Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies
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My Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft, thick, and perfectly chewy, loaded with white and semisweet chocolate chips, and you get about 30 big, bakery-style cookies, making them perfect for the holidays!
Bringing you another fabulous cookie recipe for the holiday season!
Just like my soft chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, these bake up ooey-gooey soft and so scrumptious!
Plus they're so eye-catching! With their deep red color, they're perfect for the winter holidays, and they'd be great for Valentine's Day and the Fourth of July too!
This cookie recipe was inspired by that southern classic: Red Velvet Cake.
It's a moist buttermilk cake with just a hint of cocoa and the most gorgeous red color. Typically, it's filled and covered with cream cheese frosting, and that contrast of rich and tangy flavors is so spot on.
These cookies aren't much different!
You get that same vibrant color, with a whisper of tangy cream cheese and a kiss of cocoa powder. But it's in chocolate chip cookie form!
These cookies are delicious on their own with coffee, tea, or hot cocoa. For a special treat, try sandwiching two together with Cream Cheese Frosting, Marshmallow Frosting, Whipped Chocolate Ganache, or even a scoop of ice cream.
Why You'll Love These Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies
- They stay soft and chewy. Brown sugar, extra egg yolks, and cornstarch help keep the centers tender, even after a few days.
- They have that classic red velvet taste. Cocoa and cream cheese add delicious flavor.
- They look great. The deep red dough with white and dark chocolate chips makes for a perfect holiday treat and gift.
- You'll get a big batch. About 30 large cookies, and the dough freezes well if you want to bake later.
- No need to chill the dough. Just mix, scoop, and bake.
Ingredients You'll Need
The recipe card at the bottom of the post contains the full list with all of the amounts. Refer to that when you're cooking.
- Unsalted butter, softened: Adds richness and lets you control the salt. I like to use unsalted butter because it lets me control the amount of salt in the dish. Different brands of butter can contain different amounts of salt, so this way you get a more consistent result. Use softened butter. You can set it out on the counter a few hours ahead of making your recipe, or you can microwave it for 10 seconds, turn it over, and microwave it again for another 8 seconds.
- Cream cheese, softened: Cream cheese adds richness and a slightly tangy flavor that's traditional in red velvet desserts. Use the kind of cream cheese that comes in a brick; it has the least amount of water or air added to it.
- Light brown sugar: Keeps the cookies moist and chewy.
- Granulated sugar: Adds a little structure and crispness at the edges.
- Eggs and egg yolks: Use large eggs, preferably at room temperature. You'll need 2 whole eggs plus 2 additional yolks.
- Red food coloring: I use liquid red food coloring, but gel paste color will work too. If you're using gel, you'll need much less of it since it's so highly concentrated.
- Vanilla extract: Use the real stuff for the best flavor!
- All-purpose flour: You can use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend instead, but the texture may change a bit.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: Use regular cocoa powder, not Dutch-processed, to get the right red velvet flavor and color.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch is a colorless, odorless, and flavorless starch that is used to thicken the filling. Make sure you're using cornstarch, which is white and powdery, and not cornmeal, which is yellow and gritty and tastes like corn chips.
- Baking soda: Baking soda is used to help the cookies rise in the oven. It also provides a more tender mouthfeel. If you're having issues with your cookies spreading too much or not enough, try decreasing or increasing the amount of baking soda by like 1/16th of a teaspoon. The tiniest bit can make such a difference!
- Kosher salt: Salt carries the flavors and intensifies them. The end result won't taste salty, but it will make everything so much more flavorful! I like kosher salt best because it doesn't have any additives (table salt usually contains iodine which can leave a bitter taste), so the flavor is pure. It's also inexpensive and easy to find in a regular grocery store.
- White chocolate chips and semisweet chocolate chips: Mixing both gives creamy sweetness and a bit of bittersweet flavor. You can skip the chocolate for plain red velvet cookies, but you'll end up with fewer cookies. I used half white chocolate chips and half semi-sweet chocolate chips for what you see here, but you can use all one or the other, or you can do milk chocolate if you like!
Special Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons: For measuring ingredients accurately. Follow this guide: How to Measure Ingredients for Baking.
- Mixing bowl: In which to prepare the dough.
- Electric mixer: It's a stiff dough, so you'll want either a stand mixer or a powerful handheld electric mixer.
- Silicone spatula: Reaches and incorporates any ingredients that might be hiding from the mixer, and helps to get every bit of dough from the bowl!
- Trigger scoop: A 4-ounce trigger scoop makes portioning the dough effortless, and ensures that all your cookies will bake in the same amount of time.
- Parchment paper sheets: Prevents the cookies from sticking to the pan, and makes cleanup a snap!
- Baking sheets: On which to bake the cookies.
How To Make This Recipe
This easy recipe comes together in just a few simple steps.
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugars
Place the butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, and white sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
Cream these ingredients together on medium-high speed for at least 3 to 5 minutes. Set a timer!
It's important not to skimp on this step. It makes the cookies light and puffy and so melt-in-your-mouth good!
Step 2: Add the eggs, color, and vanilla
Next, add the liquid ingredients to the mix.
Eggs, food coloring, and vanilla extract.
These get stirred in just until you have a smooth mixture.
