Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies
Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies taste like cake mix cookies but they’re homemade. They’re soft and chewy, with a luscious cream cheese frosting, and they get rave reviews every time!
I think you all know that I’m a red velvet fanatic by now. Normally I steer clear from food coloring, but somehow it seems ok in order to achieve a beautiful red hue that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day and Christmas.
Red happens to be my favorite color, too. 🙂
I fell head over heels for red velvet cupcakes many years ago, and they’ve inspired me to create more tasty treats including red velvet brownies.
These Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies are one of my favorite recipes to make for the holidays. Most of the red velvet cookies I’ve tried in the past were made from a cake mix, but it was important to me to make this recipe completely from scratch as I try to use processed ingredients as little as possible.
I worked hard on this recipe, and I’m so happy with the results. These cookies are soft like cake mix cookies, with just the right amount of crispness.
They couldn’t be easier to make either, and they taste just like red velvet cake.
Recipe ingredients
There are only a few simple ingredients in this recipe
- All purpose flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking soda
- Butter, softened
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Red gel paste or food coloring
- Cream cheese, softened
- Powdered sugar
How to make red velvet cookies
Pro tip: It’s essential that the butter is softened and all of the ingredients have been gathered before getting started as this recipe goes quickly.
Prepare the cookie dough:
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, mixing on low just until combined, then beat in the vanilla and red food coloring until well incorporated.
- Add the dry ingredients and beat on low just until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Chill the dough for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Bake the red velvet cookies:
- Form about 1/2 tablespoon of dough into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and place 2″ apart.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 6-8 minutes or until the cookies appear dry on top.
Prepare the cream cheese frosting and assemble the cookies:
- Place the softened cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl and beat on high until light and fluffy. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low until incorporated, then add the vanilla. Beat on high speed for about 3 minutes until fluffy.
- Pipe or spread the frosting on the bottom half of half of the cookies, then top with the other half.
Recipe notes
- If you’re looking for a grain and gluten free alternative, these red velvet macarons are the perfect solution. They’re crisp, chewy and taste just like red velvet cake!
- I used gel coloring paste for this recipe, which is linked below. I suggest starting with 1 tablespoon of coloring and adding more as desired.
- Store red velvet sandwich cookies in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
More red velvet recipes you’ll love:
- Red Velvet Cake by Live Well Bake Often
- Red Velvet Brownies
- Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes
Did you try this recipe? If so, be sure to leave a review below and tag me @flavorthemoments on Facebook and Instagram
Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoons red gel paste or food coloring*
For the filling:
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Prepare the cookies:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Place the butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and add the egg, mixing on low speed until combined, then beat in the vanilla and red food coloring until well incorporated.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line (2) rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Scoop out about 1/2 tablespoon of the dough and roll into balls. Place the dough balls the prepared baking sheet 2" apart.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 6-8 minutes, or until the cookies appear dry on top.
- Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the cookies from the pan and cool completely on the wire rack.
Prepare the filling:
- Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Add the vanilla extract and increase the speed to medium high and beat for 3 minutes until the filling is nice and creamy.
- Spread or pipe the filling onto half of the cookies, and top with the other half. Enjoy!
Notes
- Total time above includes the 30 minutes for chilling the dough, and cooling the cookies.
- *I used gel coloring paste for this recipe, which is linked below. I suggest starting with 1 tablespoon of coloring and adding more as desired.
- Cookies should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
**The photos and text were updated in this post in January 2020.
54 Comments on “Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies”
They look awesome Marcie…great job!
Thank you, Lisa! 🙂
These are the cutest sandwich cookies! Love the Valentine’s twist. They’re like festive oreo copycats!
Thank you, Mary Frances! There’s so much red velvet flavor in these little guys. 🙂
I think homemade red velvet cookies taste like cake mix cookies because of the red coloring. I therefore don’t like red velvet anything. They never tasted good to me even though they are homemade. I personally dislike the taste of food coloring. Yet the color makes cakes and cookies so much prettier.
I certainly understand how you feel about food coloring, as I don’t like to use it. For some reason, red velvet is different for me, and I just love it. I think it’s because red is my favorite color! Thanks, Jane.
What lovely cookies! I definitely want to check out these.
Thank you, Jocelyn! There’s loads of red velvet flavor in these little guys. 🙂
These look beautiful Marcie! I love sandwich cookies and these red velvet ones are perfect for Valentine’s Day 🙂 The crispy edges with a chewy and soft cake mix texture sounds amazing too – pinning – love these and can’t wait to give them a try 🙂
Thank you, Kelly! I know you love your red velvet, too, and I’ve got to try those baked donuts of yours. Have a great Monday! 🙂
These look ssssssoooo good! Definitely would love them double stuffed!
Thank you, Kristi! I always think I’m going to run out of frosting then I end up with a ton left…I need to get better at eyeballing things like filling cookies so I can double stuff ’em. Ha
I love that these taste like cake but are made from scratch! They look so delicious and you can tell that the texture is just perfect! Pinning!
Thank you so much, and I appreciate the pin!
These sandwich cookies look so great and the color is so vibrant and rich! Wish I had a few here with me… nom nom nom.
I had to give some away because I didn’t want too many around. Too bad you don’t live close by…ha Thanks, Pamela!
These are gorgeous!!! Pinned!!
Thank you, Aimee, and I appreciate the pin! 🙂
These are so perfect looking!!
Thank you, Ashley! 🙂
Marcie, love the hint of cocoa powder you put into these. The color looks absolutely perfect! I might just have time to make these for the whole 2nd grade class for Friday… the kids would dig these. Printing and pinning!
Thank you, Gloria! I miss when my kids were little and I could bake for their fun class parties. I think these would be a hit.
These are some gorgeous cookies?! And who can resist getting two cookies for the guilt of one? 😉 Yum!
Two cookies are always better than one in my book. Haha. Thanks, Rachel!
I’m a red velvet fanatic too! These look great Marcie! I hear ya on the food coloring – I don’t normally use a lot of it but for red velvet I go all in : )
Yup — it’s all or nothing! Thx, Ashley!
I just love these! And that milk glass is so cute! Love the beautiful red color!
Thanks, Ashley! I used more food coloring than I was comfortable with, but it is almost Valentines day. Ha
These look so fun Marcie! I love that milk container 🙂
Thank you, Chelsea!
I love anything Red Velvet, they look delicious! I could eat a few of those right now 🙂 My kids are always asking for a Red Velvet cake with cream cheese icing!!
check out my recent post – Valentine Cheesecake with Strawberries! 🙂
This is the easiest way to deliver red velvet cake with cream cheese icing — hope you can give it a try. Thx Michael!
Thank you, Consuelo! Next time it’s double stuff.
Thank you, Juliana! They’re perfect for me, cuz I’m a sucker for the color red.
These are so perfect for V-day! I know I wouldn’t be able to stop at one!
Thanks, Ashley, and I couldn’t stop at one either.
We love red velvet and cream cheese. These look amazing! Pinning!
Thank you, Krystle, and I appreciate the pin! 🙂
I love these Red Velvet sandwich cookies Marcie. A friend of mine just sent me whoppie pies from Pennsylvania. ANd I loved them. These remind me of those in many ways! They look delicious!!
Thank you, Renee! I’ve never had a whoopee pie, believe it or not, but I have a feeling they’re probably very similar! 🙂
These are absolutely gorgeous!! They will be gone in a blink 🙂
Thanks, Zainab, and they were!
I love anything red velvet and I can never resist a sandwich cookie. These look amazing Marcie!
Thank you, Christin! I haven’t met anything red velvet that I didn’t like. 🙂
These look perfect, Marcie….and the way you describe the cookie sounds amazing!! Thanks so much for sharing at Saturday Night Fever!!
Thank you for hosting, Cathy! 🙂
Hi there! Is it ok if I put some milk in your recipe? What are the chances? I’ll definitely bake these goodies! Thanks!
Hi Grace! I haven’t tried this recipe with milk, so I don’t know how it would affect them. If you want to try it, I would suggest using a tablespoon or two of buttermilk since most red velvet recipes contain that, and it’s thicker. Let me know what happens! 🙂
So, when exactly do you make the cookies red?
I’m very sorry that wasn’t included in the recipe, Rebecca — I’ve changed it to reflect the addition of the food coloring now. It’s added to the wet ingredients right after the addition of the egg. Thank you for bringing this to my attention!
Hopefully, you don’t mind helping me a little bit. I tried this recipe yesterday and it was a bit of a disaster which I’m positive was a problem on my end. The cookies were way too wet and wouldn’t cook all the way through. I probably could have added a little more flour, but the dough was already red. The filling was AMAZING, though and was a definite success. 🙂
Hi, Rebecca — I’m sorry the cookies gave you trouble! The dough is a bit sticky, but I find if I chill it, it’s completely workable. I actually used a small cookie scoop to scoop out the dough, then pop it out into my hand and roll it just a bit to smooth it. I’ve never had a problem with them not being cooked however. Hmmm…could your oven temperature be a bit off? I wish they had worked out for you!
I’m confused..the ingredients call for baking soda but the directions say baking powder. Which is it?
Hi, Amanda! So sorry about the confusion…it’s baking soda. Thank you for letting me know and I will fix it right now! 🙂