more minutes to the baking time.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
❤️ More sugar Cookie Recipes
Did you try this recipe?
Please leave a review & share it with me on Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, or Pinterest!
Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe & Video
Red Velvet Sugar Cookies
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Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cup (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) fine sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon (0.38 g) cream of tartar
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) light brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons (18 g) cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon (13 g) vanilla paste or extract
- 1 (1) egg
- red food coloring I like to use gel food coloring since it's highly concentrated!
For rolling:
- 4 tablespoons (48 g) granulated sugar
Instructions
Make the cookie dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, use silicone spatula to mix melted ½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, and ¼ cup light brown sugar until smooth.
- Mix in 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 egg and 1 tablespoon vanilla, and red food coloring until smooth.
- Add in all of the dry ingredients: 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, and ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar. Mix until no dry spots remain. Add more red food coloring as needed.
- Cover and chill dough in fridge for 20-30 minutes. This will let the flour hydrate and let the butter cool, yielding chewier cookies. The dough will also be easier to work with. 🙂
Scoop & bake cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper. In a small bowl, add 4 tablespoons granulated sugar for rolling the dough.
- Use medium cookie dough scoop to gather dough (about 2-3 tablespoons each). Shape into a ball and roll in granulated sugar and place onto lined baking tray. Repeat with remaining dough, placing cookies 3-4 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are set and middles are mostly baked through.Tip: 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! 🙂
- Let cool on pan for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack. Let 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 cookies 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. You can also freeze raw cookie dough balls for up to 3 months and bake as usual; just add a few minutes to the baking time.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