Step 3: Work in the dry ingredients
Next add in the dry ingredients.
Flour, cocoa, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
At this point, you want to mix as little as possible. Once the flour goes in, it can make the cookies tough if the dough is overworked.
Step 4: Fold in the chocolate
Add in your chips, and give everything the quickest of quick stirs to distribute them.
Step 5: Scoop & bake
These cookies are sized generously!
I like a ¼-cup trigger scoop for portioning out the dough. It makes cookie baking so easy!
Slide the cookies into a preheated oven.
You'll know they're done baking when the edges feel set but the centers are still very soft and maybe even a little wet-looking. Remember, they'll continue to cook and firm up a lot as they cool!
Serving Suggestions
These cookies are perfect as-is!
Try enjoying them with a hot cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa. Such a comforting treat!
You could also sandwich them around a filling. I'm thinking marshmallow or cream cheese frosting? Or whipped chocolate ganache? Ice cream would be great too!
Recipe Tips
- Don't rush the creaming step. Beating the butter, cream cheese, and sugar for the full 3 to 5 minutes keeps the cookies light instead of dense.
- Add eggs one at a time. I find I get a nice smooth batter if I add the eggs in one at a time, allowing each one to fully incorporate before adding the next.
- Remember to scrape the bowl. If any butter or sugar is left unmixed at the bottom, it can cause streaks and uneven cookies.
- Stop mixing as soon as the flour is combined. Overmixing can make the cookies tough.
- Take the cookies out of the oven a little early. They'll keep baking on the hot pan, so slightly underbaked centers will turn soft and chewy.
- Stick with regular cocoa powder. Dutch-processed cocoa will change both the color and flavor.
- If you can, weigh your ingredients. Using a scale helps you get the most consistent cookies. Check out my guide on measuring ingredients for baking.
- Give it time. When you first add in the food coloring, you might worry that the color is too pale. Don't fret! Red food coloring deepens over time, and by the time you're putting the cookies in the oven, the color will likely be perfect.
- Allow them to cool. These cookies will be extremely tender when they're fresh from the oven. It will be difficult to remove them from the baking sheet without them falling apart. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet.
Recipe FAQ
These cookies will keep at room temperature for several days. It's best to cover them lightly to prevent them from drying out, or you can put them in an airtight container once they're good and cool.
Pop them into the fridge to extend their shelf life to a week or two.
You can also freeze them! Baked, they should keep in the freezer for a couple of months.
Or you can freeze the dough balls and keep them in there for whenever the craving strikes. Frozen dough can go straight into the oven to bake. You don't have to let it thaw first, but you may need to extend the bake time by a few minutes.
This batch makes about 30 large cookies. Each cookie equals one serving. The nutritional info in the recipe card below reflects a serving size of one cookie.
Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups (440 g) light brown sugar, (loosely packed)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 (88 g) eggs, large
- 2 (36 g) egg yolks, large
- 1 ½ tablespoons (22.5 g) red food coloring
- 1 tablespoon (13 g) vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups (437.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (64.5 g) unsweetened cocoa powder, (regular)
- ½ cup (64 g) cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons (9 g) kosher salt
- 12 ounces (340.2 g) white chocolate chips
- 12 ounces (340.2 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl, and cream together on medium-high speed until very pale and fluffy (approx. 3 to 5 FULL minutes).
- Add the eggs, red food coloring, and vanilla extract, and beat on medium speed until smooth (approx. 1 minute).
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatular, then add the flour, cocoa, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt, and stir together until just barely combined.
- Add the white chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips (witholding a handful of each for garnish), and stir together until just barely incorporated (do not overmix at this stage).
- Use a ¼-cup trigger scoop to portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, allowing at least 3 inches in between for spreading.
- Garnish the cookies with the remaining chips, and bake until set around the edges but still a little wet towards the centers (approx. 8 to 12 minutes).
- Cool completely on the baking sheet.*
Notes
Author
Have a question about this recipe? Ask AI:
Hi Allie,
If I take out the chocolate, would it unbalance any of the other ingredients? & can I make these cookies without the chocolate?
Hi Bee! I think you can take out the chocolate no problem. The only difference might be that you'd get fewer cookies out of the batch. Other than that you should be good. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Allie,
If I wanted to make regular red velvet cookies would I have to change the recipe? Of course I would take out the chocolate part but besides that would I have to change anything?
No, I don't think you'd have to change anything. This recipe would give you a plain, soft red velvet drop cookie. If you want more of a tender-crisp red velvet cookie, then you might prefer this recipe: https://bakingamoment.com/red-velvet-sugar-cookies/. Hope this is helpful!
These are amazingly good. They turned out slightly crisp on the edge and soft in the center. I made a half-batch and used 4oz each of semi-sweet, milk and white chocolate chips. I used a 2 tablespoon scoop and had to bake for 16 minutes. My new oven is a bit janky.
I made these last year for Christmas and totally messed them up. I went wrong somewhere but this time they are perfect! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Oh I'm so glad you got the results you were after this time around! Thank you so much for the positive feedback and I hope you'll try some of the other cookie recipes on this site as well!
I use this recibe for my business! And my clients (and I) love it. Super soft and delicious cookies.
I just changed the baking soda for baking powder, and added 1/8 tsp of baking soda.